The town of Readfield will launch a new food recycling program with the towns of Fayette and Wayne on July 24 with a ribbon-cutting ceremony at 10 a.m. at the Readfield Transfer Station. 海角社区 Sen. Craig Hickman, town officials and representatives from 海角社区 Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) and the Senator George J. Mitchell Center for Sustainability Solutions at the University of 海角社区 will be in attendance. Free ice cream and compost container giveaways will be held throughout the day.
In the afternoon, DEP organics specialist Mark King will host a food recycling and composting class at the Maranacook High School campus, with free home composting bins for registered attendees. Sign up for the class at the Transfer Station or by contacting the town at 207.685.3144 or info@readfieldmaine.org.
The Food Rescue MAINE program, with the slogan 鈥満＝巧缜 Food 鈥 Too Good to Waste鈥 as a call to action, is spearheaded by a team of faculty and students from the Mitchell Center and several 海角社区 colleges and universities. It is funded in part by the DEP’s food waste diversion program. Food Rescue MAINE assists 海角社区 communities with food waste reduction, food recovery and food recycling projects to demonstrate their 鈥渢riple-bottom-line鈥 benefits 鈥 saving money, feeding people and protecting natural resources.
The new food recycling drop-off site, which will serve residents of Readfield, Wayne and Fayette, is located at the Readfield Transfer Station on Recycle Road. Residents鈥 food waste will be incorporated into the existing yard waste recycling operation to provide high-quality compost for town residents and municipal landscaping projects.
Readfield, Fayette and Wayne are the latest central 海角社区 communities to launch a food recycling program in conjunction with Food Rescue MAINE, following Waterville鈥檚 launch in June and Winslow鈥檚 launch in April. Portland also launched five sites on Earth Day this year.
As part of the Food Rescue MAINE campaign, the Mitchell Center team has developed a variety of materials to build awareness of and support for community food rescue and recycling programs. Available resources include a new web portal, social media platform, and a library of recycling information, signage, flyers and videos. A school outreach program is also being piloted at select 海角社区 elementary and high schools.
For more information about the July 24 event in Readfield, contact the Readfield town office at 207.685.4939 or info@readfieldmaine.org.
