Category Archives: Composting

Friday Buffet

Here’s an article from the newspaper at Iowa’s Luther College, giving the student response to traylessness. The piece was fueled largely by the Facebook group “Caf Trays will destroy the planet!!!! Really?????,” which prompted a letter to the editor complaining about a lack of balance. — — Food recovery in the holy land. Hallelujah! — […]

April 18, 2008 | Also posted in College, Food Recovery, Friday Buffet, Legislation, Trayless | Comments closed

Talkin’ Trash

With college basketball’s season reaching its peak, it’s only fitting that we talk some trash. Or rubbish. In The Rubbish Diet, British blogger “Almost Mrs. Average” completed her eight-week challenge to reduce what she sends to the landfill. After composting and giving some items to her three-year-old for art projects, the family produced one item […]

March 17, 2008 | Also posted in Household, Waste Stream | Comments closed

Studying Waste

A friend sent me this useful waste diversion presentation created by the Biodegradable Products Institute. The Power Point doc, which takes a bit to load, has some eye-opening statistics about how much food is in our trash. In slide six, we see that food scraps make up the largest portion of the waste stream. It’s […]

March 12, 2008 | Also posted in Stats, Waste Stream | Comments closed

Finish Your Liver!

I attended the 8th annual Organics Recycling Summit yesterday in Massachusetts. It was a useful conference that focused on how to prevent food waste from going to landfills. Lots on composting and, my favorite, anaerobic digestion. Among other things, I learned more about the impressive Massachusetts Supermarket Recycling Program, in which almost half the states’ […]

March 5, 2008 | Also posted in History and Culture, Household | Comments closed

Indoor Composting

The verdict is in on the NatureMill indoor composting system–not so hot. This review echoes the sentiment of Wasted Food reader Sandy who expressed her disappointment via comment. It’s a shame that the NatureMill doesn’t smell so hot, because I was hoping it’d be an answer for urban dwellers without composting space. The contraption has […]

February 26, 2008 | Also posted in Household, Waste Stream | Comments closed

Friday Buffet

Expect some laid back composting at Jack Johnson’s Kokua Festival in Honolulu. While I’m diggin’ the concert’s sweet poster, all I can picture right now is Andy Samberg’s J.J. Casuals SNL faux-mercial. — — Might Massachusetts ban commercial food waste from landfills? — — In the wake of Harvard’s experiment to do away with trays […]

February 7, 2008 | Also posted in College, Friday Buffet, Trayless, Waste Stream | Comments closed

8:30 to 5:30

As I mentioned before, I’ve begun working for a renewable energy company planning to convert food waste to electricity. So far, so good. In trying to find sources of bulk food waste, I’ve spoken with folks at food processing plants. One canning factory executive told me that the speed of their production line leads to an abundance of […]

January 10, 2008 | Also posted in Processing Plants | Comments closed

International friends

My wife and I recently saw a friend who updated us on an acquaintance who started a non-profit in Kenya. One Acre Fund helps poor Kenyans feed themselves by helping them grow and sell crops. You know, the people whose hunger necessitates your cleaning your plate. (No pressure!) A few days later, I was saddened to hear about the unrest […]

January 6, 2008 | Also posted in International | Comments closed

08 Food Waste Wishes

It’s 2008, y’all (Happy New Year!), and high time to cut the amount of food going down the drain. Here are eight wishes for preventing food waste in this year: 1. Wal-Mart resumes food donations of edible but unsellable goods (The store halted its program two years ago). 2. More cities and towns follow the lead of Seattle, […]

January 1, 2008 | Also posted in Energy, General, Household, Restaurant, Technology | Comments closed

Wasted Gifts

Happy in-between-Christmas-and-New Year’s! I hope you’re enjoying the piles of leftovers and recycling the piles of cardboard. It’s never too early to start next year’s Christmas list. I can’t believe I didn’t find out about this NatureMill indoor composting unit until now. But since it sells for $300 ($400 if you want it to compost pet poop along with food […]

December 27, 2007 | Also posted in Household, Waste Stream | Comments closed