Non Technical Summary
The City of Sun Prairie (City) sends approximately 1,800 tons of food waste (20.7% of its waste stream) to the Dane County Landfill annually, representing thousands of pounds of food scraps that could be upcycled, composted, or prevented. While the City has made progress promoting food waste reduction and composting through the establishment of various community programs, including annual compost bin group buys, launching a yard waste composting program, and partnering with the Sun Prairie Area School District (SPASD) to form the Food Waste Warriors, it has identified the need to centralize efforts in order to create a more robust, impactful, and long-term composting and food waste prevention program. As one of the fastest growing cities in the state, Sun Prairie strives to be a municipal leader in waste management and is devoted to integrating the habits of proper recycling, food waste reduction, and composting into the ethos and actions of its residents. The City is interested in infusing composting and food waste prevention measures into its annual events, SPASD lunchrooms, and the community, but has encountered barriers including limited capacity for personnel to establish and monitor programs, space restraints at local composting sites, and limited funds to cover project costs. USDA funding is needed to establish new food waste reduction and composting programs, foster excitement around composting, and advance the circular economy of food waste in Sun Prairie.Proposed Project: The City proposes launching the Sun Prairie Food RESCU (Residential, Event, and School Compost Undertaking) Pilot, a 4-part program that (1) integrates full-service composting into six major city-wide events, (2) implements lunchtime composting programs, share tables, a food waste reduction competition, and food waste-focused curriculum into select schools in SPASD, (3) pilots an 18-month curbside composting service for residents, and (4) distributes compost to community gardens and urban farms, while engaging these producers in a workshop centered around sustainable agriculture practices. The Food RESCU Pilot is expected to reach 12,000 people, divert 65,000 lbs of food waste from the landfill, produce 43,000 lbs of compost, and reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 27 metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalents.Program beneficiaries include Sun Prairie residents, SPASD staff and students, event attendees, community gardens, and urban farms. The following urban and suburban zip codes will be served by this program: 53590, 53596, 53713, 53717, 53575. Underserved communities served by this program include SPASD students who experience homelessness and food insecurity, impoverished community members, people who rely on food pantries, and individuals of color, minorities, and those identifying with LGBTQIAP+. These groups will be served through fully subsidized program opportunities, equitable access to composting services, food sharing tables, and compost; and support provided to urban farms and community gardens. Related Programs: The Food RESCU Pilot builds upon the City's existing yard waste composting program by providing residents with an opportunity to divert another waste stream, Corn Fest event composting, SPASD Food Waste Warriors program, and the amount of compost returned to community members, gardens, and farms.The Sun Prairie Food RESCU Pilot addresses the following CFWR objectives: (1) Reduce municipal food waste, (2) divert residential food waste from landfills, (3) generate compost, (4) increase agricultural producers' access to compost, (5) improve soil quality; and the following CFWR priorities: (1) advance solutions to the climate crisis, address environmental justice and racial equity, and promote sustainable agricultural practices, (2) make locally generated compost accessible to agricultural producers, urban farms, community gardens, and school gardens, (3) collaborate with nine community partners, including five community gardens and urban farms, (4) provide a comprehensive plan for monitoring, evaluation, and documentation of insights and solutions to inform program success and longevity.
Animal Health Component
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Research Effort Categories
Basic
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Applied
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Developmental
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Goals / Objectives
The goals of the Sun Prairie Food RESCU Pilot are as follows:(1) divert food waste from the landfill, (2) produce and distribute compost locally, and (3) educate, engage, and empower the broader Sun Prairie community with food waste reduction knowledge. Goal 1 will minimize the amount of food waste ending up in landfills by implementing composting and food waste reduction efforts in three facets of the City: residential, city-wide events, and Sun Prairie Area School District. Goal 2 will enhance the City's existing composting efforts by significantly increasing the amount of food waste composted locally and distributing finished compost to local community gardens and urban farms. Goal 3 will raise awareness about food waste reduction and composting through educational initiatives, active engagements, and workshops, empowering the participants to make a difference by providing composting opportunities throughout the school district, major events, and the Sun Prairie community.The residential component of the RESCU program involves the following objectives: successfully implementing a curbside composting service for 150 households (R1a), producing and distributing approximately 6 cubic yards of compost to participants (R2a, R2b), educating participants on composting best practices and food waste prevention (R3a, R3c), and reporting on the program impact (R3b, R3d). Residential composting will divertover 50,000 lbs of food waste from the landfill and reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 60 metric tons of CO2eThe city-wide events component of the RESCU program involves the following objectives: implementing a composting service at 2025 events as part of the event waste stations (E1a, E1b), providing education and engagement opportunities through event tabling (E3a), transforming event food waste into compost (E2a), and collecting feedback and reporting the program impact (E3b). Composting at city-wide events will divert approximately 1,500 lbs of food waste from the landfill and reducegreenhouse gas emissions by approximately 1.7 metric tons of CO2e.The Sun Prairie Area School District (SPASD) component of the RESCU program involves the following objectives: piloting composting within elementary school cafeterias and the production kitchen during the 2025/2026 academic year (S1a, S2a), engaging students in food waste reduction education (S3a, S3b, S3c), reporting on program impact to all students and staff (S3d), and ultimately returning the finished compost to the school for use in their school gardens (S2b). Composting within SPASD will divert approximately 13,000 lbs of food waste from the landfill and reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 15.3 metric tons of CO2e.The program will also return 3,000 lbs of compost to the schools for use in their gardens, which minimizes the need for chemical fertilizers and aids in soil regeneration.The community garden and urban farm support component of the RESCU program involves the following objectives:distributing compost produced through the program to local community gardens and urban farms (U2a) and providing an educational workshop catered to these community agriculture groups to share knowledge (U3a).
Project Methods
City-Wide Events - In early 2025, the City Sustainability Coordinator and Green Box CEO will meet with event planning teams to finalize logistics of offering food waste composting at their events. During the events, Green Box will provide composting services, signage, and waste station monitors, and Sustain Dane will host an educational booth with information on food waste prevention measures and the compost process. Sustain Dane and Green Box will work to overcome social factors, including helping event attendees sort their waste into different receptacles. After each event, the Sustainability Coordinator and Green Box CEO will share data regarding the amount and profile of food waste collected and the amount of compost produced.In December of 2025, the City Sustainability Coordinator will compile and analyze feedback survey results and compost data from all participating city events, and prepare an impact report. The report will be published and distributed through various outlets.School District Composting & Food Waste Reduction Competition - Sustain Dane's Program Coordinator will provide the 3 participating school with the necessary composting bins, signage, training materials for staff and students, and other supplies. Sustain Dane will collaborate with SPASD administrative and operational staff to develop a rollout plan for the composting initiative, including identifying key launch dates and scheduling educational sessions. Each participating school will hold a "Composting Launch Day" where Sustain Dane staff will be present to provide education for students and staff on the importance of composting and how to properly participate. Additionally, Sustain Dane staff will conduct four follow-up visits throughout the school year to reinforce best practices, address challenges, and ensure the program's smooth operation. At the production kitchen, Sustain Dane will work closely with the kitchen staff to incorporate separation of compost into their current procedures. High schoolers from agricultural courses and the school green team will be leaders in developing and implementing composting in the production kitchen.The program will be framed as a friendly competition between schools. Sustain Dane will check in with SPASD staff on a monthly basis to provide updates on the competition's progress and solicit feedback to adjust the program as needed. Metrics such as the total volume of compost collected by school will be tracked and shared. This information will also be shared in the school family newsletter.Composting and sustainability education will be expanded through a new science lesson curriculum based on grade-specific learning objectives created by Sustain Dane in collaboration with SPASD's science curriculum staff. Throughout the year four educational sessions - a combination of classroom lessons and grade-wide assemblies - will educate students about the composting process and tie in broader themes of environmental stewardship and community impact.Green Box will collect all food scraps generated by the participating schools. Weekly, Green Box will swap out two 35-gallon carts, full of these food scraps, for fresh, clean carts. Green Box then hauls the carts for weighing, contamination screening, composting, and cleaning of receptacles, preparing them for the next collection. As part of its services, Green Box records weight data and shares this data monthly with the customer. Additionally, Green Box will distribute compost to the participating schools.Residential Curbside Composting - A total of 150 Sun Prairie households will be invited to participate in the 18-month residential curbside composting pilot program. Program sign-up will be open February through April of 2025. Participants will be selected on a first-come first-serve basis. Participants will be required to attend an informational webinar hosted by the City, Green Box, and Sustain Dane which will cover the program details, acceptable food scraps, and feedback requirements.In late April of 2025, participants will be invited to attend a compost pilot kick-off event, hosted by the City and Green Box to pick up their food scrap collection bins, program materials (instruction pamphlet, fridge magnet), and meet the program organizers. Curbside composting collection will start directly after the kick-off event with the first pickup scheduled for the week of April 21. Collections will occur every other week through 2025 and 2026 with the final pickup occurring the week of October 19. Feedback surveys will be distributed at the program midpoint (January 2026) and end (October 2026) to gauge experiences with curbside composting, issues encountered, how waste habits have shifted, and other practices implemented to prevent food waste. Survey data will be collected and analyzed by the City. Three times throughout the program (i.e. every six months), the City will provide an email to the participants summarizing the amount of food waste collected, emissions offset, and compost produced through their participation. In November of 2026, participants will be invited to a close-out event where they will have the opportunity to switch out their city-provided garbage can with a smaller one to reflect their reduced landfill waste and hear from the City regarding the total impact of this program. After this event, the City will compile and release an impact report.This pilot program would subsidize Green Box's existing residential composting program for new and current Green Box members that are Sun Prairie residents. Members sign up for the process online through the member portal, and residents would receive service for a subsidized price of $10/month. Services take place every other week, members receive a text and email reminder to place their bucket curbside, and all buckets are swapped out for a fresh bucket, allowing them to compost in the easiest, cleanest way possible. With experience in this specialized hauling, Green Box is able to accommodate both single- and multi-family housing units, ensuring all Sun Prairie residents have the opportunity to participate. Half a cubic foot of finished compost is earmarked for each Sun Prairie resident to receive two times over the course of the program.Compost Distribution & Community Engagement - The stakeholder team will organize an Urban Farming Educational Workshop in collaboration with various school and community partners to foster community engagement. This workshop aims to share the expertise and best practices of urban farmers who use compost for soil regeneration and distribute their produce to communities lacking access to fresh, local food. Sustain Dane will identify and collaborate with key community partners, including schools, food pantries, and the following urban farms and community gardens: Rooted, Neighborhood Food Solutions, Madison Area Food Pantry Gardens, Sun Prairie Park Friends, and Sun Prairie Community Garden Organization. Two preparatory meetings will be held to co-create the workshop agenda and ensure that the program aligns with the needs and goals of the urban farming community. The workshop content will focus on topics such as soil regeneration, sustainable farming techniques, and strategies for distributing locally grown produce to underserved communities. The workshop will be advertised to the public, targeting community and home gardeners, urban farmers, and individuals interested in sustainable farming and food justice. The workshop will be recorded, and produced into a podcast, making the information accessible to a wider audience. A comprehensive summary document will be created and shared, highlighting the best practices discussed during the workshop. Twice during the pilot program Green Box will deliver finished compost to community garden partners.