Can Old Food Really Be Repurposed?

By Alice Park

NEARLY 1.5 BILLION TONS. THAT’S HOW MUCH spoiled and uneaten food people people around the world throw out  each year. In the U.s, roughly 40% of the food supply is wasted, according to the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC). But that kind of trash could soon become a lot more useful.

Building on efforts to turn grains and even human waste into biofuels and other valuable chemicals, Carol Lin, a biochemical engineer at the City University of Hong Kong, is developing a new kind of biorefinery. To head off a crisis at Hong Kong’s landfills-they’re going to be full within five years-she and her team, in partnership with starbucks and a number of recycling groups , are converting organic food waste (think old pastries, bread and coffee grounds) into succinic acid. The chemical is a key component of biodegrable plastics, and is used in everything from laundry-detergent bottles to food additives to car parts. The implications for the environment are huge. Succinic acid is currenly made from petrochemicals in a process that leaves a harmful carbon footprint, and the U.S. Department of Energy has listed the chemical as one of a dozen that could be made more responsibly through bio-based processes. Although Lin’s program is still in the pilot phase, companies in Europe, Asia and the U.S. are lunching similar efforts to turn wasted food into a potentially valuable commodity. Lin is confident that the cost of the processing – it doesn’t require any specialized tools-will make it a viable method for producing the acid. She faces plenty of hurdles. Because food waste isn’t as easy to transport (unlike petroleum, it starts to rot), researchers are still figuring out how to set up hygienic ways to process it quickly. Then there’s the issue of scale: in her lab, Lin generates 81kg of succinic acid from each ton of food waste she processes- a tiny fraction of the 44,000 tons manufacturers demand each year. But, says Allen Hershkowitz of NRDC, it’s essential to keep trying. “No single undertaking is going to address all the waste we generate. “ But if this one can make good use of your stale muffin, that’s a big step in the right direction.

MDGs Youth Facilitator's Conference.

I got the invitation for the conference a bit late so I wasn’t quite sure if I was going to attend it. I was going to have a very busy week ahead and what were particularly on my mind were my work and the various projects I had at hand with the GreenUp Youth Initiative and DeforestACTION. I was supposed to give a feedback update on the progress of these projects to Sara Hassan my Project Coordinator based in Toronto Canada. I thought of the immense benefits of attending the conference but my mind still couldn’t decide whether to stay back and finish recruiting members for the GYI project. The MDGs youth facilitator’s conference was suppose to kick start on Tuesday at the Obafemi Awolowo conference center in Ibadan, Ogun state where youth leaders were to present account of their various accomplishment as regards to the eight (8) millennium development goals. The conference was also built to unveil new short term developmental programs aim at fast tracking the achievement of the MDGs by 2015. Talking about 2015! It’s just around the corner; I kept wondering how possible it could be actualizing all the 8 millennium development goals by 2015 when most African countries cannot even boast of achieving one out of the eight goals.

At the peak of my confused state of mind on whether to honor the conference invitation, Ahmed my workmate provided the panacea to my dilemma. Ahmed had called to inform me that he was going to attend the conference. He spoke passionately about the opportunities the conference will avail us in making our voices heard. He reminded me of the resource persons from USAID, UNFPA and UNICEF who were all going to speak at the conference. I knew I was going to miss out if I stay back. I decided to hit the road. I arrived at the center late. It was quite difficult securing a comfortable hotel room for my accommodation, I was so tired and worried but luckily I ran into some old friends who rendered to assist. After much deliberation, I ended up sharing a room with one of the guys, an old school mate by name Segun. The Obafemi Awolowo conference center was great; it was quite large enough to accommodate all the participants. It had the latest audio, visual and multimedia technological equipments that aided seminar presentations. It was really cool! I was so proud my country had such a world class conference center. I was particularly happy that the center was named after one of our late elder state man who contributed immensely to the development of our dear country.

On the first day of the conference, we had Mrs. Agatha Lawson the country representative of UNFPA as the guest speaker. She spoke passionately about the role young people must play in actualizing the millennium development goals. She spoke for about two hours, I enjoyed every bit of her presentation even though I got into the hall half way to her presentation because of the problem I had been accredited. Our second speaker for the day was my friend Miss Ifeoma Ugwu the West Africa Regional Focal Person for GYCA. Ify as fondly called was quite impressive. She presented a paper titled “Youth and National Development”. She was brief as she enumerates the importance of government inclusion of youths in national development and decision making especially on issues that affect young people.

Then came the BREAK! I mean tea break…I had some coffee, sugar and milk. The break was quite short. However, I seized the opportunity to socialize and reunite with some old friends whom I met inside the hall. It was fun, I mean really fun. There was no time to talk much as it was soon time to go in for the discussion session. This part of the conference lasted for two hours. It was a session where youth leaders from all walks of life, NGOs, CBOs and government parastatals asked questions, get answers from resource persons and share ideas on how best youths can serve as catalysts in providing critical input to achieving the millennium development goals. As an environmental youth leader I was much concerned about attaining the goal seven (7) of the MDGs. I presented my views and suggestions on viable road map for development aimed at ensuring environmental sustainability. The session was quite interactive and came to a close with several adoptions.

The day two of the conference had just began and is already eventful. We are already seated at the conference hall waiting for Mr. Augustine Ekanem from UNICEF to make his presentation as the guest speaker. I have just been told that Mr. Ekanem is an environmental activist and I am quite excited as I hope to engage him during the discussion session with several issues bordering on environmental sustainability and youth roles in achieving this goal. It is going to be along day but I am looking forward to enjoying every bit of it. Hopefully, I may get a chance to highlight what we have been doing in the area of environmental restoration using our GYI and DeforestionACTION projects. I hope to engage our resource person in a robust discussion today!

Please watch out for the concluding part of my stay at the conference...lol.

Maintaining Our Environment: NEEDS Taking The Lead!

My country is endowed with a rich and diverse natural environment, but over the years it has raped its riches with insufficient care for the livelihoods and well being of future generations. Empirical evidence shows that poverty and environmental degradation are extricable linked in Nigeria, because 75 percent of rural people depend on natural resources for their livelihood. Environmental degradation reduces opportunities for poor people to earn sustainable incomes. Left with no other viable options, they engage in extractive activities contributing to the vicious cycle of poverty and environmental degradation. Rural dwellers are also more vulnerable to environmental disasters and hazards and few or no strategies for coping with these stresses. In urban areas the poor live in slum, where they are exposed to overcrowded living quarters, unsafe water, improper waste disposal, and other health risks. These conditions reduce savings and investment at the individual, household, and national levels. However, in view of the afore mentioned callous activities leading to environmental degradation; The National Economic Empowerment and Development Strategies (NEEDS) an initiative of our former president chief Olusegun Obasanjo to respond to national developmental challenges has recognized that to tackle the problem of these environmental degradation it must take bold steps in addressing several of these environmental concern which includes;

-       Waste production and disposal: Development has proceeded with no regard for waste management or pollution control. Our cities have inadequate systems for the safe disposal and treatment of systems for the safe disposal and treatment of waste. As rural emigration to urban areas grows, the problems worsen.

-       Deforestation: Some 92,000 hectares-a quarter of our land-was once covered in forest. Today just half of our forests remains and the potential for their future exploitation is extremely limited. Deforestation has been followed by erosion and desertification in some areas.

-       Conservation of unique habitats: Nigeria has two-thirds of central Africa’s mangrove strands and wetlands. These are among the most important mangrove habitats in the world, but they are under threat from exploitation of timber, oil spills, gas flaring, and the impacts of increasing coastal urbanization.

-       Pollution and other problems: Our environmental laws are inadequate and are not enforced. We do not know how
much biodiversity has been lost as a result of oil and gas development. As an environmental activist I am particularly happy that NEEDS do not only aims to turn this bleak picture around by establishing a regulatory agency to enforce environmental laws, monitor industry compliance, conduct environment audits and impact assessments and set standards but also it seeks to develop a private-public sector partnership scheme to address the increasing problems of waste management in our big cities.
Dominic Nsikan
DeforestACTION School Engagement Coordinator
Skype: dominic.nsikan
Email: Deforestactionwestafrica@gmail.com 
Phone: +2348067846428

Kenya's Young Environmental Leaders...GYI Emmunlates!

MasterPeace Environmental Activists at work in a Kenyan Slum

A group of young environmental stewards from the slum of Nairobi are setting the pace in environmental restoration which has not only impacted positively on the lives of these slum dwellers but has also has drawn huge admiration and commendation from the Green Youth Initiative members. Master-peace Kenya a community based youth-led organization is organizing a community service voluntary sessions to clean up "Mathare" Kenyan second largest slum. In Nairobi city alone,  there approximately about 199 slums Mathare being the second largest. The formation of slums in Nairobi, Kenya can be traced back to the pre-independence period when the geographical layout was based on the government-sanctioned population segregated into different areas. The City Council of Nairobi lacked the ability to formulate plans to help the occurrences of slums which led to the rapid increase of unbalanced distribution of land to the inhabitants. Many slums were located on unplanned sites that were not suitable for housing, and people experienced high amounts of pollution. Because of employment opportunities, a number of slums sprang up compared to the prior lack of opportunities and resources to make money. Although most of the residents earn a very low income, they are forced to stay in this impoverished area with no other opportunities for stability and growth.Sixty percent of Nairobi’s population is a part of substandard and overcrowded housing settlements. This area is heavily packed with hundreds of thousands of people struggling for their survival. This distribution of land entitles an individual to roughly one meter by one meter of ground space. Streets are heavily polluted with dust, wastes, and soot as if they were covered with dirty gabbages. Mathare slum lack adequate access to trash removal, water, or toilets; thus, these harsh conditions are affecting the lives of the residents in this area. Each and every day, people living in slums must endure the sight of the area they live in called “home.” The supply of water and food in slums is scarce and limited causing many necessities to not be fully met by an underpaid resident. With the need of at least 100 liters of water per day costing 25 shillings for drinking and cleaning, most of their earnings are spent. This makes it even more difficult to meet the needs for one day. Toilets are shared by hundreds of people and with no sewage system; sludge and human waste flows down the streets into nearby streams. The smells in Mathare are always changing but can usually be traced to either charcoal used for cooking or human waste covering the streets. With the absence of any running water system, residents are forced to use contaminated and unsanitary water. People are forced to scavenge through heaps of garbage on either side of the streets for food or other materials that can be used. Even the children scamper through the trash to collect materials of help. Living in deplorable conditions, residents are surrounded by factors that hinder the person’s physical well-being. The limited amount of water they do have is sometimes left sitting for days, therefore, allowing organisms to get into the already contaminated water causing many diseases to arise such as typhoid and cholera. Other common diseases include Malaria, HIV, and Yellow Fever. Children in general suffer about 40 percent of environment related diseases. Despite what seems like the unbearable conditions in Nairobi, the unsanitary, polluted, and disease-ridden slums represent the common human struggle to survive even with limited availability of resources. In view of these giant strides made by “Master-peace” a youth-led organization to clean up the slum, GYI salutes the determination and zeal of these young environmental activist. We also anticipate to duplicate this type of project in cleaning up two of Nigeria’s  major slums found in Lagos (Ajukunle) and Abia (Aba) respectively.

The Stunning Story Of A Young Environmentalist.

I decided to publish this story of a young environmental Leader by name Jamica who really made a difference by contributing to the restoration of our dear planet!

As told by Jamica:
" I started to support my environment because I read a story in class about kids in Sweden making money for the rainforest after they heard about how fast the rainforest was getting cut down. After that my friends and I decided to donate to rainforest charities. Then after we got enough money we donated to two different rainforest charities and donated $131 in all. When my friends didn’t want to raise money anymore I decided to not focus on donating but actually take action so I got about 5 friends and did a trash tally around my school and local park. Then I started telling and informing people about the environment, I even made a video about the rainforest. Then I worked in my grandma’s yard and her neighbor’s yard to plant, harvest, and water plants. After that I went back to donating to: children in need, rainforests, global warming, animals, and donated a total of $246.

    I really enjoy helping my environment and it means a lot to me when I know I helped either another child or save a acre of rainforest. I hope I will do while I get older. I would really like to make the environment part of my career one day, and I can say  I wanted to do that by reading a story in my textbook".
What a Stunning Story!
You too could be an ambassador for our great planet. Act now and save the Earth.

The Nicodemus Wilderness Environmental Project

 The first quarter of 2012 has been quite exciting for the GYI. The GreenUp Youth Initiative has not only receive support from various environmental organizations but had also empowered two of its volunteers to win the annual safe environment painting completion organized by Nigerian National Youth Service Corp (NYSC) Bayelsa State Chapter. GYI was also acknowledged recently by the Nicodemus Wilderness  Project for its giant stride in contributing to environmental restoration through its youth-led activities at the local and regional level. The Nicodemus wilderness project was founded because of the need for environmental restoration stewardship and protection of neglected public lands. They coordinate volunteer events worldwide that utilize resources of the community to proving long term environmental benefits for natural areas. They have also established a large and dedicated volunteer network that draws upon the diverse strength of different races and culture to accomplish a common goal of restoring the beauty of the natural landscape. However, as evident by their approval of our projects and the issuance of a certificate  on environmental stewardship to Dominic Nsikan the founder of GreenUp Youth Initiative (Please see certificate inserted above), we are further motivated by this recognition and also envision that all young people will take personal responsibility and actions toward protecting wildlife and the environment in their communities.

Visit: http://www.wildernessproject.org

Register for the Apprentice Ecologist Initiative Here

Apprentice Ecologist Initiative is a scholarship-based program that engages youth from around the world in their own environment stewardship project. It is part of the Nicodemus wilderness project empowerment program.                                              

The Tree planting Project By Green Youth Initiative.

Congratulations! I am happy to announce that the “GreenUp 500” tree planting project was able to secure some money to purchase the remaining 300 tree seedlings needed to be planted at strategic places around Port Harcourt City. We have now commenced the process of distributing the tree seedlings among the five community secondary schools we earlier chose to partner with in implementing the project “GreenUp 500”. I sincerely want to thank the Director of Prestige High School for his kind and huge support all through the process of this project implementation. We at GYI are greatly motivated and encouraged by his total commitment to our course and the vision of achieving a greener environment. As Green Youth Initiative continues to partner with DeforestACTION West Africa in engaging youths and teachers in taking action towards the restoration of our damaged environment, we hope to continually share the same vision of providing innovative environmental stewardship program and also implement Eco friendly projects that will restore our beloved planet back to its green state. If you had by chance have the opportunity of reading through this blog, I would want you to understand that the responsibility of protecting our planet begins with me and you! Do you know that by the time you finish reading through this peace of article on this blog about 1000 tress would had gone down due to the activities of illegal deforestation across the world? Of course that is life threatening considering that trees are our source of oxygen production. The tree produces oxygen and takes in carbon dioxide! Imagine if half of the world’s trees is gone! That simply means that half of the oxygen available for us to use would had gone too. Our trees are our lives, lets protect and reproduce it!