How much food waste can ten businesses produce within eight months? The answer is 30,000 pounds. How much food waste can a local non-profit divert from landfills?

Well, last year, during Springfield Compost Collective’s eight-month pilot program, they diverted all 30,000 pounds of the food waste produced by the ten businesses participating in the program.

“The whole mission is teaching people to stop throwing away their food. We called it being mindful waste management, where you’re being conscious of what you’re doing when you get to the trash can,” Springfield Compost Collective’s founder, Justine Campbell, said.

Springfield Compost Collective’s goal is to create awareness around food waste and divert that food waste from landfills. After their pilot program and fundraiser, the non-profit is ready to start collecting food scraps from local businesses again. This means they also need volunteers.

Getting involved

The first volunteer day will be Saturday, September 14 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Springfield Compost Collective has about 300 future compost bins that need to be washed out. Volunteers are asked to come to the Tom Watkins site, clean some bins, make new connections in the community, and have some fun along the way.

If anyone is interested in participating in this volunteer day or in
future ones, they should email Springfield Compost Collective at sgfcompostcollective@gmail.com.

Composting is crucial for preserving a future and combating climate change. CNN reported that composting is the fourth most significant way to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases that are fueling climate change. Composting waste is similar to taking 16 million cars off the road.

The most impactful change the world and individuals make is to throw away less food in general. CNN reports that by reducing what is thrown away could be similar to taking 495 million cars off the road.

Closely behind throwing away less food, the second biggest change that needs to be made is eating a plant-heavy diet and reducing meat intake. Doing this is similar to taking 464 million cars off the road. Following steps like those collectively is close to making a change as enormous as preventing almost one billion cars’ worth of greenhouse gas emissions.

Springfield Compost Collective is dedicated to bringing awareness to all of those changes and impacts and actively working to participate in those changes.

Article by Kelli Volonte.