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One of our yearly tasks as part of our General Assistance Program grant from EPA is to conduct outreach involving Pinoleville Native American Head Start and the local community. This year our department decided to focus on one of PNAHS’ biggest events, its Christmas Program, as a way to conduct solid waste outreach to the hundreds in attendance.
PNAHS typically offers snacks to the families following the event, and we recognized this would be a perfect opportunity to expose them to biodegradable and compostable dinnerware. But what does that mean? Basically, compostable products mean they include biodegradable material combined with both organic and inorganic material, which produces compost in a commercially controlled composting facility. That means all the food waste can be added to a well-maintained compost pile or your waste facility’s composting program instead of going into a landfill!
To conduct this solid waste outreach, we purchased Trellis Earth plates and silverware as well as Greenware cups from Ukiah Paper Supply, which offers sustainable, biodegradable and compostable products. Because the plates, silverware and cups look the same as non-compostable items we made sure to create an infographic sign to let people know what products they were using and why they help.
This outreach event is one of the many times we’ll be focusing on solid waste and working to educate PNAHS students, staff, parents and community on ways to divert items from the waste stream and prevent dumping. We’ll conduct more outreach events throughout the year, and you can read about them right here.
You can learn more about Trellis Earth products by viewing their FAQ here. You can learn more about Greenware products by reading this.
