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November 30, 2010
 It’s easy to get “wrapped up” in our traditional ways of decking the halls. But some decorating traditions, however sentimental, may not be so environmental.
Obviously it’s eco-smart to reuse any decorations that’ve survived their latest hibernation in the basement. Yet inevitably your “halls” end up looking a little bare — or your husband brings home a hulking tree that looks naked even after ALL your ornaments are hung. Then you find yourself writing “more tree ornaments” and “new wreath” and “garland for stairs” on your holiday shopping list.
This year as you’re making a list, be sure you’re also checking it twice for any opportunity to green your holiday decorating.
Interior designer Cheryl Terrace says you’re in good company if you’re opting out of a new petroleum-based fake Christmas tree, mass-produced or plastic ornaments, or energy-draining string of standard holiday lights.
“There’s a huge movement toward respecting the planet during the holidays,” says Terrace, founder of eco-friendly design firm Vital Design. “The focus is shifting from mass consumerism to creating a holiday that’s about gratitude, especially for the environment.”
That think-green buzz is making it easier than ever to find affordable eco-friendly and socially responsible holiday decorations. Here are a few tips to help you look at holiday decorating in a new green light this holiday.
1. Gotta get a tree? Keep it green …
Love that fresh pine scent making your house feel all wintry? Go ahead — a live tree is actually a relatively eco-friendly choice, so long as you’re conscious about where it goes once the holidays are over.
According to the National Christmas Tree Association, nearly all cut holiday trees are grown on tree farms — meaning their stock is replenished yearly and forests aren’t hurt by choosing a cut tree. And spent trees can be ground into woodchips and used to mulch your garden or prevent erosion at a local watershed. Check with your city government or go to earth911.org and enter your ZIP code to find out where to have your tree recycled.
Fake trees are a different story, requiring a significant amount of energy and petroleum-based materials to manufacture. Plus, artificial trees are often manufactured overseas and shipped thousands of miles before they reach our living rooms.
“Living trees are another option,” Terrace points out. “They can be kept in a pot during the holidays and planted in the garden afterward.” Local nurseries stock numerous varieties of evergreens. In the Northwest, the Original Living Christmas Tree Company rents live Christmas trees that are returned and replanted after the holidays.
As for those presents under whatever tree you choose, wrap them in recycled paper or other eco-friendly gift wrap alternatives.
2. String a smarter light string
Instead of buying more standard holiday lights to replace bad strings (or to try and keep outdoing your neighbor’s massive display), opt for energy-efficient light strings. When they’re made using light-emitting diode bulbs, or LEDs, they’re 90 percent more efficient than traditional holiday lights. LEDs also last longer — up to 10,000 hours compared with 5,000 hours for standard incandescent bulbs.
Look for LED holiday lights where regular lights are sold, or order from Gaiam.com. You can even get holiday-motif signs and decorations lighted with energy-saving LED bulbs.
3. Practice the 3 Rs
You’ve heard it a million times, but Terrace says, “Those three little words ‘reduce, reuse, recycle’ can have a huge impact during the holidays.”
Choose eco-friendly and socially responsible holiday decorations like tree ornaments handmade from natural materials. Many handmade decorations also come with little or no packaging, reducing that aforementioned holiday trash total.
Tired of that same old garland? Throw a holiday-décor-swapping party with neighbors, family and friends or check secondhand shops like Goodwill and the Salvation Army, where you’ll find aisles of gently used holiday décor. Buying secondhand saves cast-offs from the landfill, and you can use the savings to make a donation to a good cause.
Fair trade decorations offer another way to give back to the world around you. From handmade tree ornaments to hand-knit stockings and tree skirts to artful and useful gifts, products you buy through fair trade programs help ensure that artisans receive a fair wage in their local context as well as training and assistance to help them build sustainable livelihoods. Gaiam’s One World Fair Trade Marketplace collections are sourced through fair trade cooperatives that pay livable wages and improve quality of life for artisans in developing regions in Cambodia, Thailand, India and other countries around the world.
“Every dollar you spend has power,” Terrace says. “You get to decide how to use that power. Choosing green and fair trade products speaks volumes.”
4. Go green in the guest room & bath
What holiday guests wouldn’t love knowing that your festive flannel sheets are made from organic cotton or some other eco-friendly textile? It’s another way to add to the good feelings that the giving traditions of the holidays bring out in all of us.
Eco-friendly bedding and bath towels made from organic cotton come in a wonderful range of holiday colors and festive patterns. Check out sheets, quilts, duvets and comforters made from natural fibers like silk and bamboo. And don’t be shy about it — come right out and tell your guests that their room and bathroom are decked in linens that are planet-friendly.
5. Borrow from nature
Think of how your great-grandma (or great-great grandma) decorated during the holidays — with natural evergreen boughs cut from the tree, handmade ornaments, and bowls of fruit, nuts or pine cones. With a backdrop of seasonal plants like poinsettias and cyclamen, they create a warm, welcoming feel — and they aren’t made of petroleum and chemicals.
Check your holiday decorations list twice this year, and put the planet first whenever you can.
Article Source: Jodi Helmer, Gaiam Life
August 20, 2010
Did you know Marvin’s Organic Gardens has been a USDA Certified Organic facility since 2003?
All organic agricultural farms & products must mee the following guidelines (verified by a USDA-approved independent agency):
- Abstain from the application of prohibited materials (including synthetic fertilizers, pesticides & sewage sludge) for 3 years prior to certification and then continually throughout their organic license.
- Prohibit the use of genetically modified organisms & irradiation.
- Employ positive soil building, conservation, manure management and crop rotation practices.
- Provide outdoor access and pasture for livestock.
- Refrain from antibiotic and hormone use in animals.
- Sustain animals on 100% organic feed.
- Avoid contamination during the processing of organic products.
- Keep records of all operations.
Does organic mean natural?
No. Natural and organic are not interchangeable. Only food/products labeled “organic” have been certified as meeting USDA organic standards.
July 21, 2010
Check out this fantastic article from NPR on honey & the beekeeping craze. Read here.
Did you know we sell our own local honey at Marvin’s Organic Gardens made from hives on our property? Stop in and pick up some Green Truck Honey while supplies last!
July 12, 2010
Congratulations to our friends at Five Rivers MetroParks. After seven years of restoration, the ancient wetland that dates to the last Ice Age 13,000 years ago is now officially open to the public.
Read more by clicking here.
June 23, 2010
Read this great article from the New York Times about the growth of corporate gardens with a mention of the local Toyota plant in Georgetown, Kentucky.
Click here to read article.
Does your company have a garden? Leave us a comment below.
June 11, 2010
According to this article from Natural News, the U.S. Government wants farmers to dump heavy metals on food crops as a way to dispose of the over 125 to 130 million tons of ash and sludge left over from burning coal each year.
Read more here: http://www.naturalnews.com/027982_heavy_metals_food_crops.html
Share your thoughts on this with us.
June 9, 2010
Ample Harvest is a website that links backyard gardeners with local food pantries do supply donations for free; there are over 2,064 food pantries across all 50 states! This is such a great concept that is quite similar to our Giving Gardens efforts at Marvin’s Organic Gardens with The Healing Center in Springdale. The Healing Center is a registered food pantry with Ample Harvest!
Their site also provides some great information for home gardeners we’d like to share with you:
In an ideal world, gardeners would plant only enough to satisfy the needs of themselves and their friends. The reality of gardening (and farming in general) is that all sorts of things beyond the control of the gardener influence the ultimate size of the harvest. In a growing season with lots of sun, adequate rain, no late or early frosts, no serious pest problems (small pests such as fungus, pests a bit larger such as insects, pests a lot larger such as ground hogs or rabbits, and very large pests such as deer) etc, the grower gets a larger harvest. If however, any of the above appear (more often than not, several can appear at the same time), the harvest is significantly reduced.
Because the gardener never quite knows how good (or bad) the growing season will be, they usually grow more plants than they need–just in case a fungus laden insect traveling in the fur of a deer sized ground hog attacks the garden. The result is that if one or more of these bad things do not attack the garden, the harvest can easily exceed the needs of the grower.
Yes! The produce you donate can be pooled with that of other backyard gardeners in your area. For all you know, the next gardener might bring only 3 tomatoes and two bags of cucumbers.
Remember, the key thing is that food should not be wasted, especially when so many Americans are having a hard time feeding their families. Your bounty, large or small, will help to diminish hunger in America.
Unlike supermarkets that get deliveries from food wholesalers daily assuring that you’ll get fresh produce, food banks and other sources do less frequent deliveries of food to pantries. As such, lettuce or tomatoes that looked great on Monday when the food bank got them would be pretty limp or mushy a week later when finally delivered to the local food pantry.
Backyard gardeners however can harvest their produce and deliver it to the pantry on the same day. Furthermore, if the pantry clients pickup the produce that same day, they will benefit from eating food that is even fresher than what can be purchased at a food store.
Most do not – they are perfectly happy with fresh produce, organic or not. However, you may want to let the pantry know if you use organic methods in case one of their clients prefers it. Having said that, if you do grow organically, you will harvest healthier food with without depleting the earth as much.
You are protected by the Emerson Good Samaritan Food Donation Act signed during the Clinton administration. The Act is intended to encourage donations of food to nonprofit organizations while providing the donor with “Good Samaritan” protection. You are provided protection from criminal and civil liability providing you did not exhibit gross negligence. The text of the act is at www.usda.gov/news/pubs/gleaning/appc.htm
You are protected by the Emerson Good Samaritan Food Donation Act signed during the Clinton administration. The Act is intended to encourage donations of food to nonprofit organizations while providing the donor with “Good Samaritan” protection. You are provided protection from criminal and civil liability providing you did not exhibit gross negligence. The text of the act is at www.usda.gov/news/pubs/gleaning/appc.htm
Also notable, on the day of your planned donation delivery, harvest your crops in the early morning while they still have some of the coolness of the evening air. If they have dew, wipe them dry with a paper towel. Each item should be visually inspected for serious bruising, insect damage, and ripeness.
Do not donate produce that you would not buy for your own family. Produce that is overripe, has mushy spots, or is seriously blemished should either be made into a soup, stew, or go into a compost pile but not donated. (Note, if you used any pesticide on your garden, please take the time to clean each piece of produce as recommended by the pesticide manufacturer on the label before you let anyone eat it.)
Package your produce in paper supermarket bags and take them to the pantry at the requested time. If you find the pantry convenient to get to, you can continue to share your produce with them through the rest of the growing season.
Whatever you may be able to do, it will be greatly appreciated.
May 21, 2010
It’s a horrifiying statistic that 58 billion paper coffee cups are thrown in the trash each year. Styrofoam cups are made from fossil fuels and are not recycleable or biodegradable. The 3 billion cups provided at Starbucks every year are not eco-friendly either (due to the thin waxy coating). And anytime you drink from a single-use water bottle, you are contributing to a serious waste problem of 2.5 million thrown in landfills every hour!
Recently we posted an article on our Facebook page about The Great Coffee Cup Challenge. We at Marvin’s Organic Gardens were thrilled when we recently found out that one of our Facebook Fans, Micah Dennison of The Party Source read this post and sparked advocacy.
“After reading the ‘coffee cup challenge’ you guys posted a few months back I managed to get The Party Source to switch the coffee cups we use to recyleable paper cups, plus get a bunch of people (myself included) to start using their own. Thanks for the heads up!”
It’s incredible what social media can do to engage those in our community and motivate them to take action. We’re so glad we could influence the sustainable choices being made at The Party Source in Northern Kentucky. By using BPA-free reusable coffee cups or aluminum water bottles, we can help diminish the waste sent to landfills as well as wasted water and trees in production- and still enjoy our daily brew!
March 24, 2010
After our recent Giving Gardens workshops at the Vineyard Community Church’s Healing Center, this post on Flourish’s blog really felt relevant to our programs and motivations. Click the title to check out the original post.
What is so refreshing about sitting on a front porch? It can be the company you’re sitting with, a gentle breeze, or an impromptu jam session. But a lot of the time, it’s encouraging just to have a physical space in which to enjoy creation in the company of others.
The beauty of God is in your midst when you plant a flower garden.
Most American churches do not have a physical front porch where folks can gather to enjoy God’s fresh air. But the lack of a front porch shouldn’t inhibit the development of a front porch culture. An alternative outdoor space that is often easier for churches to construct than an actual front porch is a garden. Much like a front porch, a garden welcomes us into a relaxed, fresh air setting and encourages curiosity among passersby, strengthening community ties.
But is your church ready for a garden? If so, there’s a lot to consider before breaking ground: Do you want a flowerbed with a curbside bench for weary walkers? Or is your church up for establishing a full-blown vegetable garden to feed the neighborhood?
If dreams of ecclesial-based produce are floating through your head, lead your church in responding to this questionnaire to get started:
Church Gardening Questionnaire
1. Is there support in your church for a garden? You will likely need to share a report on a potential garden with your church’s governing body to gain that support. Addressing the following questions in that report will help you make your case.
2. Would your larger community benefit from having a community garden in its midst?
3. Does your church have a clear understanding of its goals for the garden?
- Will the garden space be open to church members only, or to the wider community?
- Will the garden be primarily a place for rest and meditation? If this is the case, you may want to be sure you include seating and perhaps a prayer walk in the garden.
- Will the garden provide a space for gathering, holding events, or building community in groups? If so, you may want to factor picnic benches, shelters, and waste receptacles into your plan.
- Will the garden produce food for church members? For the wider community (either directly or in partnership with another entity)?
- Will the garden provide a place for groups to learn and volunteer?
4. Does your church know what type of garden it would like to establish? (Note: these garden themes are not exclusive of one another, and can overlap. However, it’s helpful to know the main thrust of your garden before you begin planning it.
- A flower garden: Amenable to variable levels of light, moisture, and soil pH, a flower garden helps your church bring creation into the sanctuary by providing a treasure trove of cut flowers for decoration. It can provide a beautiful respite for souls in need of restoration, and a volunteer site for students, seniors, and individuals in rehabilitation programs. It also provides instant, free floral arrangements for church members experiencing illness, grief, or celebration
- A prayer garden: Like the flower garden, a prayer garden is adaptable to geographic and climatic variations. The amount of upkeep it will require can be determined by those who plan it, as the goal of this garden isn’t to produce a harvest or even cut flowers. Planning a prayer garden allows for a creative use of space and garden elements: prayer walks or labyrinths to encourage walking and meditation; nooks and crannies where folks can read and pray; benches, gazebos, and tables to rest on; water features to soothe with their gentle sounds; and signs with quotations on them to encourage those in prayer. A prayer garden can provide peace and rest for those undergoing illness or rehabilitation.
- A vegetable garden: Requiring the most work and specific conditions, this garden also produces the most visible harvest. Sun, healthy soil, access to water, and a lot of sweat goes into a vegetable garden. But the requirement of physical labor may open opportunities to work with other groups and partners in your church’s community, and provide volunteer opportunities to anyone from school children to individuals on probation. Provided it is large enough, a vegetable garden can also produce healthy food to feed the neediest.
- A container garden: A container garden allows your church to produce a harvest of fruits and vegetables even without
Container garden can-do.
access to a vast swath of land or eight hours of sunlight. This garden takes some ingenuity, but it can help a church locked in a sea of concrete to add some green. It is also a terrific learning tool for children. Classes can work container gardens and learn about healthy eating, natural life cycles, and our connections to creation. Seniors and members of your congregation with special needs can also find joy in gardening in a space that is limited and accessible.
- A wildlife garden: Establishing a wildlife garden is a conservation tool that provides food and safety for local creatures, especially in suburban or urban areas. It also creates a great learning opportunity for schools and other educational groups to discover more about their local ecosystems. This kind of garden will require less regular maintenance than a vegetable or flower garden, but it may be difficult to establish if your municipality understands the wildlife you’re trying to attract to be pests.
- A native garden: Much like a wildlife garden, a native plant garden works in a symbiotic relationship with the land and the creatures living on it. Requiring less maintenance because it is perfectly suited to your area, a native garden can provide a valuable learning space for school and community groups. It is also beneficial to the land on which it is placed, nourishing the soil, taking in only the water naturally available to it, and providing food for local wildlife. It will not, however, provide you with cut flowers or a human food harvest to the extent that other garden types will.
5. Does your church have (or have access to) the physical and financial capacity to start a garden? This community gardening site can help you brainstorm the amount of space and money you may need to get a garden together, but here are some general financial factors to take into consideration:
- land: Does your church own property that would support a garden? If not, is it feasible to buy or rent land for this purpose? What sort of financial partnerships could be made with other institutions to make this possible?
- soil and mulch: Establishing a compost bin in your garden will reduce your need to buy soil, but to start your garden you want to ensure a healthy source of nutrients for your plants.
- gardening tools: shovels, trowels, rototillers, wheelbarrows, buckets, wood (especially for raised beds), rakes, hoes, hoses, rain barrels
- plants: seeds, seedlings, transplants, cuttings, etc. Also consider what you will be feeding your plants, and how much that plant food will cost you.
- larger garden elements: a toolshed, compost bin, picnic tables, bird feeders, bird baths, benches, gazebos, fences, stones or gravel for paths, a water source, lighting, trash and recycling receptacles
It takes a community to make a community garden.
6. Are there people who live close enough to your church to tend the garden?
7. Are there people in your church with basic, proven gardening skills?
8. Is there ample physical space, exposed to at least six hours of sunlight, available for your church to establish a garden? How much space is accessible to you will help you determine what kind of garden would be appropriate for your church.
9. Are there potential institutions and non-profits in your community (a grocery co-op, a food pantry, a shelter, or a school) that might benefit from your garden and be able to provide you with volunteer support?
10. Are there community members or institutions that could provide your garden with donations or funding to get it started and keep it going? These might include members of the local business community, hardware stores, nurseries, florists, sister churches, etc.
Taking these questions into consideration as you plan a church garden will set your community on its way to establishing a hospitable, outdoor space in which to share the refreshment of God’s love (and maybe his juiciest peaches or sweetest strawberries) with your neighbors!
Read this article by Joe Goicochea – he’s a big fan of the food waste composting program at Marvin’s Organic Gardens.
Ohio Supermarket Composting
BioCycle October 2009, Vol. 50, No. 10, p. 18
State and grocery chain commitment lead to successful food waste diversion pilot that could motivate others to replicate program.
Joe Goicochea
IN JULY 2008, the Kroger supermarket chain decided to expand its active role in the community to include an environmental element. The company’s first food scrap composting program was rolled out in 24 Ohio stores. In just four months, more than 650 tons of food waste were diverted from landfills and instead composted. The project proved so successful that Kroger recently added a dozen more of its Columbus-area stores and six Toledo-area stores earlier this summer. To date, more than 2,000 tons of organics have been recovered. “Our stores are proud to be part of a pioneering effort with the state of Ohio to start, sustain and excel at a compost/recycling program,” says Marne Fuller, who is with Retail Operations for Kroger’s Columbus division. The state of Ohio hopes the successes of the Kroger food waste composting project, and the connection made between environmental stewardship and community leadership, will motivate other grocers and industries to implement similar programs.
Kroger first learned of opportunities to divert food waste from landfills at a stakeholders’ meeting held by the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency (Ohio EPA) in 2007. The idea was further discussed by the Environmental Task Force created by the Ohio Grocers Foundation (OGF). OGF received a grant from the Ohio Department of Natural Resources (ODNR) to develop a supermarket manual to help grocers plan and implement food waste composting programs. As the manual neared completion, Kroger volunteered to conduct a waste audit, which revealed that nearly 60 percent of the waste at its stores consisted of compostable material. Kroger then committed 24 of its Ohio stores to participate in a four-month pilot project.
The pilot project was designed to determine logistical and economic feasibility. Store managers monitored the efficiency of separating compostable wastes from packaging both in terms of time and contamination. Departments selected to participate in the project used containers with clearly marked signage and lined with compostable bags. In many stores this included produce, floral, deli, bakery and dairy. Prior to the project, Kroger had a program in place to recycle corrugated cardboard, but the compost facilities encouraged the inclusion of waxed corrugated and soiled paper — a carbon source for the compost facility, that also absorbs liquids and controls odors during collection. The hauling costs were also studied to compare disposal costs at the local landfill to transporting the organics up to 40 miles west to the nearest permitted compost facility. The study determined that it would be economically feasible to divert food scraps to compost facilities despite the relatively low landfill tipping fees (with a state average of $35/ton).
The start-up of the pilot project did encounter challenges, similar to any other program that requires behavioral change. Store employees neededto adapt to the new task of separating waste streams. Each store selected an employee to champion the program by motivating and assisting coworkers. Employees seemed to embrace the program once the purpose of separating organics and the environmental benefits of composting were understood through educational efforts. Kroger filmed a training video at one of its participating stores and the composting facility to communicate the purpose of the program. The video is now a training requirement for all employees, and has reduced contamination to a level that is manageable by the composting facility.
Kroger stores previously placed all wastes in a compactor that required pick-up every 10 to 15 days. Twenty-one participating stores designated the compactor to food waste and placed regular trash in box dumpsters. On average, compactors filled with compostable wastes were hauled every 15 to 20 days. The reduced frequency of hauling has factored into the economic sustainability of the program. The recent opening of a composting facility in central Ohio, and an anaerobic digestion facility that will undergo construction later this year, will also make food waste programs attractive by reducing hauling distances.
OHIO FOOD SCRAPS RECOVERY INITIATIVE
As Kroger plans to expand its food waste composting program, OGF hopes that the publication of its supermarket manual will interest other grocers implementing similar programs. The state of Ohio wants to apply the successes of the grocery industry to other industries that generate significant quantities of food waste. Ohio EPA and ODNR, in collaboration with private and public stakeholders, plan to connect the Kroger and OGF successes with Ohio’s Food Scraps Recovery Initiative to lead the state forward in projects involving organics diversion and renewable energy.
Ohio’s Food Scraps Recovery Initiative was launched in June 2007 with the goal of capturing Ohio’s portion of the estimated 26 million tons of food waste generated in the U.S. each year. The initiative has focused on education, infrastructure development and the partnerships needed to develop and implement a successful diversion program (see “Food Scraps Recovery in Ohio,” BioCycle April 2008). After a year of statewide stakeholders’ meetings that targeted composting facilities and waste haulers, Ohio is now in a position to offer food waste composting services to businesses and communities in its major cities.
In June 2007, there were only three remote locations with composting facilities that were actively accepting and processing food waste. Eighteen months later, this number has tripled and three proposed solid waste anaerobic digesters are planned for construction later this year. Not only has the number of composting facilities significantly increased, but the location of the facilities has established an infrastructure that can serve the more populated areas of the state including Columbus, Cleveland/Akron, Cincinnati and Toledo.
While the establishment of these facilities is a result of composting facility operators identifying community needs, the timing can also be attributed to Ohio EPA and ODNR programs. Since 2007, these agencies have hosted several stakeholders’ meetings and provided Community and Market Development grants totaling $2 million. Ohio’s tiered regulatory approach has motivated many yard waste composting facilities to change facility status to a food waste classification. Proposed rule changes aim to further promote food waste composting by streamlining regulations for institutional composting. This is gaining popularity at colleges and universities, correctional facilities and business campuses.
The Ohio Compost Association recently amended its name to the Organics Recycling Association of Ohio (ORAO). It also has been integral to the development of food waste diversion in the state. ORAO held two Food Scraps: Create a Diversion! conferences in 2008 to provide technical assistance to composters who were interested in accepting food waste. The association included sessions introducing anaerobic digestion, recognizing the emerging industry’s future role in recovering organics.
The Ohio Grocers Foundation continues to reinforce opportunities for organics recovery by supermarkets. The agendas for the organization’s quarterly Environmental Task Force meetings focus heavily on food scraps diversion identifying current and future solutions for its members. In addition to commercial composting facilities, OGF is interested in anaerobic digestion facilities and on-site solutions that may offer renewable energy to offset store operational costs. Regardless of the management option, OGF’s Composting and Diversion Guide has been widely distributed to assist grocers (and other sectors) to develop programs, and is available at www.ohiogrocersfoundation.org.
The state plans to showcase the successes of Kroger to communities throughout Ohio to develop food scrap diversion programs. “Kroger should be commended for taking the initiative and boldly embracing a food scrap composting programs,” said Ohio EPA Director Chris Korleski. “The results of this project are beneficial to Kroger and our environment. I encourage other grocers and industries to implement their own program all across Ohio.” Solid waste management districts in Columbus, Cincinnati, Cleveland and Akron hosted local stakeholder meetings this past spring to facilitate the partnerships needed to sustain diversion programs. The state plans to work with local governments to identify the most effective way to market the program. Advertising campaigns may include community newsletters, council meetings and social networking web sites such as www.zerowasteneo.org.
The Kroger pilot project not only demonstrates the feasibility of a food waste diversion program but also the connection of environmental stewardship and community leadership. Central Ohio plans to transition existing and future food waste composting programs into sources of renewable energy with the construction of a community anaerobic digester scheduled to open this winter. Businesses and communities can be a part of conserving landfill space, reducing landfill emissions and producing renewable energy by simply diverting food waste to composting and anaerobic digestion facilities. While we may think everyone is aware of the relationship between organics, composting and renewable energy, many of these concepts are new to businesses and communities. Kroger’s commitment in Ohio and other states across the country have begun to make the connection more visible and have sparked renewed interest in organics management.
Joe Goicochea of the Ohio EPA, Environmental Supervisor of the Compliance Assistance & Inspection Support Unit, has been active in promoting food scraps recovery in the state and working with other regions.
Copyright 2009, The JG Press, Inc.
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