PCCI, More Than Just Food Scrap Collection!
In the month of September 2022, PCCI collected and diverted 2334.6 lbs of food scraps compared to the 939.9 lbs of food scraps in September 2021. This reflects an increase of about 148% of food scraps diverted to compost from September 2021 to September 2022.
Recent Happenings with PCCI:
- Last week PCCI started the first of ten courses of PCCI's Compost Curriculum at Unqouwa School with their 8th grade.
- Stay tuned because, on Monday, October 3rd at 5 PM PCCI will be on WPKN's radio show "Digging in the Dirt" hosted by Kevin Gallagher. You can also check it out on SoundCloud if you can't make it to the live radio show!
- PCCI was at the University of Bridgeport this week talking to students, faculty, and other organizations about all the work we have been doing, as well as, raising awareness about the benefits of composting food scraps, and the positive impact compost has on our local environment.
- PCCI partnered up with the PT Youth Corps to do a community garden clean-up at Shell St. and St. Stephens Rd. community garden! Check it out, what a difference! Stay tuned as there will be another day of planting, and placing wood chips!
SustainableCT x PCCI Community Match Grant Update:
First and foremost, we would like to give a special shoutout and thank you to all of those who have donated and shared our efforts to raise money for the Community Match Grant.
Park City Compost Initiative has raised $2,940 out of the $7,500 goal with 32 out of the 75 donors we need to get matched by SustainableCT! A great start, we need everyone’s help to get over the finish line. These funds are important to our continued educational programming and awareness building of compost’s benefits to the community.
9/22/22
In the month of August 2022, PCCI collected and diverted 2443.1 lbs of food scraps compared to the 914.1 lbs of food scraps in August 2021. This reflects an increase of about 167% of food scraps diverted to compost from August 2021 to August 2022
Thank you to all those who have donated! Let's keep the momentum going for our Community Match Grant to help PCCI fund our educational program, and more! We need 48 more donors!
Please don't forget to share this with your family, friends, and neighbors.
A kind thank you from the whole PCCI Team
- Tim O'Connor, Scott Burns, Andrew Tyrrell, and Thomas Iezin
Thank you to the PT Youth Corps for coming out and cleaning the community garden on Shell St. with PCCI! It was amazing to see the power of nature firsthand, and all the rogue carrots that grew over the last 2 years!
9/15/22
Calling All Compost Aficionados!
Park City Compost Initiative (PCCI) has kicked off a community crowdsource campaign to help us further our goals and mission through the support of SustainableCT.
Here is your chance to join the movement and provide us support to make this effort move from a neighborhood, small-scale effort to a full-blown citywide endeavor. SustainableCT will match dollar-for-dollar, up to $7,500 (for a total of $15,000) to help us achieve our goals of expanding our operations, reaching more participants, and most importantly – making an environmental impact right here in Bridgeport. Help us eliminate the ‘waste cycle’ by helping us turn food scraps into compost - and keeping it all local!
For those who have been participants in our pilot program, we appreciate your steadfast material contributions, and here is the chance for you to provide some financial support – critically needed to ramp up our work. We need at least 75 individual donations and know you can help us reach that goal.
Over the last two-plus years, we have turned over 15.5 tons of food scraps into compost. Imagine the impact we can achieve with further financial support.
Please help us by donating today, as well as sharing through your social media and with your family and friends. Even small donations will make a positive impact.
We thank you!
9/8/22
In the month of June 2022, PCCI collected and diverted 2004.1 lbs of food scraps compared to the 892.1lbs of food scraps in June of 2021. This reflects an increase of about 125% of food scraps diverted to compost for June 2021 to June 2022.
In July 2022 PCCI collected 1513.2 lbs of food scraps compared to the 889.4 in July of 2021. This reflects an increase of 70% of food scraps diverted to compost for July 2021 to July 2022. Thank you to all of our participants for helping us grow!
Help PCCI Get The Word Out
We are excited to announce that we are launching our "Get The Word Out" Match Grant Campaign! Park City Compost Initiative is collaborating with SustainableCT to get this funding for community engagement, awareness, and education about the benefits of food scraps composting. We will be collecting donations that will be used for signs, handouts, social media, other materials to divert food scrap, and more to help with our educational programs that are instrumental in getting the word out about the benefits of composting, both for the soil in your garden and the air you breathe.
As some of you may know Park City Compost Initiative started as a neighborhood composting effort in the Black Rock section of Bridgeport, CT. An environmental sustainability and justice effort to reduce the polluting burden of wet food waste on the local Wheelabrator (Win-Waste) Incinerator less than a mile away.
Compost was “farmed” first at the Burroughs Community Center's community gardens, then in 2021 and part of 2022 at Captain’s Cove Seaport. In 2022, The composting operation is moving to the rear of Captain’s Cove to the property of the Bridgeport WPCA. We will have more room to trial static pile aerated composting and be less disruptive visually and space-wise for Captain’s Cove.
From this start to mid-2022, the Black Rock Compost project collected and diverted a little over 14 tons of food waste and generated more than 15 cubic yards of high-quality compost for participants, community, and pollinator pathway gardens.
In late 2021, realizing that food waste diversion to reduce pollution, produce valuable compost soil amendment, and reduce solid waste costs was far more significant than just the neighborhood both in terms of potential impact and interest from supporters, and plans were formed to grow.
In September of 2021, rebranding as Park City Compost Initiative (PCCI) the team applied for and received a grant from the Rotary Club of Bridgeport to increase the effort in our pilot operation and plan for a full-scale operation at a site to be determined in Bridgeport.
Our Master Composter Andrew Tyrrell also applied with PCCI support to the Entrepreneurial Foundation and University of Bridgeport’s Bridgeport Business Challenge where he was awarded first prize.
PCCI has also applied to the ETF Grant Program for funds for capital equipment to operate and grow our operations.
Today we are asking our participants and their friends, family, and anyone they care to share this with to help us raise $7,500 in donations to be matched by SustainableCT to secure fundings that will help us educate our community about the benefits of composting food scraps not only as a nutrient-rich soil amendment but also as a way to create an environment with cleaner air.
6/2/22
What a fantastic month this has been! We have diverted 1,453 lbs of food scraps this month, compared to the 1,042 lbs in May of 2021. This reflects a 28.3% increase from last year!
This is only possible because of all of our participants!
Let's keep this momentum up! Please share all our posts on Instagram and Facebook to help teach the community about the wonders compost does for this world!
We just want to remind everyone that starting June 18th we will be having food scrap drop off at the Black Rock Farmers Market at St. Ann's Field from 9 am - 1 pm!
Pick-up will also continue every Wednesday.
05/25/22
It all begins with an idea.
Dear Participants,
What a fantastic month this has been! We have diverted 1,453 lbs of food scraps this month, compared to the 1,042 lbs in May of 2021. This reflects a 28.3% increase from last year!
This is only possible because of all of our participants!
Let's keep this momentum up! Please share all our posts on Instagram and Facebook to help teach the community about the wonders compost does for this world!
We just want to remind everyone that starting June 18th we will be having food scrap drop off at the Black Rock Farmers Market at St. Ann's Field from 9 am - 1 pm!
Pick-up will also continue every Wednesday.
PCCI and Related Events for Composting, Environmental Justice, and Local Food / Community Gardens
Avoiding Contamination in Food Waste Feedstock for Composting - June 14th; 1 pm EST: "The usefulness and value of finished compost depend on a feedstock that is free of contaminants, such as plastic and non-degradable service ware and bags. Unfortunately, it is all too common to find these materials in food waste destined for composting. This webinar, jointly hosted by NERC and NEWMOA, will address successful educational strategies and programs to avoid these contaminants." Click here to Register
05/12/22
It all begins with an idea.
Dear Participants,
We are proud to say we are continually growing! In April of 2022, we have diverted 1,221.1 lbs of food scraps from being incinerated, compared to the 862.2 lbs of April 2021. This means Park City Compost collection has grown by about 30% for April!
We also would like to remind everyone that once the Farmers Market in Blackrock starts we will be having a drop-off for food scraps. So please keep your eyes open to this once the Farmers Market season is open!
PCCI and Related Events for Composting, Environmental Justice, and Local Food / Community Gardens
Green Village Initiative is hosting a Seedling Sale on Saturday, May 14th from 10 am - 4 pm at the Reservoir Community Farm on 1469 Reservoir Avenue, Bridgeport, CT.
- The Center for EcoTechnology (CET) would like to remind you of our virtual event, Reduce, Reuse, Recycle, Rethink: Navigating CT Waste Solutions, on May 26th from 10:00 am – 12:00 pm.
04/28/22
It all begins with an idea.
Dear Participants,
Thank you so much to Earth Matter NYC and everyone that showed up to the first-ever Park City Compost Get Together! We couldn't have sifted through so much compost if it wasn't for everyone's help!
Don't forget to check our Instagram to check out the amazing compost crash course given by our Master Composter Andrew!
As always please forward the newsletter to anyone you believe would be interested so they can sign up. As well keep up with our social media (links below) so you can get all information and updates going on with Park City Compost
PCCI and Related Events for Composting, Environmental Justice, and Local Food / Community Gardens
Green Village Initiative's Mother Day Seedling Sale Saturday, May 7, 2022, from 10:00 AM to 4:00 PM at 1469 Reservoir Avenue.
04/14/22
It all begins with an idea.
Hello PCCI Friends,
This past month we have collected and diverted 1,809 lbs of food scraps. In March of 2021, we collected 827.7lbs of food scraps. Totaling to a 46% increase in food scrap diversion from March 2021 to March 2022.
We have only been growing in this new year, and this could only be made possible with the help of each one of you, and we can't show enough appreciation.
Let's keep this momentum going by sharing, liking, and commenting on our social media!
This week we are glad to announce a date for Park City's first annual Composting Get Together with Earth Matter NYC. Come join us on Sunday, April 24th from 11 AM to 2 PM. This is the day you as our participants get to come and take back some compost for your gardens for free!
We will also be hearing about Earth Matter NYC and learning about what they are doing in NYC. This will be a fun day to get first-hand experience on how to sift compost, best practices for making your own compost, and how to help community compost programs like Park City Compost, and Earth Matter to have the best quality compost.
Earth Matter is an NYC-based non-profit based that seeks to reduce the organic waste misdirected into the garbage stream by encouraging neighbor participation and leadership in composting. Similar to Park City Compost Initiative, Earth Matter aims to help the community because they are leaders in environmentally friendly waste management services, and as Earth Matter NYC says "[with] the aim to advance the art, science, and application of compost..." which is something we couldn't agree with more here at Park City Compost Initiative.
PCCI and Related Events for Composting, Environmental Justice, and Local Food / Community Gardens
Volunteering is open every Saturday at Green Village Initiative (GVI) every Saturday until the summer ends.
Spring Kick off + Seedling Sale with Green Village Initiative (GVI). April 23 from 10 am to 2 pm @ Reservoir Farm -1469 Reservoir Ave, Bridgeport, CT.
03/23/22
It all begins with an idea.
Hello PCCI Friends!
We diverted 344.4 lbs of food scraps this past week Thank you for all your participation!
Another amazing news we would love to share with everyone is that Park City Compost has officially made it to 100 participants! We are so grateful and appreciative of all the support the community has given us. We couldn't be doing the work we are doing if it wasn't for each one of you.
We wanted to reach out and let everyone know not to bring in their buckets tonight, as we will be doing pick-up Thursday Morning due to some unforeseen problems that occurred. We apologize if this causes any inconvenience.
Remember to like, comment, and share our posts on Facebook, Instagram, Flipboard, and Youtube! This helps keep us in your feed and growing. Please remember that all these little actions help us enormously with the algorithms to spread awareness. Every comment helps as well, even if it is as simple as a “Good job.”
Thanks!
The PCCI team
03/15/22
It all begins with an idea.
Hello PCCI Friends!
We diverted 345.4 lbs of food scraps this past week Thank you for all your participation!
This week, our main piece of information is that we will be moving the pick-up to Thursday instead of Wednesday.
Remember to like, comment, and share our posts on Facebook, Instagram, and Youtube! This helps keep us in your feed and growing. Please remember that all these little actions help us enormously with the algorithms to spread awareness. Every comment helps as well, even if it is as simple as a “Good job.”
Thanks!
The PCCI team
02/28/22
It all begins with an idea.
Hello PCCI Friends!
During the last week of February, we diverted 375.1lbs of food residuals, totaling 1,444.4lbs in February 2022. This represents an increase of 77% compared to the same month of last year. Thank you for all your participation!
We are proud to announce that PCCI has created a Flipboard. For those who are unfamiliar with Flipboard, it is a news-zine website and application similar to Pinterest but is focused on news articles. We have created three of these magazines:
1) Composting Tech and Processes
2) Food Waste Policy and Trends
3) Lifecycle Living (about sustainability through recycling and reuse to minimize waste)
Click on the titles to check them out
Please don’t forget to tell your friends, neighbors, co-workers, family, or anyone you come across about us, and how easy it is to join the program. We are so close to making it to 100 participants!
Remember to like, comment, and share our posts on Facebook, Instagram, and Youtube! This helps keep us in your feed and growing. Please remember that all these little actions help us enormously with the algorithms to spread awareness. Every comment helps as well, even if it is as simple as a “Good job.”
Thanks!
The PCCI team
02/07/22
It all begins with an idea.
Hello!
We hope you had an amazing week!
This week we collected and diverted a total of 355 lbs of food residuals! Thank you for all your participation. Please don’t forget to tag us on your stories on Wednesdays!
It is amazing to see the growth PCCI has had in the last year and a half. When Andrew and Scott started off this pilot program there were only about 15 participants, and now we are so close to reaching 100 participants!
Please don’t forget to tell your friends, neighbors, co-workers, family, or anyone you come across about us, and how easy it is to join the program! With the help of everyone, we can make it to 100 participants before the end of the month, lets's do this!!!
Remember to go hit the like, comment, and share button on our Facebook, Instagram, and Youtube!!
Thanks!
The PCCI team
02/21/22
It all begins with an idea.
Hello PCCI Friends!
Last week we collected and diverted a total of 385.3 lbs of food residuals! Thank you for all your participation. Please don’t forget to tag us on relevant stories or post you see. It helps us tremendously.
This week we wanted to share a prophetic article we found: Food could hold the key to fixing the state's waste disposal problems. https://ctmirror.org/2021/01/11/food-could-hold-the-key-to-fixing-the-states-waste-disposal-problems/
In July the MIRA incinerator in Hartford will shut down and become a transfer station. This plant was similarly sized to Bridgeport’s. With this shutdown, 750,000 tons or one and a half BILLION pounds of trash will need to be disposed of elsewhere. Doing a better job of recycling and diverting the 25%+ food waste will significantly reduce the cost of shipping the waste all the way to Ohio and Indiana. This is why Park City Compost Initiative sees composting food waste as an important part of our lifecycle and solid waste policy. Thank you again for being part of the solution, and let us know what you found most interesting from the article!!
Please don’t forget to tell your friends, neighbors, co-workers, family, or anyone you come across about us, and how easy it is to join the program! With the help of everyone, we need can make it to 100 participants before the end of the month, lets's do this!!!
Remember to like, comment, and share our posts on Facebook, Instagram, and Youtube! This helps keep us in your feed and growing!
Thanks!
The PCCI team
02/14/22
It all begins with an idea.
Hello!
First of all, Happy Valentines Day from PCCI; we want to express our love and gratitude to all our participants! If it wasn’t for all of your participation we wouldn’t be doing all this amazing work.
This week we collected and diverted a total of 325 lbs of food residuals! Thank you for all your participation. Please don’t forget to tag us on your stories on collection days! It helps us tremendously.
We are proud to announce that by the end of February we will have completed our first batch of compost in 2022, and we can’t wait to be able to give back to all of you! So stay tuned because there will be a sifting day, and you will have the opportunity to learn more about PCCI, and compost from our Master Composter Andrew Tyrrell.
Please don’t forget to tell your friends, neighbors, co-workers, family, or anyone you come across about us, and how easy it is to join the program! With the help of everyone, we can make it to 100 participants before the end of the month, lets's do this!!!
Remember to go hit the like, comment, and share button on our Facebook, Instagram, and Youtube!!
Thanks!
The PCCI team
01/31/22
Hello!
We hope you had an amazing week!
During the last week of January, we diverted 385 lbs of food residuals, totaling 1,198 in January 2022 representing an increase of 17.3% compared to the same month of last year. Thank you for all your participation!
Before anything, from the whole PCCI team, again we wanted to deeply thank those who have written a letter or joined the letter of support for the Environmental Task Force Grant (EFT). We have officially turned in our application to the EFT Grant, and we will hear from them in March. In the meantime, we are still working on other grants. So keep your eyes and ears open!
In the meantime, please like, follow, and share our Facebook, Youtube, and Instagram with all your friends and community. This week we want to ask our participants to help us expand on social media. When leaving your bucket outside please take a picture and upload it to your story, and tag us with the hashtag #ParkCityCompost.
Thanks!
The PCCI team
01/24/22
It all begins with an idea.
Hello!
We hope you had an amazing week!
This week we collected a total of 384.3 lbs of food residuals! Thank you for all your participation.
Before anything, from the whole PCCI team, we wanted to deeply thank those who have written a letter or joined the letter of support for our application to the Environmental Task Force Grant (EFT).
On another note, we have created a YouTube that is designed mainly as an educational page. Please feel free to give us a like and subscribe to the channel!
Reminders:
Grants- As many of you remember from last week we are seeking funding from the EFT that is being funded through the PSEG Community Benefits Agreement. If you are interested in writing a personal letter describing your support, and involvement in the program you can send it to us, and we will attach it to our grant.
If not you can just reply to this email, and we will add you to the list of support for the ETF Grant.
In the meantime, please like, follow, and share our social media with all your friends and community!
Thanks!
The PCCI team
01/18/22
Hello!
We hope you had an amazing week! We have some new updates for everyone.
This week we collected a total of 228.7 lbs of food residuals!
In the meantime, we are applying for a grant from the Environmental Task Force (ETF) which “intents and purposes underlying the adoption of the US Environmental Justice Act including, but not limited to, achieving maximum public health and environmental benefit for the air quality in the neighborhoods surrounding Bridgeport Harbor Station.” The 2 million dollar grant is funded through the PSEG Community Benefits Agreement.
As many of you know our objective is to divert food residuals to our waste facilities because burning wet food residuals is just not efficient. Because of this reason composting has more than just an environmental impact, but also has the potential to improve our air quality which ultimately reduces the impact on Bridgeport’s citizen's health. If you are interested in writing a letter stating your support, and participation in the PCCI program please reply and we can get that sorted.
If you are interested in writing a personal letter describing your support, and who you are, that would be amazing, and you can send it to us. If not you can just reply to this email, and we will add you to the list of support for the ETF Grant.
We have also have created a new electronic sign-up for everyone to share with their friends and family in Bridgeport: https://forms.gle/LfdY3fSEG5bwVwU6A This link can also be found in the link of our Instagram (found in the footer of this email)
Now for reminders:
Schedule – We just wanted to remind everyone again that in the winter months, we are going to scale back to one pickup per week; Every Wednesday. We will also be dropping bio bags when we do the pick-ups.
And if you want to drop off at Captain’s Cove (as some of you already do), feel free to do so. The concrete bays are near the far entrance.
Asks: Our major ask is that you please share the program with family or friends who live in the area and our social media with your friends and family.
If you have ideas or suggestions, please don’t hesitate to contact us.
In the meantime, please like, follow, and share our social media found in the footer below!
Thanks!
The PCCI team
01/10/22
Hello!
We hope you had an amazing start to your new year!
Before getting to the reminders, we want to thank you, our participants, for helping this program get off the ground and keep growing (more details below). We’re all doing our part in reducing the waste cycle and helping the planet.
First, we wanted to inform you of all of our progress up to date on how we all helped reduce our carbon footprint. With the help of everyone since June of 2020 Park City Compost Initiative, we have collected and composted about 7,292.2 pounds of food residuals, and about 2,268 gallons of yard scarps. More information will be updated as we move forward!
Now for reminders:
Schedule – We just wanted to remind everyone again that in the winter months, we are going to scale back to one pickup per week. If this proves difficult, please email us and let us know and we’ll aim to make adjustments. We also wanted to remind everyone that pick-ups will be Every Wednesday. We will also be dropping bio bags when we do the pick-ups.
And if you want to drop off at Captain’s Cove (as some of you already do), feel free to do so. The concrete bays are near the far entrance.
Asks: Our major ask is if plastic bags can be kept out of the system. They do not decompose and need to be removed. Please let us know if you need Biobags (that’s the brand name we use, though other compostable bags are also available). If you are feeling really generous, taking the produce stickers off would be great!
Also please do not hesitate in sharing the programs with family or friends who live in the area. All we ask is that they reach out via email with their address and name and we will add them to the pick-up route!
If you have ideas or suggestions, please don’t hesitate to contact us.
In the meantime, please like, follow, and share our social media found in the footer below!
Thanks!
The PCCI team
12/07/21
Hello!
We hope this finds you well. Plenty of details to get caught up on here in this email – lots of good news, too.
Before getting to the update, we want to thank you, our participants, for helping this program get off the ground and keep growing (more details below). We’re all doing our part in reducing the waste cycle and helping the planet.
Now for the updates:
Rebrand - We are now the Park City Compost Initiative, a name reflecting a broader ambition to extend our efforts into other parts of Bridgeport. Our official email is now parkcitycompost@outlook.com
Awards! Andrew Tyrrell, under the PCCI name, has won two grants this fall in connection with the program.
1. Andrew was one of two first-place winners of the Bridgeport Business Challenge, a business plan competition organized by Mike Roer for start-ups and new businesses. With the award came a $10,000 grant, partly funded by the American Rescue Plan funds that the City of Bridgeport received this past spring.
2. PCCI then won a $20,000 grant from the Bridgeport Rotary Club under the Environmental category.
Both grants will help extend the reach of the compost program and the impact on the community. The Black Rock NRZ will continue as the fiduciary of the funds going forward. Many thanks to Black Rock’s Tim O’Connor for guiding the grant application process.
New buckets – An immediate payoff of the grants was the frugal purchase of refurbished 5-gallon pails with the PCCI logo. The idea is to give participants a bucket that can be placed outside and make it easier for us to see if you have food scraps ready to go. If you have your own already, or have another method, not a problem.
Schedule – Now that we are in the winter months, we are going to scale back to one pickup per week. If this proves difficult, please let us know and we’ll aim to make adjustments.
Here are the upcoming dates, also reflecting holiday and travel commitments; apologies in advance for any inconveniences:
Sunday, December 12
Thursday, December 23
Wednesday, December 29
Every Wednesday, beginning in January.
And if you want to drop off at Captain’s Cove (as some of you already do), feel free to do so. The concrete bays are near the far entrance.
Participation: We are grateful for the regular participants. If you only put out scraps now and then, that’s great, too. If you have decided not to participate, that’s fine, though we would appreciate you letting us know so we can clean up our lists. And if you have not participated in a while and want to get back into it, even better! Just let us know by replying to this email and we’ll make sure you are on the regular route.
Asks: Our major ask is if plastic bags can be kept out of the system. They do not decompose and need to be removed. Please let us know if you need Biobags (that’s the brand name we use, though other compostable bags are also available). If you are feeling really generous, taking the produce stickers off would be great!
At this point, we are a team of four: Andrew Tyrrell (master composter), Scott Burns (run of the mill green-minded person), Tim O’Connor (business model advisor/grant writer), and Tommy Iezin (backchannel data/compost go-getter) – all Black Rock residents. If you are interested in volunteering please reach out directly to Thomas Iezin (at PCCI email: parkcitycompost@outlook.com).
If you have ideas or suggestions, please don’t hesitate to contact us. In the meantime, you can follow PCCI on Facebook here: https://www.facebook.com/Park-City-Compost-Initiative-275881730914784
Thanks!
The PCCI team