A landmark report from the United Nations’ scientific panel on climate change predicts a strong risk of crisis by 2040. The panel predicts worsening food shortages and wildfires sooner than we think. Carbon dioxide is a large contributing factor when it comes to the magnitude of damage done to our ozone layer. It creates an overabundance of greenhouse gases that trap additional heat and lead to melting ice caps and rising ocean levels.
Food waste-related emissions have the potential to span anywhere from 1.9 to 2.5 billion tons of carbon dioxide equivalent per year, according to National Geographic. Total Organics Recycling, a local leader in organics collection, is helping to take away from these adverse effects by collecting commercial organics and then taking them to a permitted composting facility which then reuses the natural resources for the betterment of St. Louis and surrounding communities.
Total Organics Recycling offers 64 or 21-gallon totes for food scrap collection and picks up the scraps on scheduled days at their clients’ convenience. The scraps are then taken to a St. Louis Composting commercial facility where they are broken down into nutrient rich compost.
Traditionally, food scraps are sent to a landfill where they break down without the presence of oxygen. This in return produces methane, a greenhouse gas 21 times more potent than carbon dioxide. If composted, these food scraps can benefit the air, our bodies, and water conservation. Additionally, 40% of all food never gets eaten by humans.
Local businesses and organizations such as the St. Louis Cardinals, the Missouri Botanical Garden, the St. Louis Zoo, Schlafly, the Parkway School District and Straub’s all partner with Total Organics Recycling in the effort to divert food waste from the landfill. Schlafly has worked with Total Organics since 2004 and estimates that seven-hundred tons of food scraps have stayed out of the landfill since they began composting with the company.
A Total Organics Recycling representative will come out to the business and train the staff on what is compostable and what is not compostable. If requested, the company will also provide a specialized report so that the business can see how much waste they helped save from the landfill. By turning local businesses green, they can deflect a large amount of food scraps away from St. Louis landfills. Total Organics is working to extend the date of an imminent environmental crisis one compost pile at a time.
For more information please call 636-825-6206 or visit www.totalorganicsrecycling.com.