For the past week, I have been working onsite at the Marin County Fair to capture both pre-consumer (before food is served) and post-consumer (after food is served) materials for composting. My work with the Fair actually started in May, with hours of telephone calls with the food vendors, to help them understand and locate food ware products that could be composted onsite.

On the 4th of July, I was interviewed by the local ABC channel and got to share some information about the composting program at this year's event. Out of all the footage they filmed that day, I was fortunate to make a two second appearance on the evening news (don't blink or you might miss it!). Check out the link below to see my moment of fame. They got my last name wrong by one letter, but I won't sweat the details on this one!

http://abclocal.go.com/kgo/media?id=6246448

I find that paper products are the hardest things for people to understand as far as where they go (recycling or composting) when they have finished their food. We have been trained for years to think paper equals recycling, so shifting gears seems to be a slow process for most. However, with station monitors to help Fair visitors get their materials in the right place (recycling, compost or waste bins), hopefully, this message will translate into greater awareness of items suitable for composting.

Although it has been a learning process all the way, the majority of food vendors at the Fair have gone above and beyond to help ensure their materials are composted and recycled at this year's event. Instead of one can for everything (i.e. a trash or garbage can), almost all the vendors have kept their food scraps and recycling separate. Some have even kept up to four streams of material clean (separate and uncontaminated) for composting and recycling, including food scraps (pre-consumer), special and post-consumer compostable items (the pre- and post-consumer compostable materials are being processed differently and therefore had to be kept separate), plastic film (this has to be kept separate and clean in order to recycle it), and bottles and cans. Sound confusing? Well, it certainly isn't easy at first, but with a little practice, it becomes second nature.

Thanks to the food vendors, the Fair's composting program has been successful this year. Change started with the Fair office, but could not have happened without the food vendors. Most were not only open to it, but went above and beyond to make it happen. Thank you, guys! You all ROCK, and I will cherish the memory of working with you for a very long time. Especially my Gold Star vendors. There are many, so I will not list them here, but you know who you are. : )

Special thanks to the Marin Conservation Corps, who provided all the staff to man the stations and collect the recycling and post-consumer compostables on site. Their team was wonderful to work with, and made a world of difference through the education they provided to the public.

For further information about the Marin County Fair, please visit their website at: http://www.marinfair.org/