Rhode Island Compost Conference and Trade Show

• Presenter(s): Warren Heyman & Jim Corwin, RI School Recycling Project
• Location: Main Room

At this year’s Compost Conference, RI Schools Recycling Project will provide updates on the various activities at our “food smart” schools from Pollinator Gardens to Zero Waste Days. Circular Gardens - Plans for schools to use the compost made from their food scraps this spring. Recent successes in food recovery, redistribution, and reductions in food waste per student.

We’ll also tell you about our plans to make Get Food Smart open source so that you or anyone with the passion to reduce food waste in their school can do it!

• Presenter(s): Lisa Pellegrino, CET
• Location: Student Union 307

In this session attendees will learn some of the behavioral aspects to help more people waste less food, but also practical prevention methods that businesses and institutions can implement today so they can save money and waste less food.

• Presenter(s): Greg Gerritt, Research Director for ProsperityForRI.com, Founder of the RI Compost Conference and Trade Show; Michael Bradlee, Community Compost Depot
• Location: President's Dining Room

Greg Gerritt will share his experiences of trying to move compost forward for the last 15 years in Rhode island.

• Presenter(s): Tess Feigenbaum, Epic Renewal
• Location: Donovan 202

A discussion on data's role in driving industry-scale growth, enabling organizational resilience, and fostering legitimacy to cement composting's role as a critical component of a diversified waste management infrastructure.

• Presenter(s): Will Conrad, SCS Engineers
• Location: Donovan 202

Discussion of the process involved in planning, siting, monitoring and approving a public compost facility in Connecticut.

• Presenter(s): Kevin Proft, Sustainability Department, City of Providence; Ella Kilpatrick Kotner, Harvest Cycle/Groundwork Rhode Island; Carla Doughty, Zero Waste Providence
• Location: Main Room

The City of Providence, joined by Zero Waste Providence and Groundwork RI's Harvest Cycle, will share various compost-related initiatives funded by Federal grants. These include expanding access to community composting via backyard mentorships, drop-off locations, or private residential collection services, rescuing/diverting food waste from Providence Public School District cafeterias, and increasing the number of businesses and institutions diverting food waste in Rhode Island. The City is also funding infrastructure improvements to increase the overall capacity of the city and region to divert its food waste.

• Presenter(s): Barrington High School Students Emma Pautz & Bella Quiroa, Youth Leaders of the Youth Composting Campaign Initiative and Advocacy Project Peace Fellows; Sabine Cladis, Word For Word Literary Magazine Editor-in-Chief and Youth Leader of the Epistolary Ecology Initiative.
• Location: Presidents Dining Room

Rhode Island youth have been passionately pursuing environmental activism and composting endeavors, eager to have their voices heard and to make change in local communities; speakers will discuss both a youth led campaign advocating for the enforcement of a school composting mandate and how composting has informed their connection to community.

• Presenter(s): Dana Stiles, Rescuing Leftover Cuisine; Vanessa Venturini, URI
• Location: Student Union 307

How you can help decrease wasted food, increase food security and support RI businesses as a resident, business or organization.