In a bit of food waste news, Cape Breton is starting to compost its household food scraps. On Monday, the Cape Breton Regional Municipality began the widespread delivery of green bins for separating all organic waste from regular trash.
We here at WastedFood applaud the move to divert wet, heavy food waste and all organic materials from the waste stream. Producing less food waste, however, is an even nobler goal. Don’t just take my word for it, ask the Environmental Protection Agency.
Up North, the Canadian peninsula hopes to reach the ambitious goal of diverting 75 percent of all materials from landfill. Fortunately, they’re not too fussy about what materials they residents can compost:
Green carts are designed to store organic waste materials from the home and yard, like table scraps, food waste, used paper towels, napkins, fish, bones, meat, shellfish and leaf and yard waste like grass and leaves.
Cape Breton, a scenic Atlantic outpost I’ve had the good fortune to visit, isn’t breaking new ground, but joining elite company. San Francisco has a long-standing green bin program that allows residential and commercial composting, as does Toronto. Meanwhile, Portland, Ore., allows businesses but not individuals to compost.
Here’s to hoping that this list keeps growing.