What a great idea - Restaurants recycling wasted food into Compost

[LynneSin]

Waste not at Del. restaurants


http://www.delawareonline.com/article/20120830/NEWS08/120830010/Waste-not-Del-restaurants?odyssey=tab|topnews|text|Home

DAGSBORO -- Leave some seared ahi tuna or grilled asparagus behind when you get up from the table at one of about 30 Rehoboth-area restaurants and it will end up here, inside a long row of mulch in the making, at a yard waste recycling plant, instead of being tossed in a landfill to rot.

This summer, for the first time, several dozen coastal Sussex restaurants agreed to split their food waste from their other trash and let a Blue Hen truck pick it up. It's a key part in an economic chain a nonprofit company, Eden Delmarva, is trying to build as a way to keep compostable kitchen scraps out of landfills, and show businesses they can save money through environmentally friendly practices. In July alone, the arrangement diverted 38 tons of restaurant waste to the mulch beds, keeping it out of landfills.

<<<<snip>>>>

Cook stations had to have two trash cans, one for food and one for other trash. And the kitchen had to stop using black plastic bags, switching to clear ones so the haulers could look out for anything that wouldn't become mulch.


With the changes made, the program's worked well, Fitzgerald said. It led the restaurant to cut back on how frequently its private waste hauler came to take regular garbage away, from three times a week to two, saving the business the expense.

All restaurants should do something like this. Seems like it's a win-win both for Mother Earth and for Restaurant owners who save money with programs like this!

[1monster]

1. Mulch?!!! I could see compost, but mulch? YUCK!!!

[FSogol]

3. Probably just bad writing by the reporter.

I doubt food waste turns into mulch.

[LynneSin]

8. Well it is the Delaware News Journal. Not exactly NY Times level of writing

Just saying!

[NV Whino]

2. I sincerely hope they don't put tuna

Or other meat products in it. Otherwise great idea. All restaurants can do this, even on an individual basis.

[LynneSin]

5. Why would tuna be an issue?

Is it a vegetarian thing? Even if meat was not put in there you'd still have other product from meat including manure.

The reason recycle programs fail is when they become too complicated. This program is working because it's simple - food waste one bin, other waste in other bin.

[NV Whino]

11. You never put meat in compost.

[LynneSin]

12. Would it cause any harm if it was in there

Just curious?

[NV Whino]

17. You could end up with some nasty pathogens

if it is not properly composted. Also takes longer and higher temperatures to decompose. But mostly it just smells bad, draws flies and vermin. A big commercial operation can deal with meat products, but never put them in your personal compost bin.

I have three bins. I turn over from one bin to the other. By the time it gets strained into the third bin, I have very fine and rich compost. There are small drums you can buy for those with limited space. They work very quickly, but you have to tend them by turning and adding water.

[Blue_In_AK]

16. I think the main reason for not putting meat in the compost

is to keep out pests. We don't put meat in ours, but I do put in shrimp shells, salmon skin and bones, crab shells and stuff like that, and it breaks down fine.

We compost all summer but can't do it in the winter when the compost bin is frozen solid and under five feet of snow. We have a very noticeable difference in the amount of garbage we put out for collection every week between the summer and winter months.

[hunter]

13. Meat is fine in larger compost piles with high temps and rapid decomposition rates...

... but not in smaller garden compost heaps because it smells bad and attracts vermin you don't want in your garden.

I'm especially not fond of the flies that lay their eggs in dead animals.

[DonRedwood]

4. We now have green bins for yard debris and ALL compost (food, pizza boxes, etc, etc)

we only have about one can of garbage in a whole MONTH now!! :0)

[LynneSin]

6. I'm thinking of getting a kitchen compost bucket

It has a charcoal filter in it to keep the smell contain. Looks like it's built in a concept similiar to a diaper genie.

[FSogol]

9. We have one of those. It is stainless steel with a charcoal filter

from Crate & Barrel, iirc. We empty it every other day or so into a backyard compost pile. It has reduced the amount of garbage leaving the house.

[MadHound]

7. Using food scraps works well in home composting as well,

I don't recommend putting meat scraps in your compost pile, but veggies, fruit peels, egg shells, etc. etc. all make up part of a wonderful compost. Put your yard waste in as well rather than setting it out on the curb.

[cali]

10. Vermont restaurants- even our local diner have been doing this for years

It's called closing the loop.

http://www.highfieldscomposting.org/

Highfields is kick ass. They even compost dairy cows.

[Cleita]

14. It's about time.

The only problem is animal products don't compost well. You could feed the leftover meat and eggs to feral cats and other needy homeless animals though. I'm sure animal rescue organizations could help out in this.

[jillan]

15. I miss composting - it makes me sick everytime I throw an eggshell or orange rind in the trash. :(