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Food Waste Awareness
Food waste is one of the most prolific environmental, social, and economic challenges of our time – touching on aspects of food insecurity, inefficient use of natural and fiscal resources, and detrimental impacts to our environment. Around 40% of all the food produced in our country goes uneaten. Food waste accounts for 24% of the waste we send to landfills, making it the largest percentage of our waste stream by material type. Food waste costs a household of four an average of $1,800 annually and squanders immense amounts of resources, including water, land, energy, and food. Reducing food waste is considered to be among the top global strategies for reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
The Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation (TDEC) is committed to reducing food waste in Tennessee. In 2017 TDEC awarded nearly $4 million dollars in grant funding to 13 organizations to support activities and infrastructure addressing food waste. In recent years, we’ve launched the Get Food Smart TN program, which seeks to promote education and awareness relating to food waste, provide technical assistance, and recognize organizations across the state that are committed to reducing food waste. We’ve established partnerships with non-profits and other organizations across Tennessee, to collaborate on addressing this issue. Our Tennessee State Parks have adopted inventory management practices and on-site composting to significantly reduce food waste at parks across the state. And, despite the challenges we all faced in 2020, TDEC was successful in partnering with the state legislature to pass legislation enhancing food donor liability protections in the state, which reduces the perceived liabilities associated with donating food. Also this past year, TDEC developed a multitude of informational resources that seek to reduce food waste across a variety of sectors and operational environments and launched a webinar series to further educate stakeholders on food waste.
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Nominations are now open for the 2021 Governor's Environmental Stewardship Awards! Find more information and the application HERE.
Nominations are being accepted until April 1, 2021
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In 2018, Tennessee tourism employed nearly 190,000 Tennesseans and generated $1.81 billion in state and local tax revenue. Along with generating economic activity, Tennessee’s hospitality industry has an environmental impact on the state through resource usage and waste generation. There is ample opportunity for Tennessee’s hospitality industry to consider and implement environmentally sustainable practices that will continue to drive economic activity while conserving and protecting natural resources. Please visit our new website, sustainablehospitality.tn.gov, to learn how to implement environmentally sustainable practices at hospitality businesses.
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| TGSP Member Highlight
Clayton Bean Station’s commitment to sustainability is evident from their many conservation projects and environmental policies. Some of the facility’s main environmental impact objectives include waste reduction and recycling, reducing electricity consumption, limiting fugitive dust, improving water consumption, and reducing aerosol can generation. Read more about their sustainability efforts on the January TGSP Member Highlight.
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The State of Tennessee occupies approximately 97 million square feet of building space. In an effort to be responsible stewards of this space, the State continuously seeks opportunities to operate these facilities as efficiently as possible. One such example of these efforts, is the recent approval of a Ultravoilet Germicidal Irradiance (UVGI) project to be installed within the Tennessee Tower’s HVAC system.
UVGI is a proven method of increasing the air quality of a building through the installation of ultraviolet lamps within the air handling units to control mold and bacteria growth. In addition to the health benefits, these lamps can also improve the energy performance of an HVAC system. Restricting the growth of mold and bacteria on coils and drain pans can result in systems lasting longer and operating more efficiently.
The energy usage reductions and decreased system maintenance associated with the project will result in an estimated $50,000 in cost savings annually and a return on investment of approximately 1.3 years. A similar project has also been scheduled for the Capitol building which will lead to additional cost savings for the State.
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Materials Management Corner
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The solid waste industry and collection process is a critical and essential part to our everyday health and safety, especially during the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. Here are a few simple tricks that you can follow to help protect sanitation workers from encountering contaminated items:
- Place your trash in a closed plastic bag. If you are provided a curbside bin or cart, do not leave any bags outside that would require a sanitation worker to physically pick up.
- Tissues, paper towels, wipes, masks, latex gloves, or any other sanitary or cleaning materials used to protect you from COVID-19 should NOT go into recycling carts or bins. (These items are never recyclable.) RECYCLED MATERIALS ARE OFTEN HANDLED BY WORKERS WHEN SORTED LATER.
- If your local drop-off facility is still accepting waste or recyclables, be sure to follow all safety policies. These policies may include, not paying with cash, maintaining 6 feet of distance with other customers and employees, and wearing a mask.
- To keep workers safe and minimize their exposure, your waste services provider may make temporary changes, including suspending bulk or yard waste collection or closing drop off centers.
When in doubt, please reach out to your city, county, or sanitation hauler to ask questions about how you can do your part to keep everyone safe. For further tips on how you can help protect waste and recycling workers, check out SWANA’s website here.
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Have leftover rice? Use it to make these delicious arachini (rice balls), from Spice Bangla. | |
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Conferences/Workshops/Training Opportunities
Stay tuned as we receive updates about upcoming conferences.
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