Tinia Pina has created a business to help tackle the issue of climate change — by putting our vegetative food waste to good use.
Re-Nuble is a “for-profit social enterprise and agricultural technology company that uses organic cycling science technology to transform unrecoverable vegetative food byproducts into a platform of sustainable technologies for soilless farming.”
Basically put — it’s an effective and environmentally friendly way for people to farm even when there is no soil available.
Pina founded the company six years ago.
“NYC was spending millions of dollars to export food waste to places as far as Pennsylvania, Virginia and China,” Pina tells ESSENCE. “My goal was to take this growing waste stream and use the nutrients to provide an alternative to synthetic fertilizers and chemical-laden food.”
Former President, Donald Trump’s administration worked hard to pooh-pooh the science about climate change. This summer, several states across the U.S. and even countries across the world in Europe have suffered oppressive heatwaves — causing several major wildfires in the U.S. and China has faced severe flooding. Brazil is now suffering its most acute drought in more than a century.
Re-Nuble is both necessary and timely.
“As climate change is here to stay, there are a lot more pests and disease challenges because of the erratic weather patterns,” Pina says. “Farmers can often grow 20 to 30 % more produce per square foot, year-round.”
Pina plans to expand her business.
“There has to be an incredible amount of consistency and predictability when it comes to hydroponic farming. That’s really our know-how, so we can empower other agricultural economies to do the same,” she adds.
