Trash Trek – “Wasted Food” to “Plant Fuel”

A FLL Project Presentation by Daring Dolphins

Aditi Nayak Drithi

Kanthala Naina Mishra Sneha Singh

Problem research & findings We researched extensively to understand the problem of trash using

the following sources: Online articles, books, documentaries and field trips

We understood the different types of trash and how they are handled:

We decided to concentrate on Food/Organic Wastage

Trash Trek

Electronic WastePlastic WastePaper WasteMetal WasteFabric Waste

Food/Organic Waste

Global Solid Waste Composition

Some Food/Organic Wastage facts

Food/Organic waste represents one of the largest component of landfills Food and other organic waste in landfills releases methane Methane plays a big role in Global Warming - It traps up to 100 times

more heat than Carbon dioxide within a 5 year periodWe realized that there are several programs to reduce the amount of food wastage but not a lot of creative

options to improve the process of recycling food/organic waste.

Problem Identification summary

Trash Trek

Electronic WastePlastic WastePaper WasteMetal WasteFabric Waste

Organic/Food WasteReduceReuse

Recycle – How can we better Recycle Organic/Food Waste?

Recycling Organic/Food wastage – Existing solutions

Individual composting City/County based composting Third party commercial services

Our solution – Community Composting We have taken a proven recycling

mechanism: Composting We have created an innovative process

around Composting to make it more accessible

We call it “Community Composting”

Community Composting – Key Implementation Features

Creation of a small community center for composting with a small team of dedicated community volunteers.

Initial setup based on community donation Residents bring food waste to the center and

receive a credit towards small amount of nutritious dirt back

Eventually we start supplying to locals to create a sustainable model

Community Composting – Why this is innovative?

Sense of Community – becomes a common cause rather than individual effort

Economic benefit – nutritious soil for free Proximity – Somewhere convenient; but

not too close to houses Participants in this program do not require

composting knowledge Leads to healthy gardens Sense of contribution towards a greener

planet

Hence…”Wasted Food” to “Plant Fuel”

- By Daring Dolphins

Research sources Online research:

USDA website

Food Rescue

Wikipedia

Documentaries and videos on YouTube

Books

Research sources - Continued Field trips and discussion with professionals

Wake county land fill Sonoco Material Recycling Facility

North Carolina State University

Sharing / Feedback Wake county experts

Sara Davarbakhsh, MScEnvironmental Program CoordinatorSolid Waste Management Division | Environmental Services

Meghan O'Connor BaldwinOutreach & Education ManagerSolid Waste Management Division | Environmental Services

Chelsea AreyEnvironmental Program CoordinatorSolid Waste Management Division | Environmental Services

Rebecca DunstanFeed the Bin School Recycling Program Coord. N.C. Certified Environmental Educator Wake County Environmental Services

Rhonda ShermanNC State UniversityBiological & Agricultural Engineering

YouTube Twitter SlideShare.net Respective schools

Fuller GT/AIG Magnet Elementary

Mills Park Elementary Mills Park Middle