First stop on our travel adventure to Mexico? O'Hare International Airport
(ORD) in Chicago, Illinois. When I think of O'Hare, I do not think of flying - I
think of people. Yearly, there is over 881,566 aircraft operations with an
average of 2,409 per day. Close to 70 million people per year travel through the
airport. 70 MILLION!?!?! Imagine how many toilet flushes that is. Imagine how
much paper, cans, and plastic bottles are used and thrown away there.
The good news? As we walked through O'Hare, we saw lots of recycle bins.
O'Hare's recycling program is substantial, with a focus on paper, plastic, and
metals. Susan Goyette of the HMS Host food services said that 264 tons of
cardboard is recycled annually at O'Hare. Grease from fryers is also recycled
with 125,000 pounds gathered yearly.
The O'Hare Modernization Program is in full swing and includes
significant sustainable improvements. You can imagine that doing something
simple to be "green" has a huge impact with so many people flowing through
O'Hare annually, and Susan said one simple plan is to introduce a new
biodegradable "to go bag" for all food services.
The bigger question regarding airport recycling is what happens to all the
food waste at the airport? You see, with 70 million people coming through the
system yearly, food waste must be in the tons. At the Los Angeles International
Airport (LAX), 8,000 tons of food waste produced yearly is converted to methane
gas which is then recycled and turned into electricity. Hong Kong airport
gardeners recycle 60 tons of food waste annually to produce compost for the
airport landscaping. Why isn't this happening at O'Hare?
I challenge O'Hare Airport and the people of Chicago to come up with a
workable solution to the food waste issue - maybe if we all work together we can
find a solution to help management at O'Hare do something awesome to help reduce
landfill waste and help benefit our community.
If we all work together we can make a difference! Can anyone or any company
help me with a good solution? Please leave a comment and let me know what you
think and if you feel there is an easily reached solution to help the City of
Chicago.
(This is a republish of a previous post I did, but felt the importance
and significance of the post was still viable and I wanted this to be seen
again - we need someone to make a difference with this issue!)
- http://www.thecasualgardener.com,
- The Green Blog - http://www.gardeningnude.com,
or - The Garden Blog - http://thecasualgardener.blogspot.com
- and The Community Help Blog - www.grow1world.com
Filed under: Eco-Travel, RRRecycle
shawna,
if you are interested in a food waste solution for o'hare, i have it.
although i need some help with someone who is as passionate about food waste as i am. email me at cathy@feedearthnow.com and we'll connect
Cathy