Habits And Norms: From Recycling To Renewable Energy

By Claudia Dannettell

I am the Engineering Designer for Harvest. That may sound dull, but it is not. I have a passion for honoring the resources provided by our one and only precious planet. My job at Harvest lets me live my passion even while I am at work.  I believe that all of us make a difference – for better or worse – especially when you look at daily habits and how they have evolved over time.

I remember when recycling was first rolled out in Seattle.  I was so enthusiastic to participate that I would sort through the waste after parties and pull out precious aluminum cans and glass bottles.  People thought I was a nut case, but to me, it seemed like the least I could do.  At the time, I also considered taking the food waste home to my backyard compost pile, but decided not to; I didn’t want to be too marginalized for my recycling fanaticism.

Now, years later, I take heart when I think of the powerful impact cities that have implemented food waste diversion programs in single family residences and businesses have had in their communities.    I work in Vancouver BC, and Seattle, WA, and daily witness the difference people make every time they put their dinner plate scrapings into their little green waste totes.  Pizza crusts become soil.  Nutrients stay within the community.  Healthier crops, because of healthier soils, grow stronger with reduced chemical fertilizer inputs.  Before, I used to only fantasize about composting friends’ stray apple cores and snack leftovers.  Now, friends put their cores, crusts, and peels into their food scraps bin on their kitchen counter.  They then take the scraps out to their green waste bin on the back porch.  This is their habit.

We have come a long way.

By working with Harvest, I get to help my community take the next step in organic waste management:  I help design the facilities that turn food and yard waste into energy and soil products.  In my vision, in a couple of years, my friends, with their apple core poised above their food scrap bin, will think, “This core is going to become my electricity in the high solids anaerobic digester down the street.”  Capturing energy from organic waste will be the norm.

Tagged as: Energy, From, Habits, Norms, recycling, Renewable