Friday May 6th

10:00-11:30 AM Partnerships in Composting Technology

This session explored different technologies used for organics management and the partnership opportunities for composters. We started by considering depackaging technology, the methodology used for determining contamination potential, and explored the "chain of custody" for the depackaged materials - from bin to end-use. Following this, we heard about the opportunity for Vermont compost companies to partner with farms to use excess or used digested solids from farm digesters and the potential new revenue streams this offers both composter and farmer.

Presenters:

• 00:00 VORS introduction, Natasha Duarte

• 03:09 Corey Rossen, Ecoverse: “Clean Compost After Food Waste Separation & Depackaging”

• 56:03 Jim Muir, Agricultural Digesters LLC and Brent LeHoullier, Agri-Cycle, “Partnering Vermont Farms and Compost Companies”

1:00-2:30 PM Compost, Soil Science and Hydrology Activities for K-12 Schools

This session guides educators through integrating composting, food waste reduction, water management, and soil health into school curricula. The presenters review a semester of simple lessons and activities that can be modified to fit any group!

Presenters:

• 00:00 VORS introduction, Natasha Duarte

• 01:24 ICAW winning video from Vermont

• 02:57 Session introduction and Bread and Flour video

• 11:09 Julia Parker-Dickerson, Smilie Memorial School

• 30:34 Cat Buxton, Grow More, Waste Less

• 47:06 Q&A and discussion

• 1:18:14 Activities overview (links to downloadable handouts below)

  • warming up to worms_worksheet.pdf

  • Worms - Meeting Worms.doc

  • worms_inside and out_fact sheet.pdf

  • worms_true or false.pdf

  • Fun facts about red worms.pdf

  • compost story wheel.pdf

  • compost critters_descriptions and worksheet.pdf

  • color_worms at school.pdf

  • compost glossary.pdf (good to pair with charades)

  • color sheet_soil and decomposition.pdf

  • color game_save sort recycle.pdf

  • soil science vocab (good to pair with Bread and flour demo, and/or charades)

Additional resources mentioned/shared during this session:

• VPR podcast with Kathleen Kesson; the Community School Blueprint is linked in the piece

• Regeneration Corps

• Vermont Healthy Soils Coalition

• Upper Valley Apple Corps

• Clifford Park Food Forest, West Hartford, VT

Special thanks to:

Thanks to our sponsors!!

Learn what the Produce Safety Rule means for your business.