Frightening Facts from the EPA
- In 2019, 66.2 million tons of wasted food were generated in the food retail, food service and residential sectors in the United States. Only 5% of that wasted food was composted.
- In the U.S., food is the single most common material sent to landfills, comprising 24.1 percent of municipal solid waste.
- Municipal solid waste landfills are the third largest source of human-related methane emissions in the U.S, accounting for approximately 14% of methane emissions in 2022.3 Wasted food is responsible for 58% of landfill methane emissions
- If food waste were a country, it’s emissions would be the world’s 3rd largest emitter, behind China and the United States.
Not composting food waste is terrible for the environment plus it is wasting Earth’s precious resources. Food scraps can easily be composted into nutrient rich soil, completing the Circle of Life the way nature intended.
How Can You Help?
- Instead of discarding food scraps and yard trim, YOU can transform them into a nutrient-rich soil amendment (i.e., compost) that can then be incorporated into yards, gardens, and parks to build healthier soil, support local food production, reduce fertilizer use, and reduce stormwater runoff.
- If you don’t have the time or resources to compost in your backyard, and you live in Ypsilanti Township you can join the Ypsilanti Compost Club and help pilot a program which will demonstrate to the Township that Kitchen Scrap composting is desired by the community.
You’ll Be:
- Ensuring uneaten food and food scraps go to good use and are not wasted.
- Part of a community effort. Residents who participate in waste collection and recycling efforts become more connected to their community and are transformed from passive receivers to “co-producers” of public services.
- Protecting Mother Earth from the large uptick of methane gas that is produced from kitchen scraps going to the landfill.
- A a good steward of Earth’s resources!!