Hundreds of pounds of food waste are no longer going into landfills, thanks to a recent collaboration between Gouverneur Hospital (GH) and North Country Compost (NCC).

The Canton-based business collects plant and animal sourced food scraps from the Hospital, and converts it into compost at their composting facility. The food waste is combined with wood chips, horse manure, and other amendments and turned weekly in a large windrow. It takes approximately six months for the scraps to become compost, which can later be used to enrich soils.

“Changing our system to composting required minimal staff training and effort,” noted St. Lawrence Health Director of Food and Nutrition Services Lauren Prentice. “The main difference is where our food waste goes during the day. Before it was put down the garbage disposal and into our water systems, as well as in the garbage and then into landfills.

“Today our food waste is used to create a nutritious and usable resource. We also take pride in supporting local businesses and families in our regional community,” she added.

Unless food scraps are diverted from the waste stream, they end up in landfills where they are converted into methane, a greenhouse gas approximately 80 times more powerful than carbon dioxide. By composting the food scraps, the waste can become a useful soil amendment teaming with beneficial bacteria that improves the health of our soils.

NCC Founder Greg Todd explained that to forestall the worst effects of climate change, we all need to proactively engage in measures to stop the release of climate gasses into the atmosphere; diverting food scraps from landfills is one such measure.