PaperlessKitchen Blog

Penn State University Unveils New Waste Reduction Program

Kudos to Penn State University! This year, the public land grant college has instituted a new plan to dramatically reduce the amount of solid waste produced by the university that ends up in landfills.

Called Mobius, the program focuses on food waste. The university has set up special Mobius stations all over the campus for students, faculty and visitors to deposit compostable waste. The bins are found in all buildings that contain classrooms, dining halls and food courts and residence halls. They are also located in many of the athletic venues where the Nittany Lions hold home games.

Penn State will compost all of the waste and use it on campus. With the program, the university states that only 25 percent of the total amount of waste generated at the campus will need to be taken to landfills. That's a 10 percent decrease over the amount that is currently transported off of the campus.

We hope that other universities around the country will be inspired to follow  Penn State's lead.

Healthy Child Healthy World's New e-Book Can Help Make Schools and Daycares Greener

Throughout the country, schools are back in session, and in honor of back to school, I wanted to share a great e-book that I stumbled upon from Healthy Child Healthy World. If you're not familiar with the organization, they are a nonprofit based in Los Angeles, California. Their mission is to spread the word about the dangers of toxic chemicals and how they impact children. The organization is involved in a lot of activities from lobbying Congress to petitioning companies that use dangerous chemicals in children's products to educating parents through various outreach programs.

The e-book, "Easy Steps to a Healthy School," focuses on eliminating chemicals from daycares and schools. The book is free and available to browse in full color online. The guide is divided into sections, the first eight of which focus on greening a particular aspect of the school with chapters devoted to cleaning supplies, art supplies, food, pesticides, air quality, the playground and daycare and preschools. The final chapter discusses challenges that could stand in the way of schools' efforts.

Completing the e-book are sections about being an advocate and taking action and a list of resources. The entire guide is very well written, insightful and easy to read. It's an eye-opening e-book for parents as well as for teachers and administrators. I encourage anyone with children to check out the free e-book. Let us know what you think once you've read it by posting a message in the "Comments" section.