Carbon Farming: Making the Connection between Organic Waste and Climate Change
Group Members: Olivia Brown, Delani Wood, Abby Graves, Max Gulliver
Eco-Cycle is one of the oldest and largest non-profit recyclers and zero waste organizations in the U.S. The organization’s mission is to innovate, implement, and advocate for local and global zero waste solutions to foster a more regenerative, equitable, and climate-resilient future and to combat consumption emissions contributing to climate change. The 2021 MENV capstone team will contribute to this mission through stakeholder engagement, project implementation, and dissemination of knowledge to key members of the community. The team will develop a comprehensive resource guide to enable members of any community to learn about and engage with their own version of zero waste solutions; specifically focusing on carbon farming and soil health through various soil amendment processes. The students will be working closely with partners currently undergoing a variety of projects such as: the city of Bedford, New York on their Bedford 2030 carbon reduction goals, development of a for-profit composting facility in Durango, Colorado, and curriculum support for the school district of Ann Arbor, Michigan. Their partner's vision for this capstone team is to support what Eco-Cycle is currently achieving as zero-waste and carbon farming pioneers, and to make the concepts more widespread and easily applicable across stakeholders and various geographic locations. The intended deliverable for this project is a carbon farming “toolkit” to be utilized as a guide for anticipatory or practicing carbon farmers.