â–ş Listen Live
â–ş Listen Live

Selkirk College and City of Nelson team up to cut down food waste

Students at Selkirk College and the City of Nelson will utilize a new appliance to help convert food waste into a gardening supplement.

The device, called a foodcycler, was paid for by the City of Nelson and placed in the college’s Tenth Street Campus. It has been in use over the past semester by students in the professional cook training program.

According to officials with Selkirk College, the pilot project has already drastically reduced commercial food waste in the kitchen.

“It’s important that students learn about the whole chain, they need to think about how the food is produced until the end product,” said David Havemann, pilot project leader. “This makes students conscious about where those vegetable scraps are ending up, that they are not just going to the garbage and disappearing.”

Selkirk College officials said the foodcycler provides a pre-treatment process for organic waste by mashing and dehydrating food scraps.

It can be used on vegetable peelings, beef bones, and leftover food from customers to substantially reduce the weight and volume of food waste.

The end result of this process is a soil additive that can be collected by the city or used in backyard gardens.

As the college’s Tenth Street Campus is home to a number of programs that involve cooking alongside daily cafeteria services, it naturally produces organic waste.

College officials said the pilot project has made a significant difference in kitchen operations in its first few months.

“The pilot at Selkirk College will help us determine if this is a viable solution in the broader commercial sector,” said Emily Mask, Nelson’s Organics Diversion Coordinator. “By reducing the volume with this type of unit, we reduce transportation emissions associated with hauling organic waste which allows us to maximize emission reductions. We will continue with the pilot, but early indications are very positive.”

 

Continue Reading

chnv Now playing play

ckkc Now playing play

- Advertisement -

Related Articles

- Advertisement -

Latest News

Slash scotch broom, earn cash

Landowners and residents in the Regional District of Central Kootenay are being asked to help tackle invasive Scotch broom - and get paid for their efforts.

Area restriction lifted for wildfire east of Ymir

The BC Wildfire Service has cancelled an order restricting public access to the area around the Cultus wildfire.

Premier Eby calls for “basic fairness” for B.C. ferry users during Ottawa trip

Premier David Eby said he had “productive” meetings with Prime Minister Mark Carney and several senior officials during his two-day trip to Ottawa.

BCGEU expands job action to include some front-line services

The union representing thousands of public service workers in British Columbia is ramping up job action again, this time affecting front-line services.

Public invited to open house at Nelson Fairview Gardens

People in Nelson and across the West Kootenay region are invited to have a sneak peek at the new Nelson Fairview Gardens this Friday.
- Advertisement -