Keeping Food Waste Out of Landfills
About a third of waste in landfills is food waste. That is a frightening statistic. The decomposition of organic matter in landfills produces, among other things, methane gas, a carbon compound that contributes to climate change. There are much better solutions to our food waste problem than dumping it in the ground.
Rotary has been involved in developing solutions to this problem. One such successful project is a program established in the Frederick County (Maryland) School System. The schools worked with local Rotary clubs to develop a food separation and composting program in school cafeterias and taught students to separate their waste into usable food that could be sent to food banks, food waste that could be composted, and other waste (paper, etc.) that would go elsewhere.
Our District Environmental Sustainability Team, under the guidance of Audra Frank from the Easton club, has been looking into how to develop such a program in municipalities and school districts in our communities. In the meantime, you may want to read about the food waste problem and the successful program that Rotary helped establish in the Maryland schools:
Rotary Day of Service – A Focus on the Environment
The Environmental Sustainability Team is once again encouraging the District clubs to do an environmental project on the Rotary Day of Service. It has been scheduled for Saturday, April 19, 2025. For the past three years, at least 40 clubs have participated in doing an environmental project on the Rotary Day of Service, or sometime during the month of April. Start planning now. And, why not schedule a speaker who can talk to your club on an environmental topic for one of your April club meetings?
Terry Reed
Chair, District Environmental Sustainability Team
610-743-0818