The Feed

Today is International Women’s Day, and We Don’t Waste is celebrating our women on staff who #BreakTheBias every day! From managing incoming food donations, to driving the trucks to pick up excess food, to evaluating the organization’s impact on the community, we have some incredible women propelling We Don’t Waste as the largest food recovery-focused organization in Denver. 

Starting with the leadership of the team, We Don’t Waste’s Director of Impact & Engagement, Allie. Her role involves assessing We Don’t Waste’s impact and figuring out how we can make a bigger and better impact (all while keeping the community at the center of our work). 

“One way I work to #BreakTheBias at work is by simply being aware of unconscious biases and challenging preconceived ideas. Most of all, I think it’s important to listen and elevate voices and experiences that you may not notice if you’re not open to hearing from people.” – Allie

Working with Allie to help engage and educate our community is Julia, our Programs and Education Manager. Julia is at the forefront of our education efforts, performing regular school presentations and food waste audits around the city, as well as putting together educational materials and making sure our Mobile Food Markets run each week without a hitch! 

Those Mobile Food Markets are run each week in major part because of our volunteers, all of whom are led by our Volunteer Coordinator, Barona. She recruits, trains, leads, and coordinates the hundreds of annual volunteers that come through our doors both in the Distribution Center, and at our Markets. A fun fact about Barona: She is currently working on her carpentry skills, and just received her first toolbelt! 

Kayleigh, a Food Recovery Specialist, is a part of our operations team that makes food recovery possible, and she also helps maintain partnerships with our nonprofit food recipients. Food Recovery Specialists are the most important members of our team, facilitating relationships with food donors, maintaining perfect food safety for pickups, and getting the excess food where it needs to go!

“I think I break the bias in my work life by being the only female Food Recovery Specialist on the team. Things like driving a truck, working a pallet jack, and operating a forklift tend to be thought of as more male-oriented jobs, but I do them all!” – Kayleigh

Next, we have Laura, who used to be a Food Recovery Specialist, but has moved over to our administrative side of the office as an Administrative Assistant. Now she focuses on a variety of tasks, “from Mobile Food Markets to grant research and school food audits, in addition to administrative tasks necessary to help keep the team organized!”

Grace, our Food Acquisition Specialist, works daily to bring new food donors on board with We Don’t Waste’s mission. There are countless opportunities to reduce food waste in Denver, and Grace helps find those opportunities and create new relationships! Without her work, we wouldn’t have as frequent and reliable pickups as we do. 

Jessica, our Development & Events Coordinator, also works to develop We Don’t Waste’s reputation and relationship with the community. If you’ve attended a We Don’t Waste event, Jessica was behind the scenes, creating an incredible experience for everyone to enjoy. She also helps grow and integrate We Don’t Waste’s partners, donors, and sponsors into one large welcoming community! 

Finally, there’s Caroline, our Communications & Marketing Coordinator. She is the one typing up We Don’t Waste’s emails, blogs, and social media posts and stays busy interacting with our community on a daily basis. If you’ve seen an illustration on a t-shirt or on our website, she’s also probably the one that drew it as well. 

No matter where we are operating, there is a woman representing us and paving the way forward. We are proud to have such strong female representation in every aspect of We Don’t Waste’s mission. 

Grace summed it up the best, “One of my favorite aspects of working at We Don’t Waste is collaborating with my female colleagues — each of whom is brilliant, creative and stands unwavering in her beliefs.”

It’s not a secret that the United States is a major creator of food loss and food waste. In fact, we discard more food than any other country in the world. There have been recent pushes to emphasize food waste as a major lever in reaching our climate goals, but the government can’t do it alone. 

The U.S. Department of Agriculture and the Environmental Protection Agency created the U.S Food Loss and Waste Champions in 2015 to get private businesses on board with public commitments to reduce food waste in their U.S. facilities by 50% by 2030. 

On February 22nd, they announced 7 new members that have promised to make the necessary changes to help protect our planet. 

Danone North America, Albertson’s Company, BJ’s Wholesale Club, Smithfield Foods, Starbucks, Sysco, and Tyson Foods now join the ranks of over 30 companies that are making the commitment to reduce their food loss and waste. 

From this point forward, these organizations will be included in the USDA and EPA’s quarterly reporting of the businesses’ progress towards their goals and the impact of their actions. By joining this group, these organizations will be held publicly accountable for their actions in reducing waste, and consumers can have the benefit of being more informed about the impacts of the companies they use. 

Looking through the list, there are several popular methods corporations are now using to help reduce waste. Some are choosing to change their inventory management process, as well as their operations and supply chain processes to avoid food loss from excess at the source. Others are choosing to donate the excess foods to recovery organizations (like us!) across the nation to help feed both people and animals.

Commercial composting is being integrated for organic waste, and some corporations are also finding new ways to use byproducts. From reutilizing the scraps to create entirely new products, to creating more biodegradable byproducts, there are several ways many of these corporations are finding creative new solutions.

One notable mention would be the inclusion of Danone North America, the parent company of Two Good Yogurt, and an incredibly valuable partner of We Don’t Waste! For every cup of yogurt purchased, 2 cents is donated to We Don’t Waste, as well as City Harvest out of New York. Through this initiative, Two Good Yogurt is helping us recover hundreds of thousands of pounds of food each month! You can shop for some delicious yogurt to enjoy at several local grocers.

On top of Two Good’s donations, Danone North America is working to reduce waste on its operations and supply chain, in addition to ongoing efforts in its manufacturing facilities.

We are excited to see this list grow, and look forward to watching as new methods for reducing waste are created and implemented across all of the food industry. 

And please, eat more Two Good yogurt – the environment (and We Don’t Waste) will thank you!

Everybody’s gotta eat – so why is it that when looking at the demographics of hunger in Colorado, the numbers for food insecurity and hunger across age, race/ethnicity, and locality differ so much? 

Hunger and food insecurity are a result of hundreds of factors including but not limited to: debt, joblessness, sickness and hospitalization, lack of access to nutritious food, systemic disadvantage, and any combination of things that may make prioritizing food over other necessities a difficult choice. 

We are going to look at some of the demographics of hunger in Colorado to better understand the groups at the highest risk of experiencing hunger and the factors that are causing this disparity. 

The most recent survey for hunger by Hunger Free Colorado showed that in April 2021, about 29% of people who identified as white were experiencing food insecurity, but that number shoots up to 43% for those that are Non-white/Latinx. 

A primary reason for the difference in food insecurity is the racial disparity in poverty in America, with the overall poverty rate in the US at 11.4% overall, but 19.5% in the Black community. When a household is already struggling to afford all their necessities, additional challenges, such as being furloughed during the pandemic, can often lead to those families sacrificing food first in order to continue to afford rent or medicine. 

We also see this with longstanding, systemic issues for food access. When looking at a map of grocers that carry fresh produce, you may notice a pattern of stores clustered together in higher-income neighborhoods. 

While there are many ways to define a food desert, the Healthy Food Financing Initiative (HFFI) Working Group considers a food desert as a “low-income census tract where a substantial number or share of residents has low access to a supermarket or large grocery store.”

This can be simplified to asking the question, is there a supermarket or large grocery store within 1 mile of my residence? For rural counties, this radius is extended to ten miles. If you answered no, chances are you are in an area considered a food desert. If you are in a mid-to-high level income area you are not in a food desert because you likely have a vehicle to drive the distance to the store at a cost insignificant to yourself. 

The term food apartheid is often used in place of food desert, as supermarkets and grocery stores are strategically placed in areas with higher-income households. In Denver, an example would be the Globeville & Elyria-Swansea neighborhoods. Because this area has historically had more industry and less commercial development, it has remained a cheaper area to live in the city and has a higher population of low-income residents, thus remaining underserved in food resources. 

Areas like this are also called food swamps, because of the high number of fast food, liquor, and convenience stores in place of supermarkets. Cheap and non-nutritious food is more accessible than fresh food, making it the reliable choice for families who can’t afford to travel farther for better food or don’t have access to transportation. 

With the rate of poverty correlating to racial inequities in the country, it becomes clear how food resources become divided along racial lines as well. 

What may come as a surprise, however, is that food insecurity is also different among age brackets. In Colorado, more than 50% of those under 44 reported experiencing food insecurity in April 2021. Those between the ages of 35 and 44 were hit the hardest, with food insecurity levels reaching a staggering 55%. The group least affected are those 65+, with only 5% experiencing food insecurity. 

One of the largest factors affecting these age brackets is that many of these individuals are taking care of children. Among households with children, 30% of adults reported having to regularly cut back or skip meals because there wasn’t enough money to buy food, and 44% were unable to consistently put healthy food on the table. 

So what about children? In Colorado, about 1 in 5 children are not getting adequate nutrition. These are record-breaking numbers for the state, with pre-pandemic numbers sitting at 1 in 9 children. 

An even more shocking fact is that the National Summer Food Service Program reaches fewer than 1 in 10 children in Colorado in need. Many families are experiencing food insecurity during challenging economic times and aren’t accessing the resources they are qualified to receive.

Another key factor in food insecurity is where an individual lives. Prior to the pandemic, the numbers in 2019 showed that rural Coloradans were experiencing food insecurity at a rate of about 12% in comparison to urban Coloradans at 9.3%, and if you were between 19-25, rural Coloradans experienced food insecurity at 25.4%.

If you look at any demographic, no matter age or race, if the individual lives in a rural area, the levels of food insecurity increase. For people living in rural areas, food insecurity is often attributed to less economic opportunity and transportation barriers, as well as less access to food resources like food pantries, community gardens, and more. 

Most published surveys of hunger and food insecurity at the end of 2021 have been small-scale surveys, with more data covering the last half of 2021 expected in the next few months. The consequential COVID-19 variants and mandates may have affected these numbers, and the Great Resignation might change this narrative as well. 

With all of this data, it is important to understand that hunger is tied to many socio-economic factors, and it looks different in every community across the United States. Not only that, but every community will have different solutions to combat these issues. 

Our solution is to recover quality, unused food from the food industry and deliver it free of charge to food pantries, soup kitchens, schools, and shelters serving those in need. Our Mobile Food Markets serve our community directly with free food up to 8 times a month. By recovering food, we are tackling both food waste and food insecurity around Denver. 

Get involved in helping your community and consider donating your time through our volunteering opportunities, supporting our mission, or becoming a part of our community online through our newsletter and social media!

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When discussing food waste and larger sustainability concepts, there are often a lot of terms thrown around with no explanation as to where they came from or what they actually mean. For example, did you know that food loss and food waste are two completely separate concepts? Read on to equip yourself with the knowledge you need to have a productive conversation that everyone can understand! 

Carbon Footprint

A carbon footprint is a measure of the impact human activities (as an individual, event, place, or organization) have on the environment based on carbon outputs (including both carbon dioxide and methane). 

Carbon Neutral

Carbon neutral means making no net release of carbon dioxide to the atmosphere by producing emissions equivalent to the amount sequestered by carbon sinks (anything that absorbs more carbon from the atmosphere than it releases). This is commonly achieved by offsetting emissions through planting trees. 

Carbon Sequestration 

Carbon sequestration is the process of capturing and storing atmospheric carbon dioxide in plants, soils, geologic formations, and the ocean. It is a natural process (think trees) and one of the most effective ways to reduce the greenhouse effect. 

Circular Economy

An economy that uses a systems-focused approach and involves industrial processes and economic activities that are restorative or regenerative by design is a circular economy. You will often see this phrase in the context of recycling programs or regenerative farming. 

Climate Change

Climate change is a long-term change in the average weather patterns that have come to define Earth’s local, regional and global climates. This term often replaces “global warming,” as it more accurately describes the phenomenon. 

Cradle to Cradle

If you were to buy a reusable water bottle, use it for 5 years, and then recycle it to be used to create a new water bottle, you’ve participated in a cradle to cradle system. It is a biomimetic approach to the design of products and systems that models human industry on nature’s processes. It sees garbage as an eternal resource and promotes doing the right thing from the beginning.

Ecological Footprint

The impact of a person or community on the environment expressed as the amount of land required to sustain their use of natural resources is the ecological footprint. Denver’s ecological footprint includes all of the surrounding land used for agriculture and ranching to feed our population. 

Ecological Restoration

Ecological restoration is the process of repairing sites in nature whose biological communities (that is, interacting groups of various species in a common location) and ecosystems have been degraded or destroyed.

Environmental, Social, And Governance (ESG)

The ESG is a set of standards for a company’s operations that socially conscious investors and consumers use to screen the company’s sustainability. Environmental criteria consider how a company performs as a steward of nature. Social criteria examine how it manages ethical relationships with employees, suppliers, customers, and the communities where it operates. Governance deals with a company’s leadership, executive pay, audits, internal controls, and shareholder rights.

Food Security (Food Insecurity) 

Food security is the state of having reliable access to a sufficient quantity of affordable, nutritious food. Food insecurity thus means the opposite, having unreliable access. 

Food Systems

Food systems encompass the entire range of interlinked activities involved in the production, aggregation, processing, distribution, consumption and disposal of food products that originate from agriculture, forestry or fisheries, and parts of the broader economic, societal and natural environments in which they are embedded.

Food Loss

Food Loss refers to food that gets spilled, spoiled or otherwise lost at production, post-harvest, processing, and distribution stages in the food supply chain. Loss happens before consumers have access to food.

Food Waste 

Food waste refers to food that completes the food supply chain (referred to as the retail and consumption stages), of good quality and fit for consumption, but still doesn’t get consumed because it is discarded, left to spoil, or expired. Up to 60% of food loss and waste occurs in consumer’s homes. 

Greenwashing

Greenwashing is the process of conveying a false impression or providing misleading information about how a company’s products, services, or practices are more environmentally sound.

Organic Waste

Organic waste is any material that is biodegradable and comes from either a plant or an animal. Biodegradable waste is organic material that can be broken down into smaller parts, making it an essential component of composting. 

Social Enterprise

A social enterprise or social business is defined as a business with specific social objectives that serve its primary purpose. Social enterprises seek to maximize profits while maximizing benefits to society and the environment, and the profits are principally used to fund social programs. Think of Tom’s shoes donating a pair of shoes for every pair sold.

Sustainable Development Goals (SDG)

The Sustainable Development Goals (commonly shortened to SDG) are a set of interlinked global goals designed to be a universal call to action to end poverty, protect the planet, and ensure that by 2030 all people enjoy peace and prosperity. The SDGs were set up in 2015 by the United Nations General Assembly and are intended to be achieved by the year 2030.

Sustainable Food System 

A sustainable food system is a food system that delivers food security and nutrition for all in such a way that the economic, social and environmental bases to generate food security and nutrition for future generations are not compromised. 

Supply Chain

In the context of food waste, the supply chain refers to the production, post-harvest, processing, distribution, retail, and consumption stages of food. 

Zero Waste

Designing and managing products and processes to reduce the volume of waste and conserve or recover all resources so no trash is sent to landfills, incinerators, or the ocean. 

Now that you are an expert on all things food waste, keep the conversation going on social media and share what you learned with the world!

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If 2020 was one of the most unexpected years in recent history, 2021 comes in second place! We’ve all become used to expecting the unexpected as COVID continues to challenge our community. Food insecurity is still sitting at an all-time high of 1 in 3 Coloradans. But stay with us, there is good news too! As hunger has increased, so has We Don’t Waste’s capacity. 

With so many more people experiencing food insecurity, the first solution we had to tackle was to increase our food output. Most of the food we recover is distributed through partner organizations. These organizations serve a wide variety of communities ranging from elementary schools, veterans, young families, those experiencing homelessness, and more. By providing these organizations with reliable, free food resources, they are able to provide quality food to their communities while dedicating less of their annual budgets towards food expenditures. Less money spent on food means more spent on programming and other resources. 

Our partners aren’t the only way we distribute food! We have 6 to 8 Mobile Food Markets in a typical month. In total, we ran 71 markets this year. These markets served over 50,000 individuals, 40% of whom were children. We were also able to re-introduce the much-loved Garden Place walk-up market to the excitement of the surrounding community! 

We pride ourselves on the variety of foods we are able to provide to both our market participants and our distribution partners. Over 50% of foods recovered were fresh (protein, fruits, veggies, and dairy).

Overall, it was an incredible year of growth for our Mobile Food Markets and our distribution network. How were we able to feed so many people? We expanded our vehicle fleet by 1 van, and our staff by 5 people (making us less small, but still mighty)! We are more mobile than ever! From small pick-ups, increased recovery of frozen foods (thanks to our new walk-in freezer), and new food donor relationships, we are able to recover foods with more efficiency than ever before!

We couldn’t have done all of this alone. Over the last year, we had over 755 people volunteer with us! With over 4,785 hours of volunteering served over the course of the full year––our community really pulled their weight! 

We also stayed busy educating youth all across the Denver metro area about food waste and what they can do to prevent it. The enthusiasm we have seen during these presentations definitely makes us hopeful for the future!

It wasn’t all work though, we got to have some fun with everyone at several events! 

Our 12th Fill A Plate For Hunger was held in September and we had the privilege of enjoying live music, incredible food, and an exciting auction! We received an immense amount of support from the attendees, sponsors, and local chefs in attendance and can’t wait to do it again next year!

Canstruction® made its triumphant return to Colorado and was on display November through early December at Stanley Marketplace! We had several larger-than-life structures made entirely out of canned food from local architecture and engineering firms (in addition to two bonus structures designed and built by our very own IT & Database Administrator, Mario)! Huge congrats to the winner of the People’s Choice Award, W.E. O’Neil Construction Co. of Colorado with their CANorado Grill design.

Towards the end of the year, we celebrated a staggering amount of generosity from our community! Giving Tuesday and Colorado Gives Day were just a week apart at the end of November, and we were stunned by the support! Thousands of donors showed up to effect change and showed a record-breaking level of support.  

In total, $76,000 was donated over a 24-hour period alone! To put that in perspective, that will result in around 518,000 more meals of recovered food! That equals roughly 1,500,000 servings of food representing 11,000 tons of greenhouse gases prevented. 

It was a strong way to end the year, and motivates us to make next year even better! 

Thank you for joining us on the wild ride that was 2021! The amount of support we received stuns us every day.

As a part of this community, serving the community, we feel deeply indebted to everyone for their help and support, and we look forward to a day where hunger is drastically reduced, food ends up on plates, and Colorado is a happier, healthier home for all!

Thanksgiving is fast approaching, and for those of us fortunate enough to enjoy a tasty Thanksgiving meal, it can be a holiday that produces immense waste if you are not careful. The US Chamber of Commerce Foundation estimates that around 172 million pounds of turkey, 40 million pounds of mashed potatoes, and 30 million pounds of stuffing will head into trash cans in a single day.

We’ve put together some tips so you can enjoy Thanksgiving, without worrying about the negative effects of throwing away the food you worked so hard to prepare! After all, it’s not just the food that is wasted, but the water, labor, energy, and resources as well! 

Plan Ahead

There are few things more delicious than leftovers at Thanksgiving, but nothing more sour than having to throw away pounds of food after you have spent hours preparing it!

Make a list of the food items and sides you will be preparing. If you’re having guests, make sure everyone knows what they are bringing. This will help prevent impulse buys or overstocking on ingredients you might not even use. 

Practice the pound-per-person rule when picking out a turkey. Each person will likely eat around a pound of turkey the day of. If you want leftovers, aim for a pound and a half per person.

Prepare With Scraps In Mind

As you trim the herbs, cut the vegetables, and slice the bread for your stuffing, keep in mind that you can reuse many of the scraps and prevent more from ending up in the trash. Vegetable stems can be saved and used for broths. Just wrap them up and freeze them to save for later. Animal bones can also be used for broths so you can enjoy those delicious holiday flavors even longer. Plus this is an excuse to get creative! Potato peelings can be seasoned and turned into chips, and extra onions can be caramelized and saved for your next homemade treat. Have stale bread? Make croutons out of them or bread pudding. There is always a way to incorporate food scraps into something delicious with just a quick search on the internet. 

Whatever you can’t keep, please consider composting before throwing it away! For more info on composting at home, check out our guide to getting started composting on our blog. Food that ends up in a landfill takes a much longer time to decompose and produces methane, a highly volatile greenhouse gas that can be avoided just by composting the food instead. 

#SaveTheLeftovers

Most Americans say one of their favorite parts of Thanksgiving is eating the leftovers afterward, so make sure they get eaten! After all, there is no better way to show gratitude than by cleaning your plate! 

If you are having guests, prepare to-go containers so that everyone brings a plate home and you don’t get stuck with more pounds of green bean casserole than you know you can eat!

For the leftovers you do keep, label them with the date and move the older leftovers forward in the fridge. Work through the oldest leftovers first, making sure to always keep them in the front of the fridge where you can see them. If stored properly, many foods retain their freshness and nutrients longer than you might think. Remember, use your senses of sight and smell before assuming the food is bad! FoodSafety.gov is another great resource for gauging how long your leftovers will last.

By eating your food instead of throwing it away, you can help protect our environment, all while saving the money and time you spent buying and preparing your Thanksgiving feast. 

And finally, share these tips! 

Let your friends and family know how they can help prevent waste this Thanksgiving. Every turkey leg saved and scoop of cranberry sauce that ends up in a belly instead of the landfill contributes directly to the health of our community and our planet, so do your part! 

If you’d like to be more directly involved in food recovery, check out our volunteer opportunities, or help us keep our trucks on the road by donating to our Colorado Gives Day fund! Your donation goes even further by helping us receive more of the 1 Million+ Incentive fund on December 7th. 

#FeedPeopleNotLandfills

There are few things more comforting than a warm, home-cooked meal, and that is exactly what our community of supporters has helped us provide for tens of thousands of families since the start of the pandemic. 

Because of your support, we have been able to grow our food recovery operations and take better care of each other during one of the most difficult times in our community’s history. 

But many families in our community are still struggling to get by ⏤ struggling to put food on the table, to pay increasingly costly rent and utility bills, to purchase necessary medications and school supplies, and the list goes on.

Since the start of the pandemic, hunger levels have risen higher than at any time in recent history. 1 in 3 Coloradans are facing food insecurity, 16% of children are not getting adequate nutrition, and more than 2 in 5 people of color are now regularly struggling to access quality food. (Source: Hunger Free Colorado COVID Food Insecurity Survey, April 2021).

Our Mobile Food Markets and network of over 100 nonprofit partners are helping to fill the gaps. Children like those pictured above are able to try new fruits and vegetables and get the nutrients they need to be healthy, happy, and successful. They don’t face the stress of hunger and instead leave our markets hand-in-hand with their parents looking forward to a full belly, and a happier, healthier future. 

Our solution to the problem of hunger is simple but effective. 40% of all food is wasted, so we recover as much good food as we can and keep it out of landfills (which is also a win for the environment).

Let’s feed people, not landfills!

Schedule your gift for Colorado Gives Day today and you can be a part of the food recovery revolution that is fighting hunger in our community!

Your Impact:

A $25 gift provides a family of four with 3 meals a day for two weeks! 

$50 recovers 1,650 servings of nutritious food and prevents it from going into the landfill!

$75 provides a family of six struggling to get back on their feet with a month’s worth of meals!

$100 provides a child with 3 nutritious meals a day for more than 230 days!

Can you imagine how incredible it would feel to know that no matter what happens, your family will have enough food?

start a fundraiser & Show Your We Don’t Waste Pride:

Here’s how you get started. 

1. Create a donor account at ColoradoGives.org if you don’t already have one. 
2. Go to the We Don’t Waste Colorado Gives Day page. 
3. Scroll down the page and click the box that says START A FUNDRAISER. 
4. Use our template to create your page! An admin will approve your page, and then there will be short waiting period (up to 48 hours) before your page goes live. 
5. Tell your friends and family you’re raising money to help feed our neighbors! 

But what do you say? Share the facts! 

We’ve put together a toolkit of example posts and pictures you can post to help share your fundraiser and maximize your impact!

If your approved Colorado Gives Day fundraiser raises over $100 during the fundraising period, we will send you a limited edition T-Shirt to show off your food waste warrior pride*! This shirt will only be available from now until the end of 2021, so get your limited edition tee today! 

So what are you waiting for? Together, we can make a HUGE difference!

#FeedPeopleNotLandfills

*Please make sure your contact information and shipping information on your Colorado Gives Day profile is current and valid. 

Give a gift that gives back:

There are so many ways you can help feed Denver’s food-insecure! A portion of the proceeds from each of the following promotions will be donated to our organization so you can stuff those stockings, and feel great about it!

Show your pride with a We Don’t Waste T-Shirt!

Donate in honor of a friend or loved one!

Enjoy some We Don’t Waste Wine from Blanchard Family Wines!

Shop zero-waste goods for guilt-free pampering!

Get cozy online with UpWest in November and they’ll donate to We Don’t Waste (10% of total online proceeds is donated on Giving Tuesday)!

We are all about using up as much food as possible, but sometimes you just can’t find another creative way to use that last banana peel. What is the earth-friendly and guilt-free solution to this issue? Composting! 

Composting is the process of organic matter breaking down and turning into a nutrient-rich fertilizer. Everything in the natural world breaks down eventually, but composting utilizes natural chemistry and organisms (worms, fungi, bacteria, etc) to speed up the process. 

In a landfill, the conditions for decomposing organic matter are nowhere near as optimal, and can cause something as fragile as a head of lettuce to take up to 25 years to decompose fully (and it releases methane in the process)! 

Incorporating composting into your waste management at home can be a fun and relatively hands-off way to reduce your carbon footprint, with the perks of getting some free fertilizer for your plant babies! 

Why Compost? 

1. Reduce your waste!

By starting the habit of composting you can drastically reduce your waste output and your carbon footprint. For some households, up to 75% of the waste they produce could have been composted! 

2. Reduce Methane released into the atmosphere

Composting reduces your carbon footprint by preventing the release of methane into the atmosphere in the form of food rot in landfills. Methane is a powerful greenhouse gas, up to 86x more potent than carbon dioxide! You can read more about the impacts of methane on our planet here. 

3. Free fertilizer

Compost is best thought of as a soil amendment, providing a season-wide supply of major & minor nutrients and providing needed organic material for our Colorado soils.

4. Save water while you garden

Compost drastically increases water retention when used as an additive in soil. 1% increase in organic matter helps soil hold 20,000 gallons more water per acre, which is an incredible amount when you consider the importance of conscious water use. 

5. Pickup is easy!

Even if you don’t garden, you can still compost your food scraps and deposit them at a compost center in town. You can sign up for compost pickup through the City and County of Denver!

What to compost:

“Green” Nitrogen Materials

These materials are the banana peels, apple cores, and leaf stems in your kitchen! Think “food waste”, and whatever items come to mind are likely what is considered green materials. In addition to non – meat kitchen food scraps, utilize a balanced mix of ‘nitrogen-rich’ weeds that have not ‘gone to seed’ and even small quantities of pet fur. However, adding other animal products or fat to the pile can lead to excess odors and attract urban wildlife.

“Brown” Carbon Materials

Carbon materials provide the structural backbone of the compost pile. Suggested items to add include small twigs, coffee filters, end-of-season disease-free garden plants, straw, and fall leaves.

Cold Composting: The Slow, Beginner-Friendly Method

Cold composting describes exactly what it is. There is no temperature control and little management of moisture, so the process of decomposition is slower and easier.

Start by picking a container! If you’re not sure how much organic waste you produce, start with a small compost bin you can keep in your kitchen. Some will need compostable bags as a lining, others will not. 

Now that you have your container, placement is key! The perk to cold composting is that you won’t need to worry about the moisture or the duration of time to compost, so you can decide if you want more airflow to reach the compost or less. The more airflow, the quicker the decomposition into compost. 

Keep in mind that cold composting is primarily anaerobic decomposition, a slower process that can take between 1-2 years before the compost is finally usable as a soil additive. If you plan on using composting for your own garden, hot composting might be a better option for you. 

Hot Composting: The quicker, pickier method

Hot composting requires more care in terms of moisture and balanced nitrogen and carbon content. To achieve the best carbon-to-nitrogen ratio in your home compost, a rule of thumb is to put in two to four parts brown materials for every one part green materials. Your compost will also need more airflow to facilitate aerobic decomposition and appropriate moisture content as well. 

Check on the compost on occasion and add a light sprinkle of water, or more green materials, if the brown materials have dried out the composition. Turning your compost (aka mixing it up) also helps to add oxygen and keep the process moving. With some practice, managing this method becomes like second nature! 

Happy composting!

Be warned, your thumb might just turn green after successfully creating your first compost pile! There are plenty of resources available online for you to reference, and check out our friends over at Denver Urban Garden’s website to dig up some tips and get started! 

Food waste and hunger are immense problems rooted in a complex web of issues. How can anyone begin to understand the problem enough to make an impact? A good book is a pretty good place to start!

We have compiled a list of 7 essential reads about sustainability, food waste, and hunger that will help you feel like an expert. With one or two of these in your belt, you will soon be better equipped to be an agent of change in your community.

After reading up and getting inspired, check out ways to get involved!

An Almost Zero Waste Life: Learning How to Embrace Less to Live More 

If you have been looking for ways to waste less at home, Megean Weldon put together a gorgeous how-to novel for ways to make your habits more sustainable. Tips, strategies, recipes, and DIYs guide you through realistically attainable habits that produce real results. Oftentimes the zero-waste movement can seem overwhelming to anyone interested in making the lifestyle shift, so Weldon organized these ideas in a way that is digestible to anyone.

This Changes Everything: Capitalism vs. The Climate

Naomi Klein is on a mission to debunk the myth that carbon is the biggest environmental problem. If we want to impact climate change, we as a society need to look at the real root of the issues: capitalism. Klein takes an optimistic approach as to how quickly circumstances can change by acknowledging the broken relationship between the economy and ecology. Greed and growth is what lead to the damages done by corporations, but in the examples of where change has been made the success stories are surprising and encouraging. 

Growing a Revolution: Bringing Our Soil Back To Life

For centuries, our agricultural practices have eroded topsoil and stripped it of its nutrients. Geologist David R. Montgomery travels the world in an attempt to regenerate the uppermost layer of the planet. Ditching the plow, planting cover crops, and growing a diversity of crops is how he plans to help local farmers feed their community, guard the planet, and bring profitability back to non-industrial farms. 

Cooking with Scraps: Turn Your Peels, Cores, Rinds, and Stems into Delicious Meals

We talk often about ways to reduce waste in your own home, but it can be difficult to know where to start. This cookbook is an all-encompassing reference guide for what to do with all of the little bits of food you tend to throw away when you cook. You might not make a whole meal out of kale stems, but there are some amazing dips and garnishes you can try! With some guidance from Lindsay-Jean Hard, your kitchen can be more efficient, and more creative!

Growing Up Empty: How Federal Policies Are Starving America’s Children

With 20 years of impressive investigative journalism and a truly empathetic approach, Loretta Schwartz-Nobel uncovers how hunger still exists in the US as a result of repeated abandonment by local and federal governments. For years the problem of hunger has only gotten worse, and the issue remains a silent epidemic unacknowledged by even the most respected seats in office. Scwartz-Nobel dives into how hunger impacts every demographic, regardless of race, age, location, or religion, and the endless cycles of impoverishment and hunger that trap countless Americans each year.

Braiding Sweetgrass 

As a botanist and a member of the Citizen Potawatomi Nation, Robin Wall Kimmerer writes about environmentalism with an entirely unique perspective. She respects plants and animals as our oldest teachers of the scientific world and as guides for how to solve current issues. By understanding the interconnectedness of nature we can learn how our actions as humans have an impact on the natural systems of the entire world. Kimmerer writes with a scientific reverence that encourages ecological consciousness in an enchanting way. 

Legacies of Dust: Land Use and Labor on the Colorado Plains

This novel by Douglas Sheflin of Colorado State University is for our history buffs. In the 1930s, when the rain stopped and the fields dried out, Southern Coloradan farmers faced one of the worst ecological disasters in American history. The inability to farm coupled with the Great Depression forced agriculturalists to completely reinvent how they operated. With local initiative, federal support, and a passionate team of conservationists, Southern Colorado’s agricultural economy was rebuilt and transformed. We can look back on these events for renewed perspective on what we face today if we can’t solve mass desertification. 

As many of you may know, our Director of Programs & Operations, Aubree Pierce, is a fantastic person with an incredible amount of drive and passion for our mission. Since stepping into her role with We Don’t Waste she has become a pivotal part of the organization. 

This makes it all the more difficult to announce that Aubree will be leaving us for a move across the country. Her energy and charisma will be dearly missed, but our team wishes her the best for the move and for all of her future endeavors! 

Sam Talarczyk, previously one of our awesome Food Recovery Specialists, has stepped into Aubree’s shoes, taking on the role of Director of Programs & Operations. Since joining our team, Sam has been an enthusiastic and hard-working team player. He is passionate about continuing to grow and optimize the organization and we cannot wait to see what he accomplishes!

And without further ado, here’s what Aubree herself has to say about her time at We Don’t Waste:

Over the last two years, I have had the great pleasure of working at We Don’t Waste. In the summer of 2019, the previous nonprofit I worked with closed its doors, and I found myself looking for another opportunity. I had spent the previous several years working in the realm of hunger and food waste, so I was excited to see an opening for a Food Recovery Specialist at We Don’t Waste. I got to know the ins and outs of the organization and more about our partners during my six months as a Food Recovery Specialist.

Aside from managing the operations through the pandemic, I was lucky enough to serve at We Don’t Waste through a time of growth and adjustment. I was able to participate in strategic conversations to develop plans and programs for the organization to have a greater impact on the community and collaborate with partners on several projects to address hunger and food waste. I have learned so much from my time at We Don’t Waste and have so many unforgettable experiences that I will always keep with me. It is bittersweet that I am leaving my position at We Don’t Waste as I am moving to Michigan to be closer to family. I am so thankful that the leadership team at We Don’t Waste took a chance on me and I will be forever grateful for the experience and growth that I have achieved as a professional during my time at this organization. I have truly enjoyed my time working with We Don’t Waste and I am beyond thankful to the entire We Don’t Waste team, the Board of Directors, and the Denver nonprofit network for the continued support that I experienced through the pandemic and beyond. I am excited to see the organization grow and flourish in the coming years. The impact that we’ve had on the community and on the state of Colorado as a whole is astounding, and I am proud to have been a part of such an amazing organization.

With gratitude,

Aubree Pierce