Community Composting: Panel Discussion
Title
Description
Watch the recording here.
This program, offered on Tuesday, February 28th, 2023 at 6:30 PM on Zoom, was the second installment in the winter Belfast Garden Club Evening Lecture Series. It was co-sponsored by All of Belfast Climate Dialogues, a project of the Belfast Free Library, focusing on the effects of the Climate Crisis on local environments.
Food waste is a major contributor to climate change in the U.S. Maine, to its credit, has led a national campaign to recycle food waste, and the state Climate Action Plan supports community composting. Belfast has considered piloting a community site, but has not succeeded long-term. Residents have proposed it to the BGC, but the club doesn’t have sufficient capacity. Food and garden waste is recycled locally by many home gardeners, but the food waste problem cannot be dealt with at scale by individuals.
This interactive program invited members and neighbors to learn about and discuss the options.
Watch the recording.
Panelists:
Scott Hesse is a BGC member and co-director of the Wales Park Community Garden in Belfast. WPCG strengthens food security by making garden plots available for Belfast residents and organizations. Currently, WPCG does not compost onsite.
Davis Saltonstall is a co-owner of ScrapDogs Community Compost, which works to divert food scraps from incinerators and landfills. He’s won several awards for his work exploring a renewable energy transition and entrepreneurial zero-waste efforts.
David Wessels is a science teacher and garden coordinator at Troy Howard Middle School in Belfast. Students supply ~2,000 pounds of produce annually to their cafeteria and maintain an extensive seed collection. Composting is part of the program—offering lessons in healthy soil—and of course recycling food waste from the cafeteria.
Creator
Date
Contributor
Davis Saltonstall, ScrapDogs Community Compost
David Wessels, Troy Howard Middle School
Comments