Even though some food is never eaten, the carbon emissions to grow it still end up in the atmosphere. Reducing waste is crucial to fighting climate change.

Typically in New York City, each person generates four pounds of waste every day. This means over eight million people generating about 33 million pounds of waste, every day. Think of the impact that composting and recycling could have on reducing even just half of this waste. Educating people on these issues is the mission of the Lower East Side Ecology Center, a non-profit organization that works toward a more sustainable New York City.

No, not that kind of trashy – we’re talking here about what New York City neighborhoods produce the most municipal solid waste per person.

Columbia has welcomed a composting machine to campus, a first at a New York City university. Accepting food scraps, such as banana peels, coffee grounds and egg shells, the composter will provide a way to recycle the urban campus’s food waste while also serving as an educational tool.