SCRAP TALK
ABOUT TRANSFORMATION OF TRASH, LIFESTYLES AND COMMUNITIES
I would argue that if you are reading this blog, you are interested in composting. If you are like me, however, you’ve been thinking about the prospect for months, even years, but haven’t figured a way to get started. Maybe you don’t have the backyard space. Maybe you don’t have a garden where you can use your compost. Or it might be that you simply don’t have the time. Luckily, Food2Soil has a simple and affordable solution. Food2Soil’s monthly subscription program is the answer to all of those pesky problems. With this program, you can keep your food scraps out of the landfill and put them back into our beautiful soil. Food2Soil’s monthly dropoff program was hands down my best COVID lockdown discovery. Each new year, I try to take on a few more habits that will reduce my environmental footprint. One year it was to buy less packaged food while another challenged me to choose to ride my bike over hopping in the car. It seemed that every year, composting would make my to-do list, but never migrate over to the completed column. Composting can certainly seem intimidating. It involves some upfront time and cost and a bit of maintenance. Even though I knew it would get easier after a bit of effort, I couldn’t find the time or space to commit. After attending a zero-waste event through San Diego Green Drinks, I discovered Food2Soil and their incredibly comprehensive and simple composting programs. They offer multiple programs that allow you to try all levels of composting but the monthly subscription looked fairly foolproof and I decided to give it a try. I am so glad I did. The monthly subscription dropoff program allows you to pick up a bucket from a convenient location in your neighborhood or nearby, toss your vegetative scraps, and then dump your scraps at your designated dropoff. Here’s how it works. Find a convenient dropoff location in your neighborhood using the interactive map. Once you have selected your location, sign up for the monthly subscription and pay your dues of $45 a month. This works out to $15 a month which is about the same as your Netflix subscription. You’ll then download the Rot On App and find all of the instructions from how to get your bucket to acceptable dropoff times. Now here’s where it gets fun...you’ll take everyday vegetative foods scraps and toss them in your new bucket instead of the trash. Each week you’ll take your bucket to your friendly neighborhood compost hub and dump your scraps in the cart labeled “vegetative scraps” (If that sounds like too much, you have the option of freezing your scraps to lengthen the time between dropoffs). During my weekly dropoffs, I always take the opportunity to chat with my host if they happen to be in the yard. Asking questions and sharing stories about how much waste you are diverting by composting can be a welcome and much needed socially distanced interaction! So in case you are wondering, why commit to composting? In the fight for climate change, something as simple as reducing food waste has an enormous impact on reducing carbon emissions. There are some pretty staggering statistics about the impact of food waste on our environment. For example, between 33 and 40 percent of food is wasted globally. Family households, restaurants, and corporations (nursing homes, schools, etc) are all throwing out food at an alarming rate. This food loss generates the equivalent of 4.4 gigatons of carbon dioxide. When I first learned about the carbon impact of food waste, I was shocked. Much attention is paid to transportation and infrastructure emissions, but little to food waste. Unfortunately, the common misconception that food degrades properly in a landfill is simply not true. Food, when sent to a landfill cannot breakdown and ultimately produces methane ( a gas that traps heat in the atmosphere). Not only do we have to be concerned about carbon and methane, but we also have to take into account the land used to produce this wasted food. If these statistics have you discouraged, there IS good news. The best part about composting is that it is an action that YOU can take. It is incredibly rewarding to observe how much less trash is produced when you start to divert your scraps. With Food2Soil’s monthly subscription you are part of a decentralized, community solution to climate change. You are also joining a community of like-minded and passionate individuals that care about our planet. In the world of climate change, it can sometimes feel like the power is out of our hands. However, it can be these small actions taken at the community level that make a huge difference over time. Author |
Food2Soil Composting Collective was started in 2015 by Inika Small Earth, Inc as a community supported social enterprise. Inika Small Earth is a 501c(3) tax exempt corporation that works on fostering a circular economy that is enterprise-driven, people-powered and community-centered.
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