Be there at the 2016 RI Compost Conference & Trade Show
From
the Environment Council of Rhode Island
Thursday
March 10, 2016 from 9:00 am – 3:00 pm
Rhode Island College, Providence RI 02908
Rhode Island College, Providence RI 02908
This
year's Compost Conference and Trade Show will be held in the Student Union at
RIC. It will be jointly put on by the Environment Council of Rhode Island and
the Rhode Island College Office of Sustainability.
As
the wave of the Green Economy washes over Rhode island and the planet,
composting food scrap is often the odd man out after solar energy and
stormwater management.
But creating a compost industry needs to be front and
center in the Green Economy as it is part of both healing ecosystems and providing
new resources for the economy.
Creating and using compost reduces trash,
stores carbon in the soil, reduces runoff, and improves the size and quality of
the food supply, while offering jobs in the places in RI that could really use
them.
The organics collection law
passed in 2014 has taken effect, and with facilities coming on line to compost
and digest the food scrap.
New regulations are going into effect that will
boost the development of community and neighborhood composting.
This event is
the best place to learn about what is going on and to connect to the people
making it happen.
Registration,
which includes lunch, is $35.00 per person.
To
register and arrange payment, complete the form here.
To
learn about Conference sponsorship, to have a table/booth at the Trade show and
more, go here.
Conference
Agenda
This
year the keynote address will be given by Michael Bradlee of Earth Appliance.
Michael is a long time composter and compost bin innovator and will talk about
his work with the pilot compost project in Providence, his data on how much
compost you can get from food scrap, and where he thinks the industry is going
on Rhode island. His talk will be particularly informative for schools,
community gardens and urban farms.
Workshop
presenters thus far include:
- Richard Pederson, City Farm Steward for Southside Community Land Trust, will be speaking on Urban Agriculture Composting.
- Waylon Pleasanton of Sustainable Generation, Wilmington, Delaware. Waylon was the Facilities Operations Supervisor for the Delaware Solid Waste Authority’s Cherry Island facility and now works with Sustainable Generation’s customers to get operations up and running. He will discuss “Lessons Learned in a Food Waste Composting Operation.”
- Marissa Desautel is an environmental attorney who will explain Rhode Island's new compost law and regulations.
- A new vermiculture cooperative, the Rhody Worms Cooperative, is getting off the ground. Monique Bosch and Bob Barnes will lead the discussion about what they are doing and how you can participate.
- Michael Bradlee will join Leo Pollock, one of the founders of The Compost Plant, and some surprise guests for a discussion of where RI is going. Speakers will offer their perspectives on how the industry is progressing in Rhode Island and what some of the obstacles and opportunities are. This is also an excellent opportunity for others to share what they are seeing in RI as the speakers are just to get the ball rolling.
We
are also still trying to add a speaker from one of the anaerobic digesters
being built in Rhode Island.
The
focus during our lunch break will be our annual trade show.
Exhibitors thus far include:
- Buxton Hollow Farm
- Earth Appliance
- ecoRI News
- EJ Prescott/Filtrexx
- O2 Compost
- Rhody Worms Cooperative
- URI Cooperative Extension
- The Wormladies of Charlestown
There
is still room for additional exhibitors.
The
day will end with a panel discussion featuring:
- Christine Beiling, United States Environmental Protection Agency
- Michael McGonagle, RI Resource Recovery Corporation
- Christopher Shafer, RI Department of Environmental Management
This
panel will focus on what our government agencies are doing to reduce food waste
and where this is heading from the government’s perspective.
©
2016 Environment Council of Rhode Island • PO Box 9061 • Providence, RI 02940 •
(401) 621-8048
