Presentation at 2014 Massachusetts Sustainable Communities and Campuses Conference

1. Compost Program Initiative
Kelly Rusch- Jr.
Environmental Health
Tiffany Blake- Sr.
Environmental Health

2. How it Started
l WWOOF World Wide Opportunities on
Organic Farms volunteers spring 2013
– Old Saybrook Connecticut; entirely off the grid
– Learned importance of sustainable living
l Earthweek UML
– waste audit found 65% of contents in the trash
were either recyclable or compostable

3. Project Overview
l City of Lowell’s Solid Waste Coordinator offered to
help with student driven summer projects
– Gunther Wellenstein and Bill Stanwood of Lowell Department
of Public Works helped us develop a business plan to present
to UMass Lowell Sustainability Committee
l Created partnership with the Lowell Department of
Public Works and UMass Lowell Department of
Environmental and Emergency Management
– Attended weekly sustainability committee meeting
– Established connections between different stakeholders
l Casella Waste Hauler
l Healther Billings of Center for Ecotechnology
l Aramark-UMass Lowell’s dining service provider

4. Results
l Pilot Program started in the fall of 2013 at
UMass Lowell’s largest dining hall-Fox Hall
– Diverted over 500lbs of food waste a day
l Expansion to other campuses
– UMass Lowell South Campus Dining Hall
– UMass Lowell Inn and Conference Center Dining
Hall
– Tsongas Center

5. Future Plans
l Tiffany
– Pursuing a Master of Science in Environmental
Health, Civil and Environmental Engineering,
Tufts University
l Kelly
– Finishing up undergraduate in Environmental
Health
– Work on honors thesis project to further promote
sustainability in the city of Lowell