King County’s giant ‘cube of food’ takes center stage at KUBE’s Summer Jam

477-pound cube of food equal to what an average family throws out each year

King County’s giant “cube of food” made its debut at the White River Amphitheater for the KUBE FM Summer Jam concert last weekend. The cube is part of King County’s “Recycle Food. It’s Easy to Do.” education campaign to teach people about food scrap recycling at home.

Measuring 3 foot by 3 foot by 4 foot, the clear acrylic cube is filled with roughly 477 pounds of food scraps – the same amount generated by an average King County single-family household in a year.

Although nearly all King County single-family garbage customers can recycle their food scraps and food-soiled paper in their yard waste bin, many still throw away their food scraps. Roughly 30 percent of what goes to the landfill is recyclable food scraps.

“The cube is a fun and visual way to show people exactly how much food they are putting in the landfill,” said Gerty Coville with King County Solid Waste Division. “Recycling food scraps is easy; the key is knowing what is recyclable.”

One goal of the “Recycle Food. It’s Easy to Do” campaign is to encourage King County residents to recycle food scraps and food soiled paper in their curbside yard waste bin. Yard waste, food scraps and food-soiled paper are sent to a local composting facility and turned into nutrient-rich compost that can be purchased at local garden and hardware stores.

"People may be surprised at how valuable their food scraps can be," said Susan Thoman, Director of Business Development for Cedar Grove Composting. "When people recycle everything from egg shells to chicken bones and greasy delivery pizza boxes, it is turned into compost for use in gardens, parks and other landscaped areas. This closes the loop and helps reduce our impact on the environment."

King County Master Recycler and Composters will be on hand at the KUBE Summer Jam event to answer questions and hand out free compostable bag samples that can be used for food scrap recycling.

King County’s “cube of food” will be on the road for a couple more events later this year, including Snoqualmie Railroad Days, Aug. 21-22, and Issaquah Salmon Days, Oct. 3-4.

For more information about recycling food scraps and food soiled paper visit www.recyclefood.com.

Related information

Recycle Food. It's Easy To Do.

What do I do with ...?

King County Solid Waste