Make Worm Food

What do you say to an avocado who’s done a good job?

Food jokes are fun, but food waste is not. And it’s something we need to taco’bout!

Food waste is what you call food scraps and leftover bits that you don’t eat. It might seem harmless, but it’s a big climate change problem. Here’s why:

When food is thrown in the garbage it usually ends up in the landfill. While there, it’s broken down by teeny tiny microbes, like mold, germs, and bacteria. In the process, they create methane, one of the strongest greenhouse gases—it can trap 25 TIMES more heat than carbon dioxide!

Worm Food to the Rescue!

Luckily, there is a really easy way to use your food waste to help the planet instead. Compost it!

A compost bin is a special container that helps your food break down. It is a paradise for bacteria, fungi, bugs, and worms who turn your leftovers into black gold. This black gold, also known as fertilizer, is really good for plants because it’s filled with nutrients from the food. Even better, compost bins have lots of oxygen in them, which those methane-making microbes hate! 

A Big Composting No-No

Food like meat, dairy, raw eggs, and fat can turn your black gold into an unusable muck! They can carry diseases that get into the fertilizer and end up hurting your plants. They can also be really smelly, which attracts animals. Make sure to keep those foods out of your compost bin!

Making black gold is one of the habits in the All Taste, No Waste Challenge. Look for it in the Challenge section of the Earth Rangers App to get more climate-friendly habits that will help you say “so long” to food waste!