WASTE MANAGEMENT:
TIPS FOR MANAGING TRASH IN YOUR KITCHEN
Most of this info is Montclair, NJ specific. If you need help in another location,
reach out and we'll figure it out together.
This (long and chock-full!) document includes:
where our trash goes, and
tips on ways to reduce and responsibly manage our waste.
I'd love your feedback on how to improve this document.
WHEN YOU THROW YOUR TRASH AWAY, WHERE IS "AWAY"?
For Montclair, NJ “away” is the Ironbound section of Newark, less than 10 miles away. Every day 200 - 300 diesel trucks deliver trash from Montclair, all of Essex County and parts of NYC, to the Covanta incinerator which burns 3000 tons/day. The Ironbound, a low income black and brown community, is one of the most toxic neighborhoods in America due to the high concentration of polluting facilities spewing toxins into the air and water. As a result, Newark residents are breathing dirty air and experience higher rates of cancer, asthma and heart and lung disease. In a clear example of nationwide environmental racism, black and brown people are 75% more likely to live near facilities producing hazardous waste.

Covanta is a “waste-to-energy” facility. Burning trash to generate electricity is bad because:
  • Burning garbage emits toxic pollutants, greenhouse gases and contributes to the climate crisis.
  • It is 2.5x more harmful than coal.
  • The incineration results in toxic ash which must be buried in special landfills.
  • It is wasteful and costly.
  • Dirty energy is being greenwashed as a “renewable resource” and takes government subsidies away from actual renewable energy such as wind and solar.
The statistics are alarming, but there are actions we can take. Keep reading for tips & strategies on how to make a difference. Let's all do our part to create healthy and safe communities for our
families and neighbors.

NJ currently has 4 active incinerators (Newark, Camden, Westville and Rahway, plus one in PA on the border) and over 850 landfills of which 12 are still active (none in Essex County). Before closing in 2019, 2 dozen landfills in the Meadowlands were accepting 11,000 tons/day.
KITCHEN WASTE BINS

As part of all kitchen design, I include a cabinet for managing waste. There are many configurations available; the 4-bin pull-out in my own kitchen is seen here:

35 Qt = commingled recycling
35 Qt = paper & cardboard recycling
8 Qt = compost
8 Qt = incinerator trash (no food waste)

The trash bin is intentionally small to remind me to be mindful about what I put in there. Happy to say it's a solid habit now. The trash is primarily food packaging. Ugh.

Keep reading below for info and tips on diverting your trash from the incinerator.
FOOD WASTE FACTS


The average US household wastes nearly 1/3 of the food it buys resulting in 63 million tons (2018) that are incinerated or landfilled.
To save yourself some time, go food shopping, buy 3 bags of groceries and before you get in your car, toss one of those bags in the garbage.
Wow, right?!

Food waste is the largest category of household garbage.
  • In the US, food waste is responsible for twice as much heat-trapping pollution (aka greenhouse gas emissions) as commercial aviation.
  •  The average family in central Ohio spends $1500 each year on food they don’t eat.
  • When food is wasted, all the energy used to grow, harvest, process, package, transport, prepare, and store that food is also wasted.  "Producing uneaten food squanders a whole host of resources—seeds, water, energy, land, fertilizer, hours of labor, financial capital—and generates greenhouse gases at every stage. The food we waste is responsible for roughly 8% of global emissions." Project Drawdown
  • At the municipal level, food waste places logistical and financial burdens on waste management facilities.
  • At the household level, wasting food results in wasting money.
THE MYTH OF FOOD EXPIRATION DATES
Food expiration dates are not federally mandated or regulated and do not refer to food safety, rather to manufacturer's conservative guess as to the item's peak quality or freshness. So, it is safe to eat your "expired" food after its printed date has passed, unless it looks or smells bad.

The only exception is baby food. After the federally mandated date, the nutrient content is not guaranteed.

Uncertainty about the meaning of the dates that appear on the labels of packaged foods is believed to contribute to about 20% of food waste in the home.

Use the website Eat By Date to search by food category so you can confidently eat "expired" food and avoid throwing out perfectly good food.
TIPS TO REDUCE FOOD WASTE
We all feel overwhelmed with our responsibilities, so do your
best to be more mindful and change your habits.
Make a list of your favorite meals, and recipes you'd like to try.
Make a weekly meal plan.
Make a grocery list for those meals.
Don't food shop when hungry.
Don't overbuy or impulse buy.
Don't buy that good looking bunch of asparagus unless you have a plan for when you'll cook it.


Inventory fridge & pantry before shopping.
Commit to using the food you buy.

Credit: Instagram accounts

Smart storage will help your food last longer. There's so much info on the interwebs, check it out!

Give vegetables some space. A crowded vegetable crisper is soon a rotten one. Allow air to circulate. 

Lemons and limes last longer and won't dry out in a refrigerated bowl of water.

Don't let this be you.
LOL

Refrigerate a ripe avocado to
help it last a few more days.
Eat, or freeze then eat, your leftovers.

One of our clients calls them
"plan-overs" -- she cooks extra food to guarantee there will be leftovers.

Add fresh ingredients to leftovers. Voila! A new meal.

My favorite lunch is leftover dinner!


What if you know you don't want to eat anymore of it, or you had some and you don't like it?

Join the private Facebook group "Montclair Area Food Swap" to post and share cooked or prepared food, produce, pantry items etc.
DIVERT FOOD WASTE FROM INCINERATOR
After you've done your best to reduce your food waste, the fact is that food prep does generate scraps, and despite our best intentions, food does spoil.
Avoid throwing food into your trash and sending it to burn in Newark,
or attracting wildlife to forage in your trash cans.
COMPOST
IN YOUR OWN BACKYARD, COUNTERTOP, OR USE A PICK UP/DROP OFF SERVICE
Composting your food scraps and waste in your backyard is an excellent way to keep food out of the incinerator. Your flower or vegetable garden will benefit from the resulting "black gold" finished compost.

Need help? Call Montclair's Compost "Rotline" at 973-509-5721.
If, like me, you love the idea of composting but it's more than you can handle, hire a service. Java's Compost picks up from our house every Tuesday. We receive back a bag of finished compost every spring.

A commercial service like this accepts meat and dairy waste that typically can't be put into a home composting system.
Drop off your food waste for free year-round at Montclair Community Farms.
The Lomi countertop appliance turns food waste into finished compost in 4 hours. Small size: width 16" x depth 13" x height 12". Seen here in a TSID award-winning kitchen.
GARBAGE DISPOSAL
If composting isn't possible, a garbage disposal will keep your food waste out of the incinerator. We recommend a countertop push button activator. You'll never accidentally turn on the disposal when trying to turn on a light!
REDUCING OTHER KITCHEN WASTE
THE Rs: REFUSE, REDUCE, REUSE,
REPURPOSE, REPAIR, ROT/COMPOST
Just a few ideas -- there are so many ways to be sustainable.
Be an advocate for change:
Ask your local supermarkets and restaurants to ditch
plastic packaging and request instead paper food containers.
When ordering takeout, ask for food-only (no plastic cutlery, straws etc).
RECYCLE
Recycling paper, cardboard, glass and cans for curbside pickup is an important component of managing household waste. Keep it out of the trash.
In 1987, New Jersey was the 1st state to enact a recycling law!
High recycling rates for Paper (68%), Newspaper (65%), Corrugated boxes (96%). (EPA, 2018)
Keep it up!
Glass: Although 100% recyclable, only 31% is actually recycled resulting in 7.6M tons going to landfills every year. (EPA, 2018)
Aluminum cans: Although 100% recyclable, only 35% were recycled in 2018.
Let's do better!
Plastic: Only 2 - 5% of the 51M tons of plastic waste was recycled in the US in 2021. The number has been steadily declining after reaching a high of only 9.5%. Avoid buying plastic whenever possible.
Styrofoam:
Suspended : (
The recycling facility went out of business. Eagerly waiting for a new one to open.
Electronics: In Montclair since 2001. Computers, TVs, phones, e-waste. Never put e-waste in the trash.
Wishcycling = Tossing a questionable, or dirty, item into the bin, hoping it can be recycled. For example: greasy pizza box, plastic container with food residue, plastic bags, shredded paper, shiny paper food boxes. Doing so contaminates the lot, slows down the sorting process and is a waste of time. Sadly, better to throw in the incinerator trash. Don't be a wishcycler!
"Paper, cardboard, metal, and glass are recycled at much higher rates than plastic. The problem lies not with the concept or process of recycling but with the plastic material itself. ... Plastic recycling in particular has failed because the thousands of types of synthetic plastic materials produced are fundamentally not recyclable."
Reducing production and consumption of plastic will always be better than trying to recycle single use plastic.
Plastic Is a Big Problem
As we now know, plastic waste ends up in incinerators spewing polluted air, or landfills leaching toxins into the ground, or washed up on foreign shores, and is in the ocean breaking down into smaller and smaller micro-plastic particles which are now in our food and our bodies. But the problem with plastic is not only its disposal; the production of plastic is also a significant health hazard. The chemicals in plastic put our health at risk.

Plastic is a petrochemical, made from methane gas, oil or coal, plus a long list of at least 148 toxic chemicals. There is risk all along the chain from formulating the chemicals, transporting them and manufacturing them. The February 2023 Ohio derailment of a train carrying vinyl chloride and other hazardous chemicals used to manufacture plastics is just the latest example of the fossil fuel and railway industry's insistence on profit instead of care for the health and safety of people and the planet.

As consumers and governments pivot more toward renewable energy and electric vehicles, the fossil fuel industry is doubling down on its plastic production, its decades long campaign of deception, and is continuing to shift responsibility for plastic waste to taxpayers and municipalities.
NJ ACTION ON PLASTIC POLLUTION
NJ is one of a few states with strong Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) legislation:

Plastics Reduction Act (aka plastic bag ban) 2022
Ban on single use plastic shopping bags and styrofoam food containers.

Recycled Content Law 2024
Establishes post-consumer recycled content obligations for glass and rigid plastic containers, plastic and paper carryout bags, plastic beverage containers, and plastic trash bags.
Prohibits the sale of polystyrene loose fill packaging (aka packing peanuts)

NJ Senate Bill S426 (Packaging Stewardship Act)
Legislation that would reduce packaging waste
INCINERATOR OR LANDFILL OR OCEAN -- THE FINAL STOP