Americans waste more than 100 billion pounds of food each year. All this wasted food has an impact on the disposal capacity of landfills. Lebanon is not immune to this. Each year, more than 5,000 tons of food scraps are landfilled in Lebanon. Keeping food scraps out of the trash will help make our landfill last longer.
According to the US Composting Council, composting food scraps does more than preserve landfill capacity, it helps combat climate change. Food scraps rotting in a landfill generate greenhouse gases. Using the end compost can aid in the uptake of carbon through vegetation. Healthy soil also helps to make our plants more resilient to climate impacts.
The compost produced from our food scraps program is used locally on City projects, reducing our transportation footprint. Soils are not imported from long distances. The use of compost also reduces the amount of pesticides and fertilizers used.
So how do you reduce food scraps? You can compost at home using a backyard compost bin or sign up for the Lebanon Solid Waste Facility Food Waste Drop-Off Program and have us compost it for you!
Source: https://lebanonnh.gov/CivicAlerts.aspx?AID=1973
