Eco Scouts: How to Organize a Litter Clean-up

 Did you know you can organize your own litter cleanup? And you don't necessarily have to provide any of your own supplies! That's what I learned at this week's Eco Scouts session on litter cleanups. We learned how to conduct a litter cleanup efficiently and safely, what supplies we would need, and what organizations can provide those supplies. 

We also got to hear from a local community member who cleaned up a public lot and got the city to provide permanent garbage cans for the lot.

At the end, we got our own litter cleanup kit to get us started.

Check out our badge for this session, along with some basic safety tips.

Eco Scouts - Backyard Composting and Food Waste

The second session of Eco Scouts was last week. That session focused on food waste. Have you noticed that a lot of recipes only use part of the plant you are cooking with? We end up throwing away stems, peels, and sometimes leaves when cooking. At this session, we got a couple of recipes that try to use the whole plant -- whole kale and stems and whole celery, including the leaves. 

Low-waste recipes

Next, we learned some shocking facts about food waste. There is so much of it from the farm, to the distributor, and the restaurant or home. We learned about the Flashfood app that allows you to get food from grocery stores near its best-by date for a discount; this prevents the grocery store from throwing the food away. We also got some information about the McKeesport Community Garden.

Lastly, we learned about Bokashi composting and got our own starter kit to compost at home! Bokashi composting is interesting because it is actually an anaerobic fermentation method. Bokashi composting is done in a sealed bucket, and once the fermentation is complete, you bury the compost in the ground.

Inside our Bokashi bucket

We also got our first badge at this session! Check it out! Can you tell what it is?