Reduce, Reuse, Recycle
Reduce, reuse, then recycle. It’s important to remember to follow these guidelines in that order. As much as we love composting your food waste here at Cold Creek Compost, we want to remind you that it’s even better if your food scraps never make it to the garbage can at all.
A huge portion of America’s food waste is perfectly good food that just couldn’t find a hungry mouth to feed before it ended up in the trash. We’ve stumbled across a few apps, aimed at businesses as well as families, that can help reduce the amount of food that gets thrown out. These apps help make the most of our food, and one was even developed by a seventh-grader! Check it out at waste360.com.
Below: Happy Holidays from Cold Creek, but don’t let your Christmas leftovers go to waste!
Interview with Martin Mileck on KZYX
Cold Creek is in the news! KZYX featured a story on the recent move by Willits to compost food waste and included an interview with Cold Creek’s owner Martin Mileck. The program highlights Cold Creek’s ongoing work to develop the recycling and composting industry so that more waste can be diverted from landfills. Cold Creek, with the help of public pressure, has helped change the waste paradigm in Mendocino County, where food waste composting is steadily becoming the norm.
Oh, and sorry we’re late, but Happy Fourth of July!
Composting Food Waste
In a recent report, the EPA found that 21% of the municipal waste stream in the US is made up of food waste. That’s the largest segment of all waste types generated, greater than paper and even plastic! Luckily, the composting of food waste is a steadily growing practice in much of the developed world. India’s capital city of New Delhi has recently implemented a technological initiative to recycle its food waste. However, many California municipalities are behind the times. If India can do it, so can we! Cold Creek is working hard with local governments to develop food recycling programs in Mendocino and neighboring counties.
See the EPA report: www.epa.gov
Read more about New Delhi’s program: www.iamin.in
Image courtesy of epa.gov