Earth Day Starts at Home! Reduce Food Waste Through Composting
April 22nd is Earth Day! How will you mark the occasion? We’ve got some suggestions to help you start along the path to earth-friendly, sustainable living. We’d also like to tell you some steps we’ve taken to benefit our customers and the earth.
• Consider how you handle food waste. Did you know that the average family of four in the United States throws away $1,600 each year on untouched food that simply goes into the garbage? If you’ve over-purchased and your family can’t eat it all, donate to a local food pantry. Often, food pantries take fresh produce as well as packaged food.
• Composting is great for your garden and for the earth. Of course, some food waste is inevitable. When you compost, you’ll create a product that will improve your soil and benefit the environment. The EPA estimates that in 2018, 2.6 million tons of food was composted and didn’t go to a landfill. This is good news, because it keeps organic waste from sitting in a landfill producing methane emissions. When you use compost in your garden, it enriches the soil, delivering nutrients in an all-natural, toxin-free fertilizer.
• Composting at home is easy. You start with a container in your kitchen to hold leftover produce, then layer those scraps with dry waste like pine straw and paper outside. Turn it weekly, and within months you’ll have rich, nutrient-dense compost.
• Your shopping habits can have an impact on the environment, too. When you choose locally grown produce, for instance, it means fewer resources were used to bring that food to you, creating a lower carbon footprint.
• At NetCost, we believe in operating in an earth-friendly, sustainable way. We’ve implemented some green practices on a large scale, including:
o Shifting to all recycled paper and plastic bags for our shopping bags
o Recycling all shipping boxes, cardboard, bottles, and cans
o Deploying enzyme-enabled food digesters to repurpose old or spoiled food to make compost or facilitate efficient and clean disposal
• Earth Day, and every day, we can all do our part to help the environment. Look for ways you can adjust your lifestyle to use less energy, reduce your water consumption, and consume less fuel. Recycle and reuse items whenever possible and consider buying used instead of new. Little things you do can make a big difference when it comes to your impact on the environment.
What are some steps you’ve taken toward a more eco-conscious life? When you’re looking for fresh local produce and sustainable practices, you’ll find everything you need at NetCost Market.
For over 20 years, we’ve been committed to helping our customers save time and money while offering them the world of food all in one place. It’s our goal to provide authentic, high-quality food products from local farmers as well as suppliers from around the world. When you shop with NetCost Market, you’ll find a comfortable, gratifying shopping experience that even includes online grocery shopping and home delivery.