Curb to Compost
“Only 2.5% of food scraps are recovered in the United States, so there is incredible room for growth in this area." said Lori Scozzafava, CCREF Executive Director
(PRWEB) November 26, 2013
The road to zero waste has led more and more municipalities to build upon existing yard debris composting programs to include food scrap collection, a move that holds many great opportunities yet also a number of challenges. Now there is a pathway to navigate these challenges, offered by the Composting Council Research and Education Foundation (CCREF), in the form of a resource-rich webpage of educational resources titled “Curb to Compost.” The toolkit aims to educate decision makers on the elements and benefits of starting and running a food scrap collection program and why it is the next pivotal step in the road to zero waste.
Specifically, the toolkit:
-Showcases the current state of residential food scrap collection in the US.
-Provides a high-level framework for what a successful compost program looks like when it’s up and running.
-Provides materials and tool to help educate residents on the basics of compost and composting, the benefits of compost and why the residents should participate in the program.
The user target audience includes municipalities and city governments that already have some type of composting program but are not currently collecting residential food scraps.
“Only 2.5% of food scraps are recovered in the United States, so there is incredible room for growth in this area. Also, this is an opportunity for community leaders to improve local environmental conditions, waste management practices and save tax payer dollars… simply by collecting residential food scraps,” said Lori Scozzafava, CCREF Executive Director. “This toolkit has brought together a variety of resources that will assist cities and municipalities in taking the next logical step in organics recovery – by diverting food scraps.“
CCREF received a generous $2,000 contribution from the BASF Corporation for the design and creation of the kit. Content for the kit was created, vetted, research and coordinated with a working group comprised of the following volunteer experts/foundation donors: Christopher Bradlee (Chair of the working group) and Stacey Russell, BASF; Jennifer Wagner, BioBag; Doug Hill, Nora Goldstein, BioCycle Magazine; EcoSafe Zero Waste; Rhodes Yepsen, Novamont; John Sebranek, Orbis; Anne Morrissey, UCan Corporation and Chuck Duprey, We Care Organics.
Its thank to the generosity of these individuals and their companies that this kit has come to fruition.
All materials are available in downloadable form from the CCREF’s website for public use at http://compostfoundation.org/curb-to-compost/
