Conservation

Leftovers' next life

March 2007

The reason to listen to your mother and finish your vegetables is not that children are starving in some far distant part of the globe where (as most children learn to argue) your leftovers could do them no good, but rather that leftovers harm the environment here at home. Although we may send aid to the malnourished far away, we should also think about better ways than cleaning our plates to reduce the discarded food that finds its way to the landfill.

That’s the current mission of Brian Rosa, Organic Recycling Specialist in the NC DENR, Div. of Pollution Prevention and Environmental Assistance, who spoke at the January membership meeting. Of the seven million tons of waste generated in the state each year, 12% of it is food, that is, 839,865 tons, or ½ lb. per person per day. One problem is that when food waste (85% moisture) is disposed of in a landfill, the liquid percolates through the landfill and picks up contaminants from the rest of the garbage. This leachate then has to be collected and processed. In addition, when organic matter degrades anaerobically, it produces methane, a greenhouse gas twenty times worse for the climate than CO2. That’s the reason Brian is leading the NC Food Waste Task Force to prevent food waste from going to landfills.

The task force is working on the EPA’s hierarchy for diverting waste so that it never reaches landfills: feeding the hungry, feeding animals, and composting. For instance, many organizations help move edible leftovers from restaurants and grocery stores to food banks. The Good Samaritan law protects donors from law suits by reducing their liability, and food shuttles take commercial leftovers to soup kitchens, food banks, and Meals on Wheels programs. Leftovers full of fat can be used for animal feed and used grease can create biofuels. In addition, residents as well as institutions like schools, military bases, and hospitals can compost their own leftovers. In Orange County, a contractor picks up wastes from five groceries and twenty-four other institutions and restaurants to be composted. The county then provides compost for citizens to purchase.

As the Conservation Committee studies the food supply system, we are learning about its environmental impacts and how to mitigate them. In industry, the supervision of an object from its manufacture to its disposition and reconfiguration after its (first) useful life is called “cradle to cradle” design. Brian Rosa is closing the loop with cradle-to-cradle stewardship of our food products.

— Report by Judith Ferster

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