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
