MNN - Mother Nature Network

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. - Thanksgiving turkey carcasses headed for the garbage bin will be collected by Rhode Island environmental news group and delivered instead to a local farmer for pig feed in an effort to reduce landfill waste.

 

Last year's sweep of holiday leftovers netted about 70 carcasses weighing a total of 140 pounds, Frank Carini, executive director of ecoRI News, said on Tuesday.

 

This year, ecoRI News hopes to increase that number to 100 carcasses weighing a total of 200 pounds.

 

"We started this last year just kind of as a way to bring people's attention to just how wasteful the holiday season is," said Dave Fisher, the organization's managing editor.

 

"We want to show people some of the changes you can make in your everyday life are pretty simple to do and can lead to a better and healthier future for all of us," Fisher said.

 

The carcasses will be taken to a local farmer who will pasteurize them and feed them to pigs, he said. The effort stems from the organization's regular collection of compostable material at the market, Fisher said.

 

EcoRI News, a nonprofit online news organization started in 2009 and based in Providence, will collect the turkey carcasses at the Wintertime Farmers Market in Pawtucket on Saturday.

 

(Reporting by Daniel Lovering; Editing by Barbara Goldberg and Greg McCune)

 

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