In the Fall of 2022, as we opened the donation boxes at the community serve, we saw many boxes of nuts. Initially, we were happy to give them out to the community. Our excitement was short-lived. These nuts expired in July 2022. So, we set them aside to trash them. One of the guests in the line asked why you have kept those boxes away. We said they expired in July 2022; we plan to throw them in the trash. The guest asked us not to throw it; he was happy to take them home. With hesitation, we gave the guest two boxes. Within a few seconds, all 30+ boxes were gone. We learned a lesson there.
In another event, one of the volunteers requested us not to throw expired nuts. He said, “His chickens love them.”
Since then, we have had bins to collect good-to-use food, expired foods that are still okay to use and expired nuts for the chicken. If you have expired nuts in an original container unopened, please bring them to Glasgow Park. We will take it and give them to the Chickens.
We received two packs of Kid Milk for Goat Kids two weeks ago. A year ago, we would have thrown it out. Now, we don’t. We know how to find a use for such items. We are happy to tell you that we found a taker; two goat kids are happily enjoying the milk.
It is not easy to reduce waste. It takes a lot of effort and thinking. In 2022, we handled 50+ truckloads of donations. This year, we already handled 32 truckloads in 4 months. In partnership with the community, we are determined to make our best effort to reduce, repurpose, and recycle as much as possible.
