When planning a Zero Waste road trip across Canada possibly for two months the issue of discard management becomes part of the process. Obviously we are trying to create as little waste as possible and we want to be respectful of the communities we visit.
This is a trip about being mindful so we are thinking of efficient storage of any food we carry, and eliminating as much food waste as possible. We will be following best practices of the food waste hierarchy that lists feed people first, feed animals and then compost. No, we will not be feeding bears! We will be eating leftovers and Piper may get a few snacks.
Not every place has composting and as a visitor to a community we may not be able to access any community composting that is in place.
Even with careful food management we will have peelings, pits, and scraps. Obviously space and odour are factors.
Over the years we have tested out many compost units at home and work. Recently we have tested out a small electric composter that is the size of a bread maker, from a Cornwall Ontario based company, Food Cycle Science with amazing results. The Food Cycler works through aerobic digestion taking only several hours to turn organic waste into mulch.
The Food Cycler is quiet and odourless. You can put citrus, peels, corn cobs and small bones as well as bread and meat into the metal bucket and within 3 to 4 hours it is dried sterilized mulch you can dump right in your garden. There are no liquids and it is not messy. The bucket and be placed in dishwasher if you want to wash it.
On our trip to Victoria, we ordered Swiss Chalet chicken for dinner at Buddy’s sister’s condo. We put the remains of the dinner for three which consisted of the bones from a whole chicken and teabags and coffee grounds into The Food Cycler and we took the finished soil amender to our next destinations. It was perfect in the car; there was no smell and no mess.
We are taking the Food Cycler on our Bolt Across Canada road trip.(no we are not dealers just happy users)
