Back to School: How Can My Child’s Lunch Be Made Low or Zero Waste?
Yes, it absolutely can! By making school lunches more eco-friendly, and by encouraging your kid to recycle and compost, you can significantly reduce your household’s waste. Some helpful guidelines are… An added bonus of paying attention to these guidelines is that you can determine what materials your child’s lunch containers are made of. For example,…
Read MoreClimate Solutions: Find Tools for Your Environmental Journey!
Food Waste Prevention Preventing food waste, and the greenhouse gases it emits, is one of the most impactful ways individuals can combat climate change. Food waste prevention also saves upstream resources used in food production like transportation fuel, labor, energy, water, and land. Solana Center offers free resources, workshops, webinars, and consultations to assist with…
Read MoreConservation: Programming to nurture the natural world
At Solana Center for Environmental Innovation, we center our work around four pillars: protection, conservation, education, and innovation. Each pillar provides the structure needed to fully address the impacts of climate change in the San Diego region: –Protection, or the safeguarding of the rights of humans and living things to healthy environments with sufficient natural…
Read MoreSummer Quarterly Newsletter – 2023
Dear Friends, Summer in San Diego means a slew of natural wonders. Least Terns, an endangered subspecies, migrate to Mission Bay, the Santa Margarita River Mouth, and other select spots from April through September. In July, the world’s largest gathering of leopard sharks will appear off of the coast of La Jolla. August 12 – 13, we can…
Read MorePre-Composting Appliances: Do They Work?
We get questions about pre-composting appliances often these days. Our verdict: While food scrap dryers and grinders can do amazing things, they cannot make compost in less than several months’ time. They are also not the most effective way to reduce your environmental footprint at home. The Dirt on Countertop “Composters” There are several kitchen…
Read MoreThe Benefits of Diverting Organic Waste from Landfills
Written by volunteer: Kate Sheppard Diverting waste from landfill can sometimes feel like a chore, but the benefits far outweigh the temporary annoyance of getting your hands dirty. This is especially true of organic waste. Yes, it may occasionally be sticky or smelly, but it’s not hard to properly sort and divert these compostable materials…
Read MoreFrom the Rotline: Where should I position my compost bin?
There are several things to keep in mind when choosing a location for your compost bin. Sun or shade? A worm bin is best placed in the shade. Worms do not fare well in hot temperatures or during a deluge of water during a rainstorm. By placing them in the shade, they will be more…
Read MorePicnic in sustainable style!
The weather is warm and the sun is shining, making it a lovely time to picnic. It’s easy to wrap your picnic food in plastic wrap, put it all in a bag and throw all your trash away at the nearest trashcan. However, the earth, the water, the landfill, and your garden will all thank…
Read MoreReFED Food Waste Action Network Member Spotlight
Solana Center is excited to be featured as a Member of ReFED’s Food Waste Action Network (FWAN). The following interview was originally published on their website in April 2023 here. Organization Overview: Solana Center for Environmental Innovation helps individuals, businesses, and municipalities implement practical solutions for food waste diversion, surplus edible food donation, and environmental sustainability improvements.…
Read MoreSuccess Stories: Serving Underserved Communities & Schools in the San Diego Region
At the core of Solana Center’s mission is education. Teaching our community about soil, waste, and water is one of the key tools in making real, lasting, positive changes for our environment. We believe that education, innovation, and action are required to address the environmental challenges in our region and know that with each child…
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