Originally established in 1995, Compost Awareness Week serves the important role of bringing the Compost! message to the attention of the public, business and other groups. Communities, government agencies as well as members of the composting industry utilize the week to promote their specific Compost! messages and programs. The week is designed to promote the benefits of composting and compost use for sustainable resource management, soil health and plant growth.

Be a part of the largest environmental education event for compost and the use of biobased products and renewable resources for “greening” America.

The USCC will be developing a list of ICAW activities, proclamations and press releases for states, counties, and cities, and Public Service Announcements for the event.  Additional information as well as sponsor advertising and recognition will be placed on the USCC website www.compostingcouncil.org

Check out these other sites for general information about composting in your area:

Find-A-Composter: www.findacomposter.com Just click on the drop down menu to find composters in your area.

Pollution Prevention Resource Change:  They provide easy access to pollution prevention and waste reduction.  There are eight P2RX centers around the country.  Check out the main website to get general information and specific links to your area.  www.p2rx.org

In addition to focusing in sustainable food systems (including visits to green bean fields during harvest and cherry packers), the audience participated in an interactive discussion about food waste.    I co-facilitated this discussion with Babe O’Sullivan of the City of Portland.  We found that the top issues facing operators around waste management continue to be 1) how to compost, especially when commercial composting options aren’t available and 2) how to address the issue of single-use disposable ware such as cups and plates.

Of course, we also spoke about source reduction and the critical role it plays at the top of the food waste hierarchy.  The participants saw this, more detailed, version of the EPA waste hierarchy and learned why it’s critical to start at the top and move down the pyramid after preventing and reducing as much waste as possibe at the source.   We also discussed how food waste tracking and source reduction are two sides of the very same coin.

EPA Detailed Organic Waste Hierarchy

Conference attendees — who are primarily foodservice directors in hospitals and long-term care facilities — could attend a four-part series on foodservice sustainability which included a 90-minute session on Waste Management Best Practices (I was the moderator of the session). 

Many operators attended this session (which makes a statement, since it was held 50 feet from a beautiful beach in Clearwater Florida and it was tough to be indoors!), showing how waste continues to be a focus for operators in n0n-commercial segments.  

The presenters covered:

• Source reduction through use of food waste tracking (Kris Schroeder, Swedish Medical Center)
• Food recovery through donation programs (Jim Larson, Food Donation Connection LLC)
• Composting and recycling (Diane Imrie, Fletcher Allen Health Care)
• Waste handling equipment options including pulpers, disposers, dehydrators, etc. (Rod Collins, Rod Collins & Associates)

I encourage chefs and foodservice managers to keep your eyes open for presentations at conferences and webinars about waste managment. Many are being organized these days and spending 90 minutes at one can move your knowledge base forward a long distance.

I am hoping you could help us get the word out about the Food Service Composting Workshop on April 27th in San Diego. It is a pre-conference workshop, “Organics Recycling in the Food Service Sector.” Feel free to sign up yourself and forward to everyone you think might be interested!

http://www.biocycle50.com/work.html

April 27, 2009, 1:00 pm to 5:15 pm

Organics Recycling In The Food Service Sector
Fee: $125

Instructors:
John Connolly, JF Connolly & Associates
Janice Sitton, City of San Jose (California) Environmental Services Department
Robert Spencer, Environmental Planner

Thanks so much and for participating in the blog!