Megan Hall: Welcome to Possibly, where we take on huge problems like the future of our planet.
And break them down into small questions with unexpected answers.
I’m Megan Hall. Today we have a question from a listener named Lisa: She says, “If you can’t compost your food scraps, is it better to throw them in the trash or put them down the kitchen disposal?”
We have Alina Kulman and Molly Magid from our Possibly team here to answer this question. Welcome Alina and Molly!
Alina Kulman: Hi Megan!
Molly Magid: Hello!
Megan Hall: Let’s start with what happens when you put food waste in the trash.
Molly Magid: Well, food waste in the landfill decomposes and releases methane, which is an even stronger greenhouse gas than CO2.
Alina Kulman: At Rhode Island’s landfill, most of this methane is captured and burned for energy.
Molly Magid: The bad news is, food waste is the biggest category of municipal waste in Rhode Island , and the landfill is running out of space– it’s supposed to fill up in about 15 years.
Megan Hall Ok, so does that mean we should put all our food waste down the garbage disposal?
Alina Kulman: We visited Rhode Island’s biggest wastewater treatment plant, at Fields Point, to find out.
Molly Magid: Public Affairs Manager, Jamie Samons, says the sewage plant ends up with a lot of unintended trash.
Jamie Samons: We do see things like Dunkin Donuts cups and McDonald’s wrappers and the occasional soccer ball. Anything that can go down a sewer drain
Alina Kulman: She includes food waste in the category of things that don’t belong here, because the plant is only set up to handle sewage, nothing else.
Molly Magid: And just like in the landfill, food waste in the treatment plant releases methane when it decomposes.
Alina Kulman: There are plans to create a system to capture and use that gas, but that hasn’t been built yet, so the methane that’s created is just released into the atmosphere.
Megan Hall: Okay, so if the wastewater treatment plant can’t process our food scraps, and the landfill is filling up, where should this food go?
Molly Magid: In this case, we actually don’t have a clear answer.
Alina Kulman: The ideal solution is to waste less food.
Megan Hall: But how?
Molly Magid: We can start by shopping smarter. Studies show that most of America’s food waste comes from individual consumers throwing out the food they don’t eat.
Alina Kulman: To fix that, plan your meals before going to the grocery store so you only buy what you need.
Molly Magid: And then think about how to preserve the food you have, like putting leftovers or extra ingredients in the freezer.
Megan Hall: Great, thanks Alina and Molly! That’s it for today. For more information or to ask a question about the way you recycle, use energy, or make any other choice that affects the planet, visit our question page.
Possibly is a co-production of the Institute at Brown for Environment and Society and the Public’s Radio.
Sources for this episode:
1. https://www.lovefoodhatewaste.com/
2. http://guardiansofgrub.com/
3. http://www.wrap.org.uk/food-drink
4. https://www.wri.org/our-work/project/food-loss-waste-protocol
5. Marashlian, N., & El-Fadel, M. (2005). The effect of food waste disposers on municipal waste and wastewater management. Waste Management & Research, 23(1), 20–31. https://doi.org/10.1177/0734242X05050078
6. Iacovidou, E. & Voulvoulis, N. Environ Sci Pollut Res (2018) 25: 35821. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-018-2479-z
The post What Should You Do If You Can’t Compost Your Food Scraps? appeared first on TPR: The Public's Radio.