Vegetarian Food Fair Manual Project

The Vegetarian Food Fair Manual Project

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Part II

Section 16: Trash disposal, recycling, and composting

Any event that features food also generates trash, so you should plan carefully for how to deal with this at your food fair. Vegetarianism is almost always associated with environmentalism, so most people will expect special sensitivity to the issue of trash and food waste. You should budget for trash removal when you're considering the initial details of your food fair (see Section 3). You will likely receive instructions about your responsibilities for waste when you receive permission to hold the event.

You can take several other steps to help ensure that waste is handled in the most environmentally sound way:

Encourage vendors to use environmentally friendly containers to serve food whenever possible.

Compost food waste if possible. Check to see whether there is a cooperative extension in your area that may be interested in providing a composting demonstration that would help solve the problem of disposing of food waste. Someone from an environmental group or local nursery, lawn and garden center, or landscape service might also be interested.

Provide appropriate containers for aluminum, glass, and paper recycling.

Volunteers should check trash and recycling receptacles and empty them as needed throughout the day to avoid overflowing trash cans and scattered debris.

Even if you can't completely recycle everything that vendors and attendees use at the event, you should be sure that the area stays as clean as possible. Final trash disposal may not take place until the end of the day, so you should arrange for a dumpster that you can use for full bags of trash (the dumpster may be part of the waste disposal fee if you pay one). You may be responsible for taking care of recyclables yourself. After the fair is over, be sure to remove all trash from the area and pick up any stray trash or recyclables that may have "escaped" during the day. TOP