Category Archives: Composting

R’s ‘R Us

When I wrote about the 3 R’s last week, I guess I missed the fourth one: Rot. Elementary schools in one district in Minnesota are teaching about that forgotten fourth by having students separate and compost lunch room waste. Sure, ‘Recycle,’ the third R, covers composting in some definitions. But “Reduce, Reuse, Recycle, Rot” is […]

November 18, 2008 | Also posted in School | Comments closed

Friday Buffet

Here are some ideas on Obama’s food policy. Strange that there’s no mention of a Food Waste Czar. He must want to keep it hush-hush. — — Reminder: Nov 26 is your last chance to submit your comments on the proposed Green Seal Environmental Standard for Restaurants. — — OK, University of New Mexico, it’s […]

November 14, 2008 | Also posted in College, General, Processing Plants, Restaurant, Trayless | Comments closed

Session Notes, Reduced

In addition to witnessing my first buffet outage, I actually learned a thing or two at yesterday’s AASHE conference. In a session called “Food, Dining and Compost,” I heard folks from the University of British Columbia and the University of Washington talk about their composting programs. First, good on them for composting. But my main […]

November 12, 2008 | Also posted in College, General | Comments closed

Friday Buffet

Sure, Virginia helped elect our first African-American president, but they wouldn’t compost at Mr. Jefferson’s University, would they? — — And while UVA may be composting, one dining hall at Portland State is attempting to go zero-waste. Oh, that’s so Portland. — — When I was a kid, we didn’t have fancy orange desserts, we […]

November 7, 2008 | Also posted in College, Friday Buffet | Comments closed

Friday Buffet

Who is feeding America? Not America’s Second Harvest, because they’re now called Feeding America. — — I recently interviewed Converted Organics’ CEO Ed Gildea on the company’s fancy pants composting process. They’ve just posted a video showing the first delivery of solid food waste to their New Jersey facility. — — While we’re watching videos, […]

October 31, 2008 | Also posted in Food Recovery, Friday Buffet, Household, International, Waste Stream | Comments closed

Converted Organics Q & A

Converted Organics transforms food waste into compost through its unique EATAD process. Ed Gildea, the CEO of the Boston-based company, recently explained that technology and the company’s vision in this interview: 1. Enhanced Autogenous Thermophilic Aerobic Digestion (EATAD) sounds complicated—Can you explain it for us non-science folks? In short, the EATAD process is microbial digestion […]

October 29, 2008 | Also posted in Q & A | Comments closed

Friday Buffet

Tacoma’s McNeil Island prison (Correctional Facility if you want to split hairs) is now composting food as part of a larger effort to cut both waste and their budget. — — Interesting discussion of when biodegradable bags don’t live up to their adjective.  Keep in mind that “compostable” trumps “biodegreadable.” And King County, Washington (Seattle) recommends three brands of […]

October 24, 2008 | Also posted in Friday Buffet, Household, Institutional | Comments closed

Friday Buffet

I enjoyed peeking into these food leaders’ fridges. Given the sparsity in most of them, I doubt there’d be much food wasted. For more voyeurism, check out Other People’s Pantries, a recurring feature on The Perfect Pantry blog. — — (With apologies to Shakespeare)          Get thee to a wormery! — — It’s not every day that you […]

October 17, 2008 | Also posted in Friday Buffet, Household, Restaurant | Comments closed

Compost Happens: The Brian Rosa Q & A

One of my pet peeves is the idea that “green consumerism” alone will reverse our environmental woes. More than just “buying green,” real change will require behavioral shifts small and large. Fortunately, composting is a relatively easy change. Chances are, you already separate your food scraps from your other waste. Composting merely requires that you […]

October 7, 2008 | Also posted in General, Q & A | Comments closed

Erase the Waste

Changes are afoot at the University of Florida. In addition to becoming more sustainable in general–with a goal of producing zero waste by 2015–Gator Dining Services just launched the “Erase the Waste” campaign. The program focuses on getting students and staff to think about reducing food waste. Most schools don’t ask students to change their […]

October 2, 2008 | Also posted in College, Trayless | Comments closed