NERC Blog

As a part of its Organics Management Project for Rural and Small Towns, NERC posted case studies on its website which present models for organics best management practices. The Northeast Indiana Solid Waste Management District presents such a model.

In November I posted an article entitled “The Public Library – Reuse in Action.” Today’s piece presents a follow-up on the topic of libraries. I traveled to San Diego on vacation a couple of weeks ago and had the privilege of touring their new library. Think that libraries are becoming an anachronism? Take a look at what San Diego has done to keep their library as a focal point for community involvement, learning, and technological advancement.

Holiday Tunes

Yes, we’ve heard it before…. Americans throw away 25 percent more trash between Thanksgiving and the New Year than during any other time of the year. Yet, we keep tossing more and more during the holidays.

All I Want for Christmas…is No More Catalogues!

According to Catalogue Choice U.S. households receive more than 83 billion pieces of advertising mail, including catalogues, of which 46% is never read and 38% is not recycled. Paper used to manufacture catalogs and other glossy advertising tends to contain less recycled content then other types of paper production, due to the desire for the catalogues to be composed of thinner, shinier paper. The production of the 20 billion catalogues mailed out each year uses up to 15 million trees according to Catalogue Choice. They estimate the energy used to produce and dispose of all that paper is equal to some 119 trillion BTUs, and accounts for 11 million tons each year of CO₂ emissions. On top of that there is an estimated 56 billion gallons of waste water generated, along with 4.1 million tons of solid waste.

While we all like to look at…

Today’s blog features another case study of a farm compost operation which participated in NERC’s Compost Marketing project—Amend Organics in Amherst, Massachusetts

Today’s blog features another case study of a farm compost operation which participated in NERC’s Compost Marketing project—Always Something Farm in Croydon, New Hampshire.

According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Americans throw away about 35 percent of the turkey purchased for Thanksgiving meals and that does not include bones. More than 200 million pounds of meat (of a total of some 730 million pounds of fowl purchased overall) will end up in the garbage after the holiday meal. Apparently we buy too much and get tired of eating the leftovers. This article contains tips for creating less waste and practicing better food management this holiday season

A room full of people interested in organics leads to a lot of talking and networking! NERC’s Fall Conference “Organics Management in the Northeast – Its Time has Come!” was certainly great timing. More than 125 people gathered in Northampton, Massachusetts last week to hear presentations on a wide range of organics management topics.

The Public Library is the very essence of reuse.

Today’s blog features another case study of a farm compost operation which participated in NERC’s project— Fern Hill Compost in Red Creek, New York.

To expand and support farm-based compost markets in the Northeast, NERC was awarded a grant from the Northeast Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education (SARE) program. Resources developed by NERC for the project, as well as presentations from seven compost marketing workshops, are posted on NERC’s website. NERC provided technical assistance to farm compost operations, including development of operation-specific marketing plans. Today’s blog features a case study on Devine Gardens, a farm compost operation which participated in NERC’s project.