Sustainability & Environment

The cost gap between compostable and plastic foodware is narrowing but still real. Here’s exactly what drives the premium — feedstock, production scale, supply chain — and which factors are likely to keep changing in the next decade.

The blue spray bottle under the sink does most kitchen cleanup. It’s also one of the more chemically aggressive products in the house. Here’s how to handle stovetop drips, baked-on grease, and burnt sugar without it.

A handful of US cities have built composting programs that genuinely divert most household food waste from landfill. Here’s the eight that work best, what they get right, and what the rest of the country can learn from them.

The technical answer is about 95% — almost all food waste is compostable. The actual answer depends on what infrastructure exists, what people are willing to do, and which waste streams get separated.

Hospital foodservice is one of the highest-volume, most-regulated food operations in any industry. Sustainability efforts have to thread through patient safety, infection control, and tight budgets — here’s what works and what’s still hard.

A working zero-waste beach day kit — cooler, food, drinks, sunscreen, cleanup. Real items, practical packing list, and what to actually skip.

Pure compost in pots usually doesn’t work — too dense, too rich, too compacted. The right ratio with potting mix produces excellent results. Here’s the math.

Plastic Easter grass is one of the worst single-use offenders in the holiday aisle. Here’s what compostable options actually look like, how they hold up in a basket, and which ones photograph well enough for the Sunday morning hunt.

A working guide to running a customer sustainability survey — what to ask, how to distribute, what response rates to expect, and how to act on results.

A worn-out cotton towel has years of second-life use ahead of it before composting — cleaning rags, pet beds, paint cloths, donations. Here’s the path.

Working school sustainability projects using compostable packaging — lunchroom audits, classroom experiments, garden composting programs, advocacy clubs. With real implementation details.

Cat litter composting has more landmines than dog waste — Toxoplasma, litter chemistry, and restricted end-uses. Here’s what actually works (and doesn’t).