[A series documenting my efforts to eat local! Kick-off post's here]
I made it to the Main Street farmers’ market on Sunday — yay!
Granted, I got there only like a half hour before it closed down at 1 — So by the time I got a veggie omelet and wolfed it down, all the lil booths were shutting down and I didn’t actually get to buy any produce :(
But! I’m def. motivated to get there earlier next week. Also, the omlelet was yummy :)
This farmers’ market, btw, has been zero waste since April! Vendors use no styrofoam — only biodegreable and recyclable packaging and utensils are used :)
“Waste Stations†in the market have only green (biodegreable) and blue (recyclable) bins — No black (landfill) bins at all :) And signs all over the place let market-goers know where to put what.
According to the Santa Monica Mirror, biodegradables are taken to a transfer station in Bakersfield and turned into usable compost.
Getting to the farmers’ market was a breeze — I biked over, and used the city’s free bike valet service. Bike or bus and avoid the crazy parking situation –
Sunday Farmers’ Market. Main St. & Ocean Park. Santa Monica. 9:30 am - 1 pm.
Update: I hung out for real this time. Farmers’ market redux :)
Update, 9/27/06: More details on the zero waste program at the Santa Monica farmers’ market :)
Update, 3/12/07: Read the whole series, posted both here and on Treehugger.
What difference does it make it they use biodegradable packaging…almost all of it will end up in landfills which prevent them from decomposing. These items are prevented from decomposing mainly for two reasons, to prevent bacteria from spreading, and to prevent possible harmful chemicals to be formed (decomposing causes chemical reactions, these chemicals can be harmful and can end up in our water, air, etc…)
Comment by James Rubenol — September 11, 2006 @ 2:22 pm
Hey dude — Did you read the post? The biodegradables at this farmers market are taken to a facility in Bakersfield to get them decomposed efficiently. And I’m really, really interested in hearing about these “harmful chemicals” you wrote about — Got any studies to back that up?
Comment by Siel — September 13, 2006 @ 9:58 pm
I apologize for overlooking the compost issue. I’m glad you caught me on that. My main concern isn’t this one case but in general people supporting products without thinking about them in depth. I got this from a landfill site:
“Wastes decompose in a landfill. Examples are metals that rust and food material that rots. The bi-products of these decomposition processes are heat, water, and gases. The two primary gases that are produced are carbon dioxide and methane.”
Methane isn’t something which we want to increase in our atmosphere, it being a major “green house gas”.
Again this isn’t an attack on LA girl for talking about no waste, I just wish people would do some research so we can find a real solution…As far as I’m concerned, waste is much less of an issue than global warming in our day of age….we need to increase awareness, increase recycling, and put more effort into bringing forth technologies that can help with non-degradable items. An interesting recent development for polystyrene can be found here: http://www.livescience.com/technology/060307_styrofoam_cup.html
To me these are real plausible solutions to the problems which non-degradable products have for us.
Comment by James Rubenol — September 14, 2006 @ 10:32 am
Hey James — I agree that this is a tough issue, especially as the bulk of our city trash / sanitation depts. just haven’t caught up with the new tech avaliable to combat landfill issues.
Waste in landfills is a huge problem. I hope that, soon, composting and such on an individual basis becomes de rigeur here, as it is in parts of Australia and other places. As it is now, LA county residents may be happy to know that their non-animal food scraps can be put right in their green bins…
Comment by Siel — September 15, 2006 @ 8:46 pm