schaffer_delineating_a_project


 * Memo 7: Delineating a Project**

1) **Composting as a practice:** In the Western organic farming tradition, composting is a means of turning organic material into soil supplement; it supplies plants with nutrients and bacteria that support plant health. Guidebooks on the topic use concepts like “closed loops” to describe methods of keeping resources within the farming system. In industrial composting facilities, though, compost finds other meanings, other functions: it removes matter from landfills, it prevents methane emissions, it produces fertilizer that’s safe for municipal landscaping but not for food. How does the practice of composting change in moving from an organic to an industrial organic context? How does understanding of composting change, and how does compost get valued by producers and consumers? Do green revolution concepts influence the practice of industrial composting, or is it an industrial process at a larger scale? What of the market for technological solutions to composting—sifting machines and static aerators at the low end, “hybrid enzymes” that produce both compost and methane gas at the high end—how do these projects influence compost science and composting practices?

2) **Waste regimes**: Lines between waste and non-waste are historically, geographically, socially (etc.) contingent; changes in the boundaries around these categories result in changes at the level of individual practice, official policy, and the everyday functioning of waste management/resource recovery operations. These boundaries and practices can all be understood as aspects of a local waste regime. Perceived landfill crisis, the emergence of community agriculture, greenhouse gas emissions and potential savings, among other factors, get cited among the reasons to change the waste regime of Troy; how do other waste regimes change, who pushes these changes, what resistance do the new regimes face? Why do these frames seem effective at changing waste management in Troy at this moment, but not ten years ago when a similar effort was launched?

3) **Ecological entrpreneurs**: It is worth noting that spearheading Troy Compost is Abby Lublin—organizer, activist, and eco-preneur (what an annoying word!)—whose Food Cycles project (bike-powered compost hauling) stands to earn customers when the city starts separating food waste. On the planning committee was an EcoVative (compostable packing material) employee, and we’ve been helping an owner of Empire Zero Waste (small compost hauling business) make contact with new institutions for organics pickup. This is great! But the role of business in this and other composting projects can’t be overstated; public-private partnerships with locally run companies seem to be the norm for large composting programs. Abby has hinted at scuffles over territory and clients between Empire Zero Waste and Food Cycles. What’s been the role of small, //eco-friendly// businesses in the development of composting systems, how have they shaped the systems and how have waste policies and composting initiatives shaped the businesses? [Note: I don’t understand money or business in any way! But this is something I’ve been curious about, so maybe I could learn more?]