black.joel•1mo agoMost Upvoted

Hit my 100th ton of compost this week and it changed how I see waste

I run a small community composting drop off in my neighborhood. This week I calculated I've processed 100 tons of food scraps since I started 3 years ago. That number floored me. 100 tons is like 20 elephants worth of stuff that would have rotted in a landfill making methane. Instead it's feeding gardens and building soil. I did the math on methane savings and it's around 40 tons of CO2 equivalent avoided. Anyone else track their waste numbers and get surprised by the scale?

2 comments

2 Comments

stella_baker1mo agoTop Commenter

That 20 elephants visual really puts it in perspective. Breaking it down by weight makes the scale so much more real than just saying "a lot of food scraps." Seeing numbers like that makes me wonder what other invisible waste streams we're underestimating in our daily lives.

terrybennett1mo ago

Agree @stella_baker, plastic packaging is another one that sneaks up on you. Started weighing our weekly trash for a school project and found a full 15 pound bag was just wrappers and containers. That's over 700 pounds a year from one household. Really makes you notice every little thing you toss.