Living Green by Feeding Pigs

As lawmakers continue to drag their heels on passing environmental legislation, some Connecticut teens are taking it upon themselves to make America a little greener.

According to a story on WFSB.com, students at Lisbon Central School in Lisbon, Conn. organized an innovative way to limit their school's food waste: Feed the leftover cafeteria scraps to local pigs.

And food waste could certainly use some diverting from landfills: Americans throw away about 43,000 tons of food every day, and only about one-tenth of all garbage gets recycled. That leaves a whole lotta stuff sitting in landfills rotting and releasing methane and polluting land and water.

To get the project going, the school's environmental club purchased two pigs, Patty and Pork Chop, which reside at a nearby farm. Students collect food scraps from the cafeteria every day, about 20 to 25 gallons worth of leftovers. Students then feed the scraps to Patty and Pork Chop, who are happy to have the salvaged vittles.

Photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.