This spring, the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation will initiate a first-of-its-kind food waste reduction project. The tribe will look at how much food the community throws away. It will also install a biodigester in the Mission area of the reservation.

The tribe will also install a small biodigester, which will use bacteria to break down organic material in the absence of air — referred to as an anaerobic environment — and turn it to methane for cooking and fertilizer for the tribe’s community garden.