In the year 2014 alone, the EPA estimated that 38 million tons of food waste went to our landfills.(1)
Knowing that about 3/4 of that amount goes up into our atmosphere in the form of carbon and methane emissions, we can roughly estimate that around 28 million tons of carbon and methane gas were released into the atmosphere in just one year. Since 2014, that's over 100 million tons! Don't worry about climate change, the toxic overload from landfills might get us first!
Why Recycle Food Waste? That sounds like a reasonable enough question, so I will give you a straight up answer. At the landfill, carbon and methane emissions are literally gasses released as food waste rots. Food waste recycling virtually eliminates that. That is so huge I have to repeat it, Food Waste Recycling is carbon emission free. Imagine the impact if we just started recycling our household food waste, how much pollution do you think we could eliminate?
In Millington,TN the single greatest thing you can do to cut your carbon footprint is to recycle your food waste
The good news is that you don't need a government mandate, a tax rebate or a new law to pass. You can do it yourself!
It's the ultimate in landfill diversion! This is a very efficient method of carbon sequestration that provides a viable alternative to damaging our environment and it costs less than a disposal service. But the greatest benefit might be that recycled waste absorbs several times its own weight in atmospheric carbon! It helps create an effective carbon sink that sequesters tons on carbon from the atmosphere.
If recycling food waste is so great, why isn't
everyone in Millington doing it?
Fermenting food waste is a completely natural process unfortunately it's not widely practiced... yet! It can’t be patented so there is little incentive to pursue from a business standpoint. It is what is referred to as a "low profit potential" business it can't be franchised either. That is why it takes a nonprofit to take up the cause. Fortunately for all of us, fermentive recycling is "open
source" to anyone. No one owns the process and no one can stop you from doing it.
What is Food Waste Recycling? You may never have heard of fermenting food waste. It is as simple as introducing , or inoculating indigenous microorganisms (bacteria and yeast) into your household waste stream and the soil. It's not that much harder than that.
Think of it this way, if you wanted to make a pickle you would need a cucumber. Then bacteria to "pickle" it.
Fermenting preserves food and makes it more nutritious to the soil, it preserves the natural vitamins and minerals and returns them to the soil accompanied by vast populations of microbial life!
But you probably already know these microbials already by another name, Probiotics. That’s right , it's the same types of bacteria used to make everything from wine, cheese, kefir, kombucha, sauerkraut, yogurt and sourdough bread
How do you recycle food waste in Millington, TN?
If you have ever seen a silo on a farm, what you were seeing was a huge container of shredded kernels of corn, cobs,leaves, and stalks that were fermented to preserve the nutrients and sustain cattle during the winter months Bacteria preserve all the nutritional value of the corn plant and provides
a healthy diet for dairy cows all winter long.
So you see that this is not some new technology or a revolutionary idea, it's simply following the laws of nature.
At AgraCycle.org, we believe in working in harmony with nature to create highly efficient, effective carbon sequestration projects that are environmentally sustainable.
Did you know that restoring and maintaining healthy soils can offset a significant amount carbon emission? I'm for real! Recycling provides immediate, quantifiable results in cutting dangerous emissions and also provides a significant secondary benefit by absorbing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and locking it into the soil. 4 This is a really great way to reduce emissions.
Recycled organic waste contains many times the nutrient value as compost and is loaded with probiotics that help heal the soil and plants to resist disease. We believe that recycling food and other organic waste items provides a viable alternative to environmental damage from landfilling. Food Waste recycling in conjunction with sustainable farming, reduces the use of petrol-chemical fertilizers that are toxic to humans, wildlife and the environment.
Who can recycle food waste in Millington, TN?
From individuals, households, churches, organizations, small businesses, institutional kitchens, casinos and food processors. There is a vast amount of organic material that is being dumped every day and you know it is affecting our environment in a negative way.
What if, instead of paying to pollute we recycled food waste and actually did something to help fight climate change.
This is the passion that prompted the founding AgraCycle.Org in 2009. Today, AgraCycle Inc. is 501(c)(3) non profit organization that is tax exempt. Our mission is " To help promote, create and manage food waste recycling projects "
Why not build more composting facilities?
Composting is something much easier said than done in real life. It starts with an enormously large initial capital investment. Suitable land must be found, heavy equipment and trained personnel. Additionally, a composting facility has to stock pile feedstocks such as leaves, saw dust or shredded brush, because without the proper carbon to nitrogen ratio your compost won't be successful.
It has to be watered and it has to turned regularly. There is always a fire risk due to spontaneous combustion and that is a scary thing.
One common misconception is that recycling is the same as composting. This is not factually correct, so let me explain.
Composting is a natural process that uses aerobic
bacteria to process organic matter. We use anaerobic
bacteria.
When composting, the aerobic bacteria need air and that is why the compost pile must be turned regularly. Otherwise the bacteria die off and the pile goes putrid. Compost will also go bad if the correct Carbon to Nitrogen ratios (C/N) are not maintained.3
The carbon content typically is provided by “browns” such as dried leaves and wood chips. Nitrogen is provided by “greens” like food waste or grass clippings. The difficulty composting facilities face is having only browns or greens at any given time. So, if you have a quantity of food waste from a restaurant you must already have the proper quantity of organic carbon sources to begin the process or you are going to have a pile of rotting waste, just like the landfill. Stocking large piles of shredded leaves, wood chips or sawdust is not only inefficient but is an eyesore as well.
Other common problems that come with composting on a larger scale include, the smell, birds, rats
and the noise of tractors and heavy equipment.
None of those problems occur during food waste recycling! Now you are beginning to see why everyone is starting to pick up on it.
...And Millington? Agra Cycle wants you to know how much easier, efficient and effective it is to recycle organic matter using anaerobic bacteria. Because when we recycle food we "re-cycle" all the nutrients, elements and trace minerals back into the soil. Now, how cool is that?