Salvaging Food: Creating Compost in Santa Fe (Part 4)

Photo from Reunity Resources

(This is the last of a four-part series on salvaging food, In earlier reports,we shared a guide from the National Restaurant Association, shared a memorial from the New Mexico State Legislature urging public schools in the state to donate excess food to agencies and shelters and looked at food salvage operations in Santa Fe and Albuquerque).

How many of us who grow a garden every summer create our own compost with banana peels, egg shells, coffee grounds, dated celery and badly bruised apples? While those are common ingredients in homemade compost, almost all foods are fair game if you have the right tools and equipment.

The City of Santa Fe, in partnership with  Reunity Resources has a plan to create compost on a larger scale from food waste collected at restaurants, hotels and schools in the City Different. This is a common practice in other cities around the country, particularly in California, including  Monterey and Laguna Hills

Under the Santa Fe plan, Reunity Resources will collect the food waste and bring it t. Payne’s Organic Soil Yard, which will then  process them into nutrient-rich compost. The compost will be available for purchase from Payne’s.

Reunity Resources will provide clients with  bins, bags, labels and 64-gallon wheeled carts for collection once, twice or three times a week. "Our goal is to make food scraps/organics separation as simple as possible  for our restaurant clients, and to make a seamless transition from trash to treasure," said Reunity Resources.

Reunity Resources is a New Mexico based non-profit committed to building community partnerships and implementing zero waste programs.  Happy Earth Day 2014!