Interested in local food? How about local ugly or unwanted food? Join the Northern California Recycling Association’s (NCRA) tour of a local food scrap processing facility and anaerobic digestion facility. Marin Sanitary Service collects and processes food scraps and sends it to the Food 2 Energy digester where it is mixed with sewage and digested in a closed tank system. The resulting methane powers a wastewater treatment plant. After lunch, the tour heads to Imperfect Produce, an innovative CSA service that delivers discounted “cosmetically-challenged” fruit and veggies to Bay Area homes and offices. Space is very limited; tour runs from 9:30 AM – 2 PM on Wednesday, March 23rd. Contact NCRA to sign up!
The tour is part of NCRA’s annual Zero Waste Week (ZWW). The flagship event, NCRA’s 21st Annual Recycling Update, will be held on Tuesday, March 22, and features 25 experts speaking on the latest and greatest in the world of Reduce, Reuse, Recycle and Rot. This year’s conference will feature speakers talking policy and technology innovations for many of the tough-to-dispose of materials such as mattresses, pharmaceuticals, carpet, e-waste, tires, and oil as well as what’s happening on a statewide level to address our shaky recyclable commodities markets. Among the highlights are presenters Jared Blumenfeld, Director of EPA Region 9, Dana Franz, Founder of Food Shift and Miguel Robles, Project Coordinator for the Biosafety Alliance. See NCRA’s web site for a full list of all 25 speakers.
On Saturday, March 26, Zero Waste Youth USA will host their 4th annual Zero Waste Youth Convergence at the City College of San Francisco, Ocean Campus. This event brings together high school and college students as well as young professionals in a full day dedicated to learning, visioning, organizing for Zero Waste and bringing this back to our schools and communities. The convergence includes discussions on environmental entrepreneurship, public policy and Individual actions, as well as hands-on workshops on DIY Zero Waste products and planning for campus-wide initiatives. Limited scholarships are available for Santa Clara County students sponsored by the Recycling and Waste Reduction Commission of Santa Clara County (SCCRWRC). Please visit www.ZeroWasteYouthUSA.org for more details.
The Ecology Center is a co-sponsor of NCRA’s Zero Waste Week.
[Photo Credit: MPCA Photos on Flickr]
