The Plattsburgh Common Council has unanimously approved a partnership with the Clinton County Health Department to create a food waste reduction program.
The largest city in northern New York is part of the New York State Climate Smart Communities initiative. Participating municipalities implement various greenhouse gas reduction and climate change adaptation programs and earn certification levels based on the completion of projects. The certification makes them eligible for Climate Smart grants from the state.
As part of that initiative, Clinton County Health Department Senior Public Health Educator Cody Douglas led a presentation Thursday, proposing a partnership between the county health department and the city that would reduce food waste and earn points towards Plattsburgh’s silver certification.
Douglas told councilors that nearly 40 % of all food in the U.S. is thrown away, and about 3 billion pounds of food, valued at over $7 billion, is thrown out annually due to confusion over date labels.
“Around 20 million pounds of food were estimated to have ended up in the Clinton County landfill in 2021. Food loss and waste, such as when food is left unharvested to rot or when it ends up in the landfill, it generates five times more greenhouse gases compared to the aviation industry," Douglas reported. "So, based on population estimates for 2021 and the amount of food scraps that ended up in the landfill, every Clinton County resident wasted an average of nearly 250 pounds.”
After the presentation, the council unanimously approved the partnership. Still, implementing the food waste program will be a process.
The fifth pledge for the climate smart certification includes tasks related to organics management. Douglas said there are three actions the county health department can take to help the city’s Climate Smart Task Force advance.
“The first action step is a waste reduction education campaign. The second action step we can assist with establishing a residential organic waste program. The Clinton County Health Department can assist with identifying potential locations for these collection sites. And then the third action step is to provide compost bins for residents," Douglas explained. "The Clinton County Health Department can assist with conducting the research to determine what type of backyard composting bins would be most useful to residents.”
Councilors asked about related costs. Plattsburgh Climate Smart Communities Task Force Coordinator and city of Plattsburgh Senior Planner Elisha Bartlett explained they do not yet have hard costs calculated.
“What the proposal is tonight is just to get your support to move forward into a partnership with the county. And then also supporting the climate task force moving forward with the development of a plan so we can figure out what the actual costs to implement a program would be," Bartlett said. "This program can really help us with outreach education and the development of a plan.”
