Composting the Big Apple, pledge if you’re in favor of it

At Harvest Power, we’re big believers in backyard composting. That’s one reason the site Kickstarter.com caught our eye.

We understand the challenges that face city-dwellers when it comes to composting. That’s all the more reason that a project like this could use some support.

It’s called Connecting the City to the Soil. According to Kickstarter:

New York City, on the whole, does not compost. The NYC Department of Sanitation points to density, collection costs, and lack of processing facilities as the stumbling blocks to city-wide municipal composting. As a result, the 29% of NYC waste stream that could be composted goes straight to the landfill. This means that all of the nutrients taken out of the soil will never again return to it.

So what’s the solution, you ask? That’s simple. Two wheels.

Kickstarter uses low-cost cargo bicycles to pick up organic food scraps from small and medium sized restaurants around the city and haul them back to farms for processing as compost and fertilizer.

It’s all about reducing waste and improving soil. Kickstarter is preparing to launch a pilot program to test their methods in August. To do so, though, they need everyone’s help. Pledge to support these efforts and you’ll get something in return.

• $15 – Kickstarter will pick up your compostables (they are limited to certain neighborhoods)
• $25 – Receive a free item from a participating restaurant
• $75 – Tour an urban farm and see the farming and composting plan in action.
• $150 – Visit an upstate composting farm to see the foodcycle at work
• $250 or more – Haul scraps for a day by bike and see what it’s like to connect the city to the soil.

If you’d like to help reach the goal, $6,000 for bicycles and start-up costs, visit the site at www.kickstarter.com. It’s only getting a green light if enough money is raised before Sept. 1. Recently the project also earned some ink in Earth911.com.

What are your thoughts on the project? Will you donate to the cause? Why or why not?

This post is brought to you by Harvest Power. Follow us on Twitter or connect with us on Facebook.

What exactly is wood gasification you ask?

At Harvest, we employ a technology known as wood gasification to convert wood waste to renewable syngas. It’s a method of extracting clean energy from wood-based materials that produces electricity, heat and substitute natural gas.

Wood gasification is considered clean, efficient and economically viable. It leaves a small footprint and provides 20 times the heat transfer of traditional gasification systems, while offering greater fuel flexibility.

In an article by Troy Edwards titled The Wonders of Wood Gasification, the writer explained the process in the following steps:

1. Primarily, the wood is warmed through a gasification booth so that the wood chemistry will disintegrate into carbon monoxide and hydrogen. The procedure makes use of extensive heat and limited amount of air is introduced into the compartment to produce charcoal that then transforms into gas.

2. The formed gas now moves into another booth or the combustion chamber to be fused with air and burn at high temperature, and produces large amount of preferred heat.

3. Then, the remaining gases are then channeled out through a heat changer to remove the heat and keep the effectiveness high.

4. The remaining gases leave a smoke pile.

We crafted this diagram to do the same:

This clean, renewable method of combustion also reduces the amount of waste headed to area landfills, according to Edwards. And it does so without negatively contributing to air or land pollution.

Are you familiar with the process of wood gasification? Tell us about your experience.

This post is brought to you by Harvest Power. Follow us on Twitter or connect with us on Facebook.

Port Coquitlam residents can add food scraps to green carts

Canada’s Port Coquitlam last year expanded their waste reduction efforts by introducing the addition of leftover food scraps and food-soiled papers to green waste carts. Everything from meats, dairy, bones and pizza boxes can be added to those carts, as can fruit and vegetable scraps.

Port Coquitlam was the first city in metro Vancouver to initiate a widespread recycling program that targets kitchen waste. It benefits taxpayers by saving about $45,500 per year in biweekly waste pickup. The program also diverts 2,400 tonnes of household waste from landfills. The Source Separated Organics program is assisted by Harvest’s organic’s processing facility, Fraser Richmond Soil & Fibre.

All households that receive green waste collection may participate, year-round. Here are the details:

• All you need to participate is a pail with a lid, such as an ice creal pail that you can store in your kitchen under the sink.
• Store your food waste in this container or wrap them in newspaper and place them in a paper bag.
• Transfer your food scraps into a green waste cart alongside yard waste for pick up.

For more information, visit the Web site.

This post is brought to you by Harvest Power. Follow us on Twitter or connect with us on Facebook.

Next Page »