Posts Tagged ‘Zero waste’
Compost: It’s Alive!
The physical and chemical conditions in a compost heap seem logical if you think about what compost really is: an enormous pile of food for billions of minute organisms. These microorganisms have certain chemical requirements, including carbon for energy, nitrogen to build proteins, and oxygen for respiration. The most numerous organisms in a compost pile…
Read MoreEPS Food Container Alternative List
EPS is “expanded polystyrene,” commonly known by the brand name Styrofoam™. There are environmental concerns with EPS, including difficulty in recycling, source of man-made marine debris, and greenhouse gas emissions from the embedded energy of the manufacturing process. Additionally, EPS food containers are not fully recyclable in a single-stream process because they break up in…
Read MoreSecondhand compost bins take recycling to the next level
At Solana Center, we live the values of reduce, reuse, and recycle in all forms. This spurred the idea to offer our pre-loved bins to the community at reduced prices at our store. This is a solution to both provide residents with an opportunity to give their compost bins another life if they aren’t being…
Read MoreWorried About Your Carbon Footprint? Shopping Local Might Be the Key
Blog Post by Volunteer and Student, Anna Potratz The pollution that comes from simply shipping food across the country can do massive environmental damage. Delivery trucks can put up to 1,522 tons of carbon emissions into the atmosphere every year, and about 70% of our food is shipped by truck, according to the US Energy…
Read MoreTales of a Beginning Composter
By Master Composter Graduate, Wendy Ullrich It’s fair to say that until recently I knew nothing about composting. In fact, what little I knew, was all wrong. If someone even mentioned composting, my nose would wrinkle and I would imagine all sorts of slimy and disgusting things that you might find clogged in a drain. YUCK!…
Read MoreThe Benefits of Composting as a Family
Teaching kids how to be responsible stewards of our home planet can start in their early years! Along with spending time in nature, composting is a great way to introduce children to the environment and the science behind many natural systems. When we teach kids how composting works and get the whole family involved, they…
Read MoreReuse to Reduce Waste
Reusing items slows the process of take and dispose. Reusing is our main tool to reduce, since the more we reuse what is already there, the less we need. We can reuse materials that were meant to be disposed of, giving them a second life, or we can choose materials that were meant to be…
Read MoreDon’t Waste Summer’s Bounty!
Summer is officially here! Have you attended your local farmer’s market to check out the seasonal bounty yet? Visiting your local farmer’s market can be a wonderful experience where you get to explore beautiful produce, flowers, and herbs and meet the farmers who are growing them. Purchasing local, seasonal produce also helps your food last longer, supports your community, and is a…
Read MoreCommunity Series: Waste Not With Upcycling
One person’s trash has the potential to be another person’s treasure thanks to the powerful process of upcycling! Upcycling is a conventional process in which by-products and other used materials are transformed into something of higher quality or value than the original. This creative reuse process reduces the overall waste footprint, by keeping materials from…
Read MoreCommunity Series: How to Have a Sustainable Saturday in San Diego
Everyday we make choices in our lives that affect the environment. From where we shop to what we buy, there’s a lot we can do to make the sustainable choice and reduce our environmental footprint. The key to understanding sustainability is to recognize that each action we take affects the world around us. By making…
Read More