Saturday, August 7, 2010

Peach Pits for a Better Tomorrow

Producer Carolina Roca-Smith poses with our on-set Philly Compost bin

So all this talk about sustainable filmmaking, I figure I might as well give you an example. See, every film crew has got to eat, right? Right. But we found a way to eat and recycle at the same time (pretty sweet, I know). A local company, Cosmic Catering, has committed to providing us with one hot meal each day and when we chomp down on our free range chicken or local honey ham, we can toss the table scraps into the compost bin donated by Philly Compost. This is when it gets cool.

See, one of the primary ingredients in compost is food scraps, which Philly Compost collects from local restaurants like - you guessed it, Cosmic Catering. When the meals are being prepared by Cosmic, their bread crusts and lettuce stumps get collected by Philly Compost twice a week. Then, Cosmic shows up on set with their bounty of excellent grub and a complete supply of compostable plates, cups, napkins, and utensils to enjoy it with. After we munch, we toss our peach pits and dirty plates into our bin to be collected later by Philly Compost, and it all comes full-circle. This way, everyone gets to contribute, everyone gets something out of it, and nothing gets wasted; it's a win-win-win.

Our green production plan is re-enforced doubly by these companies who are committed to sustainable business practices such as diminishing waste, reusing materials, and using locally made and grown products. We could do everything we can to maintain a sustainable production but without the help of companies like Cosmic Catering and Philly Compost we wouldn't get very far.

Plus, we gotta eat, and well - it's delicious.

3 comments:

Carolyn (from Roslyn) said...

You do know that chicken and ham are not compostable right? You're filming less than a block from my house...I've got a composter if you'd like to use it...but only veggie bits please. And bread can have animal fat, not good for a composter either.

Dan Mingle said...

No worries Carolyn! Philly Compost left us with a comprehensive guide of what to toss into the bin and what to leave out; only definite compostable scraps are going into ours. Thanks for looking out!

Unknown said...

Thanks for that clarification, Dan! Philly Compost here reporting (for clarity) that commercial composting techniques will handle all foods - including meats and cheeses. Not for the backyard bin, to be sure, but safely handled by us and our composting buddies like Two Particular Acres out in Royersford. Happy composting, everyone!