Compost Project to host 2018 Master Compost Program's field trip!
The NYC Compost Project* has chosen the Maple Street Community Garden for their 2018 Master Compost Certification Program field trip. The field trip will take place on Saturday, May 5th from 10am - 2pm. "We really love the work you and the other compost team members have done at MSCG," wrote Outreach Coordinator Aaron Lee, "and we really think the garden embodies all of the things we like to teach our students. The garden is also a great example of community engagement and the harrowing experience of almost being evicted and then the triumph of starting on the process to becoming a preserved garden space is a great experience to share with students".
Attendees will include project coordinators Aaron Lee, Teddy Tedesco and Celeste McMickle as well as 23 current students of the program. Zhenia Nagorny, MSCG compost project supervisor and recent graduate of the Master Compost Program, will conduct a garden tour and will host a Q&A session covering the history of the garden, strategies the compost team has used to grow membership, managing relationships with neighbors and community members, compost drop-off model, tracking of food organics intake, brown sources, etc.
For the past 3 years, the partnership between NYC Compost Project staff and garden members, has helped the compost project to improve and expand their operation. Most recently, three project coordinators and nine garden volunteers met at the nearby Brooklyn Botanical Garden, headquarters of the NYC Compost Project, to build a brand new 3-bin compost system and continue to provide vital organics recycling to the community while diverting tons of garbage from going into landfill. Big thanks to NYC Compost Project coordinators Claudia Navas, Aaron Lee and Teddy Tedesco who were on site to provide critical support and instruction. The bins could not have been built without the amazing team of garden volunteers: Arlene Robers, Julia Polantes, Shaunacy Ferro, Seth Kaplan, Morgan Schmidt, Tim Nottage, Leigh Brown, Lory Henning and Zhenia Nagorny.
*The NYC Compost Project hosted by Brooklyn Botanic Garden helps to reduce waste in NYC and rebuild city soils by giving New Yorkers the knowledge, skills, and opportunities they need to produce and use compost. The project is funded and managed by the NYC Department of Sanitation's Bureau of Recycling and Sustainability.