Question of the Week: What do you do with food waste?
Posted on July 6th, 2009 - 10:30 AMInstead of throwing it away, food waste can be composted and reused on lawns and gardens. Yet food waste remains single-largest component of the waste stream by weight in the U.S.
What do you do with food waste?
Each week we ask a question related to the environment. Please let us know your thoughts as comments. Feel free to respond to earlier comments or post new ideas. Previous questions.
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Question of the Week
July 6th, 2009 at 11:06 am
Won’t meat attract rats?
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Dave Engelhardt reply on July 6, 2009 11:07 am:
Won’t meat in compost attract rats?
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Anonymous reply on July 6, 2009 3:11 pm:
Meat should NOT go in compost. Only fruit and vegetable scraps, breads, and eggshells.
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Cyndy reply on July 16, 2009 8:45 am:
Compost bins are the best if you want strong healthy plants. The compost is a great natural feed. Meats do not go in, fish is OK I hear. Chicken droppings turn into great compost too. You need to stir it now and then also. It keeps the landfills clear of wasted trash that can be used at home. Recycling is important too. All food waste, that might go into the garbage disposal (if you had one) goes into compost. I love mine!
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real bourassa reply on July 6, 2009 1:01 pm:
We try the best we can to save food waste the best we can because we would nt like to be infest of vermins. That’s one reason why we don’t do compost.
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Anonymous reply on July 6, 2009 3:12 pm:
There are compost bins you can buy that keep out pests.
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July 6th, 2009 at 11:07 am
I feed it to my pet pig.
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July 6th, 2009 at 11:08 am
No such thing! If the cats, dogs, pigs, chickens or what have you won’t eat it, then it gets buried in the garden or added to the compost pile.
I’m thinking about getting a worm composter to make it easier to collect worm castings - and worms- to use elsewhere.
In my opinion, so called “sanitary” landfills are a major blight on the landscape and to society on a whole. If you can’t manage the garbage you produce, then maybe you shouldn’t be producing it.
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July 6th, 2009 at 11:13 am
I live in an apartment and we have a yard waste bin. We can compost everything except for meat and dairy. I rarely eat meat, so rarely have meat waste. Also, the dairy I don’t consume can go down the drain. Occasionally I’ll have little bits of cheese that have molded and I have to throw that in the garbage. Unfortunately, my neighbors haven’t figured out how to use the yard waste bin.
The city of Seattle recently began allowing meat in the yard waste. I believe they have more frequent pick up to avoid the rat problem.
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July 6th, 2009 at 11:15 am
I have two compost piles: one for large garden clippings; one round rolling enclosed barrel for scrapings from the table. I feed all the veg peelings, fruit and any fresh produce to my composting worms.
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July 6th, 2009 at 11:19 am
It depends on what the food is.
1) Small bits of meat, bone, or protein type foods, I will feed to my dog.
2) Vegetative foods or juices will go down in my garbage disposal
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July 6th, 2009 at 11:19 am
This question is especially appropriate for me this week. Up until 4 days ago we lived in a house with limited counter space and not particularly easy access to the backyard. Composting food scraps seemed like too much trouble. Our new house has a lot of counter space and very easy access to our compost pile out back. So, I will now be composting my food waste. I plan to put a pitcher that has an easily removable top on the counter in which I will collect the scraps and I will regularly empty it to the compost in the backyard. I am looking forward to adding this “green” component to my life.
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July 6th, 2009 at 11:21 am
I live in the city, but I have a compost bin in my back yard. All my waste, except meat goes in the bin. I have a garden in my front yard that is all perennials, I use the compost to feed those plants. My meat I put behind my grape vine trellis for the raccoons and possoms. Between my composting, and recycling, I only have one bag of garbage per week. That’s not bad with a family of four.
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July 6th, 2009 at 11:25 am
We compost what’s left after we feed the chickens. Meat and dairy go to the chickens, and yes, occasionally we have rats. But the bones littering the chicken yard are slowly bleaching away in the sun and being crushed under foot. No food ever goes in the trash.
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July 6th, 2009 at 11:29 am
Compost pile!
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July 6th, 2009 at 11:35 am
By planning my meals, I am able to make what I need. If my family is not going to eat it, I am not going to make it. Portion control is important. If extra food is left over it goes to work the next day for lunch, or put in the fridge for Thursday night leftovers that may have accumulated throughout the week (this helps me clear out space for the groceries I will buy on the weekend).
Anything that does not get eaten, or goes bad before someone gets to it, gets put out for animals. Extra waste like used coffee grounds and egg shells get put into an old coffee can to be used outside.
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July 6th, 2009 at 12:06 pm
I compost everything - including weeds, paper from the shredder, kleenexes, dryer lint, meat and dairy. Whatever doesn’t breakdown, gets eaten by the critters (I live in in the more rural part of my town). My 16′ by 6′ pile is more like a landfill because I don’t really use it - but I rarely send more than 2-3 very small bags of trash (plastics that can’t be recycled) to the landfill each month.
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July 6th, 2009 at 12:06 pm
We compost all our food waste, and use it on our vegetable and flower gardens. We eat very little meat, since it requires so much water, land and energy, so that isn’t an issue. The challenge is making it really easy for people. Haulers need to pick it up just as they pick up other recyclables. (Our haulers are required to include recycling as part of their trash service.)
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July 6th, 2009 at 12:10 pm
When it is my turn to cook, I try to adopt a “no leftover” policy and make just enough for that meal since leftovers tend to become waste (this has been a challenge since we became “empty nesters).” I also have a barrel composter but I am a novice at composting and must confess the rate of composting is not consistent with my level of patience. I would appreciate some tips. Should I add worms?
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Geri reply on July 6, 2009 2:14 pm:
Mike, Redworms are great in the compost. If you live in a warmer climate they will thrive, if not you will have to re-add them yearly, because they can’t survive under 45 degrees. A regular heat compost works well too. I’ve done both at one time or another. Just remember to keep them moist.
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Pfeiffer Nature Center reply on July 7, 2009 9:44 am:
I agree that worm composting is efficient, but isn’t there a problem releasing these non-native worms into the wild? Isn’t there a native worm that will work well?
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Chris S reply on July 7, 2009 1:47 pm:
The so called native worms are actually immigrants that came along with the rest of the European settlers - who brought their livestock and rooted plants to establish homesteads.
Red wigglers like warmer temperatures than nightcrawlers and you can use worms from your local area rather than buying worms from dealers. The dealers use proven varieties (species) - but local stock will work. They just might have higher mortalities or lower reproduction rates.
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July 6th, 2009 at 12:11 pm
Ok, food waste should have an apropriate local to be disposal, because may leach and reach the groundwater and acidify the soil and water. The irregular disposal may atract animals and insects, sometimes a large amount of these waste may generate a public health problem. These concerns must be considered by governments. It’s necessary arrange apropriate locals to disposal and recycle these food waste, but the neighbors that live around must be take into account. A selective collect will guarantee that none of toxic waste are present.
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July 6th, 2009 at 12:24 pm
we are working in produce compost.
since 2005, we did it working for local government.
now 2009 we started our own business.
we apreciate all the technical information regarding this process (composting), and all contact with people interested in doing with us.
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July 6th, 2009 at 1:19 pm
Utilization of volume reduction technology will make a significant difference. http://www.envirosolutions.net. Ozonator NG-1000 reduces all waste volumes by 90% while completely sanitizing everything. Absolutely no oder with ZERO emissions.
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July 6th, 2009 at 1:27 pm
Eggshells get crushed and put around the base of plants to deter slugs. All other plant-based waste go in my Earth Machine compost bin (got it for free from a state compost awareness program). I use the compost to feed my vegetable plants, potted plants and flowers. Works great! I grew a 300-pound pumpkin last year using nothing but compost for food.
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July 6th, 2009 at 3:00 pm
I have two bins for plant based food waste, a plastic “Earth machine” and a wooden box with a lid. I use red wriggler worms and shredded newpaper for bedding. Unfortunately I cannot put meat or dairy in my worm bins as I live on a small city lot and it attracts rats. I do my best to cook only what will be eaten that day or the next as leftovers.
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July 6th, 2009 at 3:13 pm
I wish I could compost but I live in a 2nd story apartment with no place to put a bin.
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Anonymous reply on July 6, 2009 8:38 pm:
Have you thought of worm composting? You could put a bin right under your sink.
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July 6th, 2009 at 3:46 pm
I do compost all my food waste and have done so for a long time. It works fine if you manage it well.
However this is not the optimal way of handle food waste. A compost will give you a valuable end product for gardening but in the same time leak a little methane. The energy content in the organic matter is also wasted. The best way is to collect food waste and produce biogas that you upgrade to a quality that can be used to drive cars and trucks. In that way you will get both the energy and can recirculate the nutrients. A co2 neutral fuel that also help in recirculate nutrients is a god thing. http://www.sgc.se/dokument/Bioenergy.pdf
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Chris S reply on July 7, 2009 1:57 pm:
The energy is hardly “wasted” - it is being used by small organisms to make more small organisms and a finished product that will help grow larger organisms ( plants) or feed worms ( verimiculture).
To be worth the effort to generate a reliable and usable supply of methane, you need really large quantities of organic matter. Lots of manure (animal or green manure) and it works well for villages or large farms - but not the average household. Don’t forget that methane is the gas that causes explosions in mines, so it needs to be handled in a responsible manner.
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July 6th, 2009 at 4:34 pm
Well if you gluttons ate the food set in front of you, you wouldn’t have to recycle your food now would you??
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marty reply on July 7, 2009 8:58 am:
I would dearly love to see you sit down and eat egg shells, banana peels, and coffee grounds.
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Leigh reply on July 7, 2009 10:23 am:
I’ll add fruit pits, cherry stems and pineapple tops to that list!
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July 6th, 2009 at 4:48 pm
I was always trying to math a real life accounting by avoiding over shopping.
Nutritionists would not get food wasted because they would know how to consume to better balance their nutrition fact.
I consume with capacity and time because I know how amount of food wasted volumes conservative affects human respiratory system health and fresh air productive environment.
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July 6th, 2009 at 6:04 pm
I compost anything that is not meat or dairy, especially coffee grounds. I also compost my yard scraps (leaves, twigs, etc.) Composting eggshells is great, but make sure you wash them out otherwise you will get rodents - at least that is what I found. I use my compost on my yard plants and put it in my potted plants in the spring, they love it! My favorite thing about composting is that my garter snake keeps warm in the spring due to the heat of my compost. My son has named her (or her progeny, my son doesnt know this.) We get to do this in middle of a big city - somthing very important for our children.
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July 6th, 2009 at 8:37 pm
We have a worm compost! It works great! It’s amazing how much those worms can handle! When it gets too full, we put the rich soil on our garden. We don’t have any problems with smell-the bin stays right in our basement. We’ve even taught a 4-H workshop and helped other people get started with vermicomposting.
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July 6th, 2009 at 8:59 pm
I put waste food except meat and bones into my compost along with yard waste, and use the soil produced on my gardens!
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July 6th, 2009 at 9:56 pm
we live in third world countries and just cant think of wasting our food……………………………TAHIR
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Chris S reply on July 7, 2009 2:02 pm:
So true - most Americans have no idea what hunger really is in less advantaged areas of the world. Our climate and natural resources have provided us with so much - that we now expect that as the “norm”.
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July 7th, 2009 at 3:31 am
Only Plastic cannot be recycled… ?
This really is a problem especially as some sellers want their name for a long time be seen on everlasting Plastic Bags.. But there are some firms which use the Plastic for making garden Furniture and Garbage-Bins and boxes for elevated garden-arrangements.(preventing Low-Back-Pain)
In some countries in Europe they collect materials sorted as Plastic,
Metals, Glass, Paperware and cardboard to be recycled.
For Garden-cuttings we use a shredder, the fresher cut and shredded the better and easier food it is for the earth-worms like a handful of “Tennessee Wigglers we’ve got as present from a gardener-friend.
Within 3 month the movable closed bin, areated from below, where all kitchen rests go including bones and too much roasted meat, including surplus oils from fish-conserves, soaked into used tissue-paper can be put as additive to the bigger heap of leavs and grass-cuttings. latest in 6 months all can be spread onto flower garden amd around the trees.
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Chris S reply on July 7, 2009 3:09 pm:
There are makers of compost bins & worm bins that use recyled plastics in the manufacture of their products.
A worm bin can be made from just about anything - used plastic tubs or scrap wood. Instructions can be found from a number of websites at no cost. Use the worm castings for houseplants if you’re not a gardener and give the worms to a youth group use for fishing. We need to act more like a village and less like isolated individuals, because when the bow of the boat goes under, the stern follows right behind.
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July 7th, 2009 at 5:15 am
I give it to my pets, the remaining i dump for two-three weeks to make the very useful manure for garden.
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July 7th, 2009 at 7:11 am
Hi !
One way of dealing with food waste is to reduce its creation. Consumers can reduce their food waste output at point-of-purchase and in their home by adopting some simple measures like planning when shopping for food is important, spontaneous purchases are shown as often the most wasteful; proper knowledge of food storage reduces foods becoming inedible and thrown away.
In areas where waste collection is a public function, food waste is usually managed by the same governmental organization as other waste collection. Food waste can be dumped, but food waste can also be fed to animals or it can be biodegraded by composting or anaerobic digestion, and reused to enrich soil.
With Regards
Amrita
http://www.quality-web-programming.com
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July 7th, 2009 at 10:04 am
I’m like many others who have replied: between the dog, the compost heap, and the garbage disposal (which leads to a septic tank), no food or yard waste goes into the trash; it’s too valuable to throw away. And since I am using a septic system, I’m also not contributing to overburdening the local public sewer system.
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KC reply on July 15, 2009 9:32 am:
You may want to reconsider putting food scraps down the garbage disposal. It’s not good for your septic system. See: http://www.grinningplanet.com/2005/05-10/sink-garbage-disposal-problems-odor-article.htm
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July 7th, 2009 at 10:05 am
I live in Philadelphia. I got a free compost bin from the state of PA. I compost all food scraps (except meat), including my used tea bags, and the fresh flowers my husband gets me. I even bring the banana peels and stuff home from the office. It is great to use to condition the soil, which is really crappy (cheaper than buying soil and compost from the nursery). I can make enough of it during planting season. It is really a simple thing to do and the benefits far outweigh any perceived inconvenience.
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July 7th, 2009 at 10:48 am
I compost! And I’m pleased to say that 1) it is very little extra work 2) I get great soil (and so I save money on buying soil) and 3) it doesn’t smell at all….or rather, it smells like fresh soil or grass clippings. Lovely! It is amazing how quickly organic material degrades.
There is always food waste..since you don’t eat carrot peels, broccoli stubs, or tomato stems. Think of everything that could be composted just from preparing food.
Yet, I also agree that, as a nation, we could do a better job of only preparing what we will eat.
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July 7th, 2009 at 10:54 am
Thanks for all the ideas. I will give several a try.
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July 7th, 2009 at 1:09 pm
What waste. Thanks to Obama I am so broke I don’t have any scraps I eat everything but the bone and the dog gets that.
I hope I don’t have to eat the dog
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Beckie reply on July 7, 2009 3:07 pm:
i think you mean thanks to Bush. In case you don’t remember (food deprivation can cause weakening of mental capabilities) the economy crashed in 2008 under the former President.
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July 7th, 2009 at 3:05 pm
I throw my food waste to my chickens. They can take care of any food waste with the exception of rotten meat and avocados, and they dispatch it quickly and cleanly. In return, I get amazing fresh eggs right from my backyard! it works out great most of the time - occasionally, like this morning, I have to chase a chicken around my urban neighborhood which is usually good for a laugh from my neighbors. small price to pay if you ask me!
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July 8th, 2009 at 3:16 pm
I think the initial question is not correct. Are we not talking about food scraps? To call it food waste leads folks, as you see above, that food is in fact being wasted, when usually we are referring to the portion of the food item, usually plant based, that is inedible, such as carrot tops, rhubarb leaves, corn husks, coffee grounds etc.
I think the question should be reframed to help us all recognize the material not as waste, but as a resource. The question should be - how do we manage this resource in our lives and/or community.
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Chris S reply on July 9, 2009 1:32 pm:
If only it were true that “wasted” food is limited to scraps from food prep and uneaten leftovers. The sad truth is that people can be extremely wasteful.
Food processors have traditionally treated the by-products of canning and other food processes as solid and liquid waster material. Go into any school cafeteria and you will gag at the amount of uneaten or partially eaten food that ends up in the trash bins. The amount of food that is left behind in restaurants and fast food places is also staggering and this ends up in the trash dumpsters.
In North America you can find the landfill by the flocks of seagulls or other scavenger birds circling overhead looking for a free meal. And that’s just before the fragant aroma of the place hits you right between the eyes.
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July 8th, 2009 at 9:50 pm
True waste foods that can’t be used in meat loaf, soups, sandwiches, or other dishes is given to the dog. But, it is only my husband and me and he usually doesn’t leave much to go to waste!
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July 9th, 2009 at 3:52 pm
I have no food waste. Everything is eaten, whats not eaten goes to the dog or the birds. I save hundreds on dog food.
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July 9th, 2009 at 4:13 pm
Most goes in my compost heap behing our fence, meat goes to the dump. Usually don’t have any meat to throw out because we do leftovers in our home, and just serve them next day as something else.
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July 9th, 2009 at 4:49 pm
We recycle all 1 & 2 plastics (wish we could do more but can’t find anyone to take the higher numbers), glass, and metal cans; all “green” food waste goes in our compost bin out back. We live in the city and as long as you keep a good mix of “browns” and “greens” in there, we never ever have any odor or animals come round. Meats and other odd food wastes that cannot be composted go in the trash, but we try not to eat too much meat that would have a lot of waste (like fatty chicken–we try to buy lean and organic). We only put out one bag of trash a week.
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July 9th, 2009 at 7:07 pm
Whatever methods of recycling are used, the growing population’s growing production of waste and garbage will overwhelm any community’s efforts. The beginning of effective recycling is family planning to peacefully reduce the population. Otherwise, the landfills will keep on growing and the oceans will turn to sewers.
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July 9th, 2009 at 9:45 pm
What food waste.
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July 10th, 2009 at 10:08 am
Where can you get a composter
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Chris S reply on July 10, 2009 10:51 am:
HomeDepot has one model - though it is only available seasonally. They are often available through larger garden centers that promote green gardening. But a quick search of the internet will give a large list to investigate.
Contact the local Co-operative Extension or Master Gardener Program to see if there are any available for reduced cost.
Or look for directions to make your own. I went to the local home depot & bought a few sections of low garden fence to form a small bin in my mom’s backyard - she’s in her 80’s- to throw her grass clippings,weeds, & kitchen scraps into. Each spring she takes it apart to use the compost in her garden and then reassembles it and starts afresh.
it’s not rocket science… but it does take a degree of commitment.
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July 10th, 2009 at 1:00 pm
I suddenly occurred to me that we have overlooked another food “waste”.
Lipids ( fasts & oils) do not compost well. However, the spent cooking oil from deep fat fryers can be converted to biodiesel fuel that works quite well in warm temperatures. A co-worker has been doing just that for a few years now. He takes the waste oil from several local restaurants/fast food places and converts it to biodiesel fuel for his bus and home oil burning furnace.
This can be done for both large and small scale operations.
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July 10th, 2009 at 1:40 pm
It would be nice if the government led by example.
If federal facilities and military bases were obliged to compost their food wastes and turn used cooking oil into biodiesel, there would not only be substantial savings ( saved cost of landfilling, reduced cost of maintaining landscaped grounds, low cost fuel to supplement current supplies), but it would prove that it can be done and done well if the commitment is there.
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July 10th, 2009 at 2:46 pm
My new compost bin provided for $5 from the City of Phoenix!
http://tiny.cc/5JUoM
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July 11th, 2009 at 9:49 pm
I use an old micro-refrigerator and stick a bag full of soil into a large plastic flower pot. Then I stuck three dozen Canadian night crawlers and regular earthworms and started a worm farm. All of my food scraps go in there that my dog doesn’t eat. And every time I go fishing on the Chesapeake Bay I take a cup full of those worms and catch huge fish all day. Great way to dispose of food scraps.
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July 14th, 2009 at 4:15 pm
I have composted vegetable scraps/peels, egg shells, coffee grounds, tea leaves/bags for years. When I lived in an apartment, I got a red wiggler bin. Now, I use both the worm bin and outdoors bins. Bones, I like to rinse and keep and someday, plan to mix them into plantings. Any meat scraps, I freeze until I know I can get to a place where carrion feeders will eat them–not in our neighborhood woods, but away from the city. A friend uses large red wiggler bins under his greenhouse and, because it’s built into the ground, the worms can last outside overwinter. The worms come in handy when his chickens need some extra protein.
I don’t know about the energy equations in making biogas from compostables, but one thing I do know is that we’re losing topsoil at too fast a rate, so we ought to compost en masse, the way some cities (Seattle, San Fran) are doing. There’s just no need to landfill food scraps.
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July 15th, 2009 at 5:43 pm
I make mulch out of all my compostables, and; that mulch could be used as a feed stock for a methane digester or, an alcohol fermentation system.
If it is mostly tree or wood material the use for making alcohol or pulp products would be best a best use of that resource. Alas, I don’t have the time or space to set up a system for fermentation.
Bio gas systems are the solution to the landfill dilemma, my opinion…
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July 16th, 2009 at 8:49 am
My compost is a garden saver. It is easy and great for reducing trash. If my chickens do not eat the items, it goes into my compost bin
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August 1st, 2009 at 9:11 pm
‘Tis the ‘law’ in Seattle (as of this spring), Thou shalt separate thy food scraps. So we bag our meat/eggs/dairy into a biodegradable doggie waste bag then into the very small yard waste bin we have. The rest of the food waste goes into a green cone. It stinks, there are flies and it generally doesn’t seem to be working as expected. Fortunately spiders have webbed the entrance. I don’t think much of the green cone and will be experimenting next with a worm bin.
However, all this has drawn my attention to the degree of our waste and thus an ever expanding practice of getting/cooking only what we will eat. I find we now toss mostly starches.
On the other side, have also started an extensive organic yard garden and thus a open ‘green’ compost bin for the raw veggie waste from growth (like old broccoli plants). More needs to be done here as well. I seem to be short on dry materials….
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August 3rd, 2009 at 11:50 am
What if you live in an apartment
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