I’m a little unclear on why an insurance company commissioned this awesome trash composition infographic, but I’m not complaining. In fact, I think it’s a fabulous way to convey how wasteful we are with all of our resources. And, yeah, I’m a sucker for a good infographic. Two quick notes: –The 13.9% stat is a [...]
February 6, 2012 | 
Posted in Waste Stream |
Forget grass-fed beef, how about Cap’n Crunch-fed? An article in Harvest reports that, often, more than half of cattle feed comes from food manufacturing excess. The mix of scraps and seconds that used to be the domain of hogs, is becoming increasingly common with cattle. My first thought: what a nice use of excess materials that keeps [...]
February 1, 2012 | 
Also posted in Processing Plants |
On the heels of Friday’s major outcry against waste by the EU Parliament, the head of the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization spoke out against food waste this weekend. In other words, this issue is picking up steam. — — How did I not know there was a Discard Studies blog before now? A recent [...]
January 23, 2012 | 
Also posted in Composting, Environment, Food Safety, Stats |
Forget Monday’s boring national championship game. The real college champion crowned this week is Marist College. Yup–Marist! The pride of Poughkeepsie (N.Y.) won the EPA WasteWise Game Day Challenge in the Per Capita Organics Reduction category. If you select ‘Organics Reduction’ in the pulldown menu, you will see that tiny Marist destroyed the competition, outpacing [...]
January 11, 2012 | 
Also posted in College |
Looks like in.gredients, the Austin-based zero-waste store is set to open by the end of the year. The bulk food vender will mostly sell to customers wielding their own containers, but compostable packaging will be for sale, too. I’m excited to see this operation in action! — — Statistics New Zealand just released some interesting…statistics [...]
In the wake of recent disasters, the Mississippi Gulf Coast communities came together to create a plan for sustainability. One aspect of the plan centers on food and one particular document provides a Recipe for a Sustainable Coast. That study, much to my delight, lists the amount of wasted food as a major obstacle to [...]
October 19, 2011 | 
Also posted in Composting, Energy, Environment |
California, not content with having achieved the goal set in 1989 of recycling 50 percent of its waste stream, just passed a bill requiring the state to keep 75 percent of its trash out of the landfill. Way to set the bar high, Cali! — — The Occupy Wall Street gang gets plenty of donated [...]
October 14, 2011 | 
Also posted in Friday Buffet, Household, International, Supermarket |
Because we could all stand to learn a little more about where our trash goes… (In other words, about landfills)
August 8, 2011 | 
Posted in Waste Stream |
After seeing so much food going to waste at their school and learning about a law preventing donation of that food, two Houston boys have set out to change it! Hopefully the Houston Independent School District does decide to allow students more choice in what lunch items they take. And just seeing the footage of [...]
July 1, 2011 | 
Also posted in School |
Great news from the bottom of the food waste hierarchy: Waste Management has invested in a composting company. They’ve been sniffing around the idea for a while, so it’s encouraging to see them invest in it. — — Mary Baldwin College of Virginia reduced waste by 60% during their Sustainable Meal Week! Really shows how much [...]