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Better Earth teaming with farmers to reduce waste

The vice president of sustainability with Better Earth says the company’s new compostable foodservice packaging is the first to be made exclusively with materials grown using regenerative agriculture methods.

Savannah Seydel tells Brownfield…

“We’ve been working with several farmers across the southeast to grow perennial native grasses on what would otherwise be underutilized land. After the harvest, that grass creates our compostable packaging,” she says.

The native perennial grasses being used include miscanthus, switchgrass and sorghum.

Seydel says the goal is to cutdown on plastics and other packaging in landfills.

“There’s a massive opportunity for us to not only divert food waste, but also packaging waste from our landfills to compost piles where it can turn into a nutrient rich soil amendment that ultimately supports our farmers,” she says.

She says the products also offer carbon benefits.

“On a per acre basis, we are sequestering one ton of carbon per acre per year, just by growing those natural and regenerative perennial grasses,” she says.

Seydel says Better Earth products are already finding their way into restaurants across the country. 

AUDIO: Savannah Seydel – Better Earth