Wednesday, August 31, 2011
ZerO Waste Golf is the message, and now it's our new name
I recently changed the name of this blog to "ZerO Waste Golf. The name change makes perfect sense...the posts that get the most readership all have zero waste in the headline.
Wednesday, August 17, 2011
Golf Course Food Wastes, An Excellent Opportunity for Environmental Leadership
The increasing amount of carbon dioxide being released into the atmosphere is generally blamed for global climate change. Most often, car emissions are held up as the example polluter of CO2. But after a brief research session, I found some interesting statistics that I'd like to share with you.
Autos: An average automobile releases 20 pounds of CO2 per gallon. Some research claims that the average car produces 6 tons of CO2 per year.
Airplanes: A commercial airliner flying non stop from Boston to Wichita releases approximately 1400 pounds of CO2. It's 1645 miles from Boston to Wichita, so that's just a little less than 1 pound of CO2per mile
Cows: An adult cow releases on average between 100 kg of methane per year. That equates to 2000 kg of CO2 per year, or 2 tons of CO2.
Landfilled Food Wastes: One ton of landfilled food wastes releases the equivalent of 6000 tons of CO2
WHAT? Yes it's true... Pound for pound, landfilled food wastes are the worst source for greenhouse gases of all.
Studies by Arizona State University have shown that one dry ton of food wastes that decay anaerobically in landfill releases approximately 300 cubic meters of methane gas into the atmosphere. Methane gas is recognized by USEPA as being 20 times more harmful to the atmosphere than CO2. 300 cubic meters of methane multiplied by 20 = 6000 cubic meters of CO2.
Diverting food waste from landfill must be elevated to the highest priority if the harmful effects of global warming are to be slowed.
Not everybody drives a car or flies an airplane. Coal power plants? who even knows where they are? But everybody (apologies to those who lack enough food to be included) eats everyday and throws their wasted food or scraps into the trash can. That is why Green Golfer Foundation feels so strongly that golf courses should spread the word and lead by example by composting food wastes. Simply put, landfilled food wastes are the major source of greenhouse pollutants, period.
Food waste composting is regulated in most states, so there are, most likely, some regulations to learn and to follow, usually based upon the amount of wastes being composted, where the wastes come from and where they're going to be used. At Dairy Creek GC, we use vessel composters that are certified for food waste composting, and we also use worm bins to digest food wastes into vermicompost.
A few communities have a municipal composting operation that accepts food wastes, so it is possible to divert food wastes from the landfill in that manner. Our community does not have such a facility, so we do our own composting. We want the compost, and the vermicompost, anyway, because we use it to make compost tea with which we reduce our fertilizer and pesticide use and costs.
Oh, by the way, in case you were counting on golf course trees to absorb all the CO2 produced on site...A single adult tree absorbs approximately 48 pounds of CO2 per year. Now, calculate your food waste and then figure out how many trees you need to plant in the rough.
Autos: An average automobile releases 20 pounds of CO2 per gallon. Some research claims that the average car produces 6 tons of CO2 per year.
Airplanes: A commercial airliner flying non stop from Boston to Wichita releases approximately 1400 pounds of CO2. It's 1645 miles from Boston to Wichita, so that's just a little less than 1 pound of CO2per mile
Cows: An adult cow releases on average between 100 kg of methane per year. That equates to 2000 kg of CO2 per year, or 2 tons of CO2.
Coal Fired Power Plant: One ton of coal burned in the average power plant releases approximately 2.5 tons of CO2.
Landfilled Food Wastes: One ton of landfilled food wastes releases the equivalent of 6000 tons of CO2
WHAT? Yes it's true... Pound for pound, landfilled food wastes are the worst source for greenhouse gases of all.
Studies by Arizona State University have shown that one dry ton of food wastes that decay anaerobically in landfill releases approximately 300 cubic meters of methane gas into the atmosphere. Methane gas is recognized by USEPA as being 20 times more harmful to the atmosphere than CO2. 300 cubic meters of methane multiplied by 20 = 6000 cubic meters of CO2.
Diverting food waste from landfill must be elevated to the highest priority if the harmful effects of global warming are to be slowed.
Not everybody drives a car or flies an airplane. Coal power plants? who even knows where they are? But everybody (apologies to those who lack enough food to be included) eats everyday and throws their wasted food or scraps into the trash can. That is why Green Golfer Foundation feels so strongly that golf courses should spread the word and lead by example by composting food wastes. Simply put, landfilled food wastes are the major source of greenhouse pollutants, period.
Food waste composting is regulated in most states, so there are, most likely, some regulations to learn and to follow, usually based upon the amount of wastes being composted, where the wastes come from and where they're going to be used. At Dairy Creek GC, we use vessel composters that are certified for food waste composting, and we also use worm bins to digest food wastes into vermicompost.
A few communities have a municipal composting operation that accepts food wastes, so it is possible to divert food wastes from the landfill in that manner. Our community does not have such a facility, so we do our own composting. We want the compost, and the vermicompost, anyway, because we use it to make compost tea with which we reduce our fertilizer and pesticide use and costs.
Oh, by the way, in case you were counting on golf course trees to absorb all the CO2 produced on site...A single adult tree absorbs approximately 48 pounds of CO2 per year. Now, calculate your food waste and then figure out how many trees you need to plant in the rough.
Monday, August 8, 2011
Zero waste golf - could it be any easier?
I am an opportunist. I take it the easy way when easy is available. I wasn't always a zero waste golf advocate, I used to be an all purpose zero waste advocate. My associates and I have designed zero waste protocols for numbers of venues and events. I once pitched the potential for a zero waste stadium to the Philladelphia Phillies. "Too hard" they responded. And they were probably right.
Once I saw how golf courses work, I knew that zero waste golf was a lot easier to accomplish than zero waste at a major sports stadium. Then I started zeroing in on zero waste golf. As compared to other sports venues, golf courses have a very small waste stream, and one that is predictable and easily managed. What better place to practice (or demonstrate) zero waste than one in which it's so easy?
"Zero waste" is a very powerful environmental mantra. Indeed, it is surely the most powerful two words we can use in any eco-conversation. Zero waste trumps all other environmental slogans. Zero waste rules!
I like the idea of golf courses being environmental leaders in the communities that they serve. I'm sick of hearing how golf courses are such bad eco-citizens, what with their excessive water usage, or their over applications of pesticides, bla, bla, bla. You know what I mean. I like it when golf courses take the environmental fight to their opponents with the most powerful environmental strategy that has ever been devised.
But as an opportunist, what I really like is that zero waste golf is so stinking easy. It's so great to slay the environmental competition without even breaking a sweat. And then, when the other sports facilities try to copy zero waste golf's success, it's going to be so much harder for them.
Once I saw how golf courses work, I knew that zero waste golf was a lot easier to accomplish than zero waste at a major sports stadium. Then I started zeroing in on zero waste golf. As compared to other sports venues, golf courses have a very small waste stream, and one that is predictable and easily managed. What better place to practice (or demonstrate) zero waste than one in which it's so easy?
"Zero waste" is a very powerful environmental mantra. Indeed, it is surely the most powerful two words we can use in any eco-conversation. Zero waste trumps all other environmental slogans. Zero waste rules!
I like the idea of golf courses being environmental leaders in the communities that they serve. I'm sick of hearing how golf courses are such bad eco-citizens, what with their excessive water usage, or their over applications of pesticides, bla, bla, bla. You know what I mean. I like it when golf courses take the environmental fight to their opponents with the most powerful environmental strategy that has ever been devised.
But as an opportunist, what I really like is that zero waste golf is so stinking easy. It's so great to slay the environmental competition without even breaking a sweat. And then, when the other sports facilities try to copy zero waste golf's success, it's going to be so much harder for them.
Sunday, August 7, 2011
Composting fundamentals are essential to zero waste golf
The heart of an effective zero waste golf program is composting, espcially when food wastes are added to the compost. Composting can be easy and complicated all at the same time. The following link opens to a very good resource for information regarding composting, vermiculture, compost tea and other related topics.
If I had more time, I'd write more about the topic, but I'd rather get back to reading the link.
http://whatcom.wsu.edu/ag/compost/index.htm
If I had more time, I'd write more about the topic, but I'd rather get back to reading the link.
http://whatcom.wsu.edu/ag/compost/index.htm
Tuesday, August 2, 2011
Zero Waste Golf for an Hour a day
My daily chores chores at the zero waste park take me about an hour to perform. First I check the compost temperature in each of our two earth tub vessel composters. The earth tubs are sweet. they operate quietly and efficiently, the big stainless steel auger mixing the whole vessel in minutes. Today I added some grass clippings and water to the mix. I'm expecting the temperature to rise above 120 degrees F.
Today I cleaned out the Jenny's composter. Albert's guys sprayed tea through their big sprayer today, I heard they only had to clean out the spray head filters once during the job. Anyway, all I really did was make sure the composter was full of water. That didn't hardly take a minute. I did throw 4 or 5 buckets of compost tea dreggs out onto the new landscape we have around the composter area.
I checked the worms and sprayed the hose on their pile just to give them a drink. They've eaten almost all the lettuce that was on top of them a couple of days ago.
Today I cleaned out the Jenny's composter. Albert's guys sprayed tea through their big sprayer today, I heard they only had to clean out the spray head filters once during the job. Anyway, all I really did was make sure the composter was full of water. That didn't hardly take a minute. I did throw 4 or 5 buckets of compost tea dreggs out onto the new landscape we have around the composter area.
I checked the worms and sprayed the hose on their pile just to give them a drink. They've eaten almost all the lettuce that was on top of them a couple of days ago.
When I was done checking on the worms, I went up to the maintenance shop to talk to Albert about telling the food guys that the worms and vessel composters are ready and available for their kitchen scraps and food wastes.
That's the typical day in the life of the model Green Golfer Foundation volunteer. About an hour a day.
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