Amberose Kelley, MCR Coordinator
Waste Audit Wednesday
Plate Waste
This week we MCRs conducted a plate waste study at Sunnyland Elementary. The purpose of this project is to take a closer look at 1) how much of and 2) what kinds of foods students are eating at lunch. First we sort their leftovers, then we compare the food that was thrown out (or composted by Food to Flowers!) to what was served. This was originally a nutritional study carried out by the WSU Food$ense program, but Master Composters are on a mission to combat wasted food!
After we've had a chance to engage with the students on food waste and composting, we'll do another plate waste study to see if we've made an impact.
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| (Some of us may also enjoy sorting through the garbage.) |
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| Wasted food! |
Special thanks to MCR 2015 volunteer and ReSources ally Haley Mountain, 2016 MCR Intern Bo Alfus, and Jeannie Hayden of Sunnyland for making this possible!
MCR Training Waste Audit
Last Saturday, the 2016 interns brought me a week's worth of their garbage & organic waste (did I mention that sorting through garbage is sort of a pass time of mine?) After the plate waste study, I wrapped up our class audit. Here's a quick summary of the findings. The 2016 class will get a thorough analysis and tips next week.
The 2016 MCR Class is in full swing.
He was comparing the pre-sorting that Whatcom County residents do by separating their curbside recyclables into separate bins to the practice of single stream recycling, which counts on machines to do the sorting (and results in contamination). Because of our human pre-sorting efforts, our county produces some of the cleanest raw recyclables in the nation. A clean product is more valuable, so our efforts also help SSC to keep prices down. A win-win!
Anyways, I love the sentiment and think that it might appeal to the composters and gardeners here, too.
Read more about recycling in Whatcom County by following these links:
Updated Calendar
Note: Master Gardeners are welcomed to attend Master Composter field trips
MCR Training Waste Audit
Last Saturday, the 2016 interns brought me a week's worth of their garbage & organic waste (did I mention that sorting through garbage is sort of a pass time of mine?) After the plate waste study, I wrapped up our class audit. Here's a quick summary of the findings. The 2016 class will get a thorough analysis and tips next week.
Behold:
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| Total organic waste: one week, 14 people, 58 lbs |
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| Just the wasted food: 18 lbs |
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| Garbage! 35 gallons. Garbage is measured in volume, not weight. Because..... |
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| ...Most "garbage" is actually air! Yes. I was able to pack 35 gallons of trash into one 5 gallon bucket. No, I didn't cheat in the first photo! That is really how it (and the average trash can is) packed down originally. |
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| Stacking stuff, for example, makes a huge difference. |
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| Isn't this nice? This represents 14 weeks of garbage for one composter/recycler! |
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| Well OK - I did pull out a lot of (air-filled) compostables too: balled-up paper towels, empty cartons, etc. Still, I think everything, properly compacted, would have fit into one and a half buckets tops! |
The 2016 MCR Class is in full swing.
Here's a quote from Rodd Pemble, recycling manager at SSC, who visited us at the Extension last week:
"Sometimes the human being really is the finest design solution – after all, we’ve been honed over a few million years, not just a few quarterly profit cycles." - Rodd Pemble
He was comparing the pre-sorting that Whatcom County residents do by separating their curbside recyclables into separate bins to the practice of single stream recycling, which counts on machines to do the sorting (and results in contamination). Because of our human pre-sorting efforts, our county produces some of the cleanest raw recyclables in the nation. A clean product is more valuable, so our efforts also help SSC to keep prices down. A win-win!
Anyways, I love the sentiment and think that it might appeal to the composters and gardeners here, too.
Read more about recycling in Whatcom County by following these links:
Updated Calendar
Note: Master Gardeners are welcomed to attend Master Composter field trips
| DATE | TIME | SUBJECT | INSTRUCTOR | LOCATION |
| Thursday Feb 18 | 5 - 7 PM | Welcome to WSUE, Science of Decomposition | Andy Bary, WSU | Extension Office |
Saturday Feb 20
| 10 AM - 11 AM | Textile Waste | Duane Jager | Ragfinery |
| 11 AM - 1 PM | Orientation, waste audit I begins | Amber Kelley | Extension Office | |
| Thursday Feb 25 | 5 - 7 PM | Waste in Whatcom County | Rodd Pemble, SSC, Max Morange, Bellingham Food Bank | Extension Office |
Saturday Feb 27
| 10 AM - 12 PM | Community Garden Tour | Beth Chisholm, WSU | Various |
| Noon- 2 PM | Waste Audit collection, home composting primer | Amber Kelley | Extension Office | |
| Saturday March 5 | 11 AM - 2 PM | OPTIONAL: selecting materials for home compost systems | Amber Kelley | The ReStore |
Thursday March 10
| 1 - 3 PM | OPTIONAL: Green Earth Technology | Stephanie Harvey | Green Earth Technology, Lynden |
| 5 - 7 PM | Home Composting | Amber Kelley | Extension Office | |
| Saturday March 12 | 10 AM - 3 PM | Field Trip: Small Farm Expo Compost Demo/Compost Workshop I | Amber Kelley | NW Washington Fairgrounds |
| Thursday March 17 | 1 PM - 3 PM | OPTIONAL: Hovander Field Trip + Soil Mapping | Chris Benedict, WSU | Hovander Homestead Park |
Saturday March 19
| 10 AM - 11 AM | Field Trip: Curbside & Special Recycling | Marty Kuljis, Jr. | Northwest Recycling |
| Noon - 2 PM | Field Trip: Green Earth Technology | Stephanie Harvey | Green Earth Technology, Lynden | |
| Thursday March 24 | 5 PM - 7 PM | Soil Science | Chris Benedict, WSU | Extension Office |
Saturday March 26
| 10 AM - Noon | Field Trip: Green Burial | Brian Flowers | Greenacres Memorial Park |
| Noon - onwards (leave when you're done!) | Optional: Compost Workshop II | Amber Kelley | Extension Office | |
| Saturday April 2 | 8 AM - Noon | Field Trip: DOT Facility, Rain Garden Tour | Lee First, Sustainable Connections | DOT Facility, Downtown Bellingham |
| Noon - 2 PM | Waste Prevention Techniques and compost workshop III. Begin Waste Audit II | Amber Kelley | Extension Office | |
| Saturday April 9 | Any time | Drop off Waste Audit II, Complete Written Final (online or drop off at office today) | Amber Kelley | Extension Office, Home |