According to Lane County Waste Management, of all the tons of trash in our landfills—uneaten food is at the top of the list.
That’s one reason why the Environmental Defense Fund is sponsoring a Climate Corps fellow to help Springfield businesses with a new initiative to reduce food waste.
Tatum Flowers came from the University of South Florida with a master’s degree in Sustainability. Her job is to incentivize groceries, hospitals, restaurants, and convenience stores to donate their unused food and collect food scraps.
Flowers also talks trash. “When you prevent or reduce surplus food," she said, "you will ultimately reduce the amount of trash. And trash is actually one of the more expensive services that businesses have.”
Flowers reminded companies and residents of Springfield and Eugene that unused food can be put right into curbside, yard-waste bins. Sanipac will turn all that organic stuff into mulch.
Waste Reduction Outreach Coordinator Dan Hiestand added that there is a great benefit for businesses in Lane County to broadcast their sustainability wins.
“If they go though the steps to become more sustainable, it’s a great marketing opportunity. Folks in this region are really passionate about sustainability and tend to support all the efforts around it,” said Hiestand.
There are about a thousand Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) Climate Corps Fellows working around the United States. Flowers has been working in an around Springfield for five weeks and has five more to go. She hopes to find more work to remain in Oregon or at least on the west coast.
This initiative will be Lane County’s first dedicated outreach in Springfield to large food businesses to promote food donation, food scrap collection, and provide technical assistance.
This fellowship in Lane County—which will run until early August— will help measure commercial food waste in Springfield and better understand concerns or barriers that large food waste generators have when donating or composting their wasted food.
The commercial outreach effort closely follows the Sanipac policy introduced last year to accept food waste in Springfield residential yard waste bins.
Tatum Flowers will lead outreach efforts, provide information and technical assistance, as well as conduct site visits to interested organizations.
Springfield food businesses can reach Tatum Flowers at foodwaste@lanecountyor.gov.
