Performing Department
(N/A)
Non Technical Summary
Our project tackles the crucial issue of food waste, which significantly impacts our economy, community, and environment. By transforming food waste into compost, we not only enrich the soil and promote sustainable farming practices but also extend the usable lifetime of landfills and reduce chemical fertilizer use and greenhouse gas emissions. Additionally, we empower citizens with the knowledge and tools to reduce food waste and grow their own food, fostering a culture of sustainability and self-sufficiency. We also partnered with 15th St. Farm to donate compost to underserved communities and train them how to use it to grow their own food and start microbusinesses.The project emphasizes the importance of strong public-private partnerships to ensure lasting, positive change. By tracking the mass of food waste collected, we can estimate the greenhouse gas emissions avoided and the amount of material diverted from landfills and sewage treatment plants. We will also monitor the distribution of compost--whether sold to farms, other businesses, citizens, or donated to underserved communities and educational establishments. By sharing our findings and best practices, we hope to reach a wide audience and inspire others to create their own food waste valorization organizations. Ultimately, our project aims to build a resilient and self-sufficient community that values sustainability, leading to a healthier environment and a stronger local economy.
Animal Health Component
35%
Research Effort Categories
Basic
35%
Applied
35%
Developmental
30%
Goals / Objectives
Aportion ofSt. Petersburg, Florida's food waste is sent to the landfill or discharged to the City's sewar system. Through the partnership between the University of South Florida St. Petersburg Campus and The City of St. Petersburg, The GreenCycle, establishes an enterprise that diverts urban food waste and transforms it into valuable compost. The compost will be sold to support urban and local farms and also donated to support urban agriculture and microbusinesses The GreenCycle strives to educate citizens and businesses on how to reduce food waste with the goal of creating a culture of waste reduction and positive food waste utilization.Goal I: Redirect food waste from landfills, incinerators and the sewer system to produce a useful soil amendment for the community and local agricultural operations. This goal will be tracked through the measurement of the amount of food waste diverted from landfills and an estimation of the reduction in greenhouse gas emissions due to project activities.Goal II: Convert nutrient rich waste into a useful product to support community gardens and local agricultural operations. Goal II will be tracked through the number of new jobs created, number of businesses supported, amount of income from sale of compost (USD), number of producers receiving compost, amount of compost donated, and the amount of compost sold (lbs.).Goal III: Provide urban farms with the material and support needed to increase food security and sovereignty. The 15th Street Farm provides food and educational services to underserved communities in the St. Petersburg community. The focus on urban farming education and support to the South St. Petersburg food desert is part of a food security and sovereignty initiative that will address long standing social equity issues to an underserved population. This goal will be track through the number of individuals benefitting from food waste reduction initiatives, number of historically underserved individuals benefitting from food waste reduction initiatives, number of businesses participating in project activities, and the number of organizations participating in food scrap recycling education and engagement programs.Goal IV: Educate the community and students regarding the health and social benefits of reducing food waste through composting, and urban / community farming. Goal IV will be measured through the number of individuals receiving job training or mentorship and number of individuals educated on food waste reduction.
Project Methods
EffortsUSF will develop the composting system, selecting a commercial composting system that will meet the composting requirements within the budget approved by the USDA.After the composter is installed, an operational procedure will be developed to initially use food waste from the USF St. Petersburg cafeteria. Other necessary purchases will be made such as commercial scales to measure the input and output form the composting system. The project manager for this project will be hired as well astwo students through Federal Work Study awards. Once here is an efficient and cost-effective system, will move on to operations producing compost for USF, the City of St. Petersburg, the 15th St. Farms, community partners and for sale at a local open-air market.EvaluationDuring the operations process, we will track the production, personnel, and customers for the GreenCycle composting operation to maximize efficiency and production. We will set up an online spreadsheet and/or database to record the input and output of the composting system, measuring the volume of food waste material for input and output using bins with graduated markings. The waste will be measured by the mass of the input food waste and output compost using the commercial scale. We will record all the operational data along with sources and customer information in the database. Physical records will provide an analog backup to our electronic records. Using this data, we will determine the diversion from the landfill, system production, system efficiency, and carbon reduction relative to landfill disposal.This system will be sustainable in funding and management for its operation by the end of the grant period. We will track the business aspects of this operation using accounting practices within our spreadsheet and/or database. We will track employee hours, customer information, revenue, suppliers of compostable waste, mass of compost sold to individual customers, and mass of compost donated to community partners. This data will help us measure business progress to build and refine to a sustainable business.The effectiveness of our education and community engagement will be measured to ensure that we are effectively meeting the requirements of our mission. Using our database and/or spreadsheet the number of individuals participating in our educational activities will be logged. We will track the number and hours of students actively involved in GreenCycle. Collaborating with our partners, we will track the number of community and personal gardens supported by our operation. With the goal is to serve our students and the community with not only products but knowledge.Using these metrics provides data to refine and determine the efficiency and impact of this operation. Based on these metrics we can document the impact of this program to public, private and academic stakeholders. We will be able to create weekly, monthly, and annual reports on how sustainable this composting program is in funding, community support, and education.