{"id":5089,"date":"2023-09-04T22:53:25","date_gmt":"2023-09-05T02:53:25","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/urban\/?page_id=5089"},"modified":"2025-11-25T12:28:35","modified_gmt":"2025-11-25T17:28:35","slug":"evaluating-bostons-organic-waste-cycles-keeping-compost-clean-for-community-gardens","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/urban\/evaluating-bostons-organic-waste-cycles-keeping-compost-clean-for-community-gardens\/","title":{"rendered":"Evaluating Boston&#8217;s Organic Waste Cycles: Keeping Compost Clean for Community Gardens"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\t<ul class=\"profile-listing profile-format-advanced\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\n<li class=\"profile-item profile-item-advanced has-title post-3177 profile type-profile status-publish hentry\">\n\t<a href=\"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/urban\/profile\/samantha-hall\/\" class=\"profile-link profile-link-advanced\">\n\t\t<figure class=\"profile-photo profile-photo-advanced\">\n\t\t\t<img width=\"150\" height=\"150\" src=\"\/urban\/files\/2021\/09\/SHall-1-150x150.jpg\" class=\"attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail\" alt=\"\" loading=\"lazy\" srcset=\"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/urban\/files\/2021\/09\/SHall-1-150x150.jpg 150w, https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/urban\/files\/2021\/09\/SHall-1-768x764.jpg 768w, https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/urban\/files\/2021\/09\/SHall-1-1536x1528.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/urban\/files\/2021\/09\/SHall-1-550x550.jpg 550w, https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/urban\/files\/2021\/09\/SHall-1-710x710.jpg 710w, https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/urban\/files\/2021\/09\/SHall-1-300x300.jpg 300w, https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/urban\/files\/2021\/09\/SHall-1-600x600.jpg 600w, https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/urban\/files\/2021\/09\/SHall-1-100x100.jpg 100w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 150px) 100vw, 150px\" \/>\t\t<\/figure>\n\n\t\t<h6 class=\"profile-name profile-name-advanced\">Samantha Hall, PhD<\/h6>\n\t\t<p class=\"profile-title profile-title-advanced\">Postdoctoral Research Associate, University of Southern California<\/p>\t<\/a>\n\n\t\n<\/li>\n\t\t\t<\/ul>\n\n<p><strong>Project Partner: <\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/thetrustees.org\/\">Trustees of Reservations<\/a>, Summer 2022<\/p>\n<p><strong>Project Description:\u00a0<\/strong>Collection of food and yard waste, production of compost, and distribution of compost to urban growers reduce greenhouse\u00a0gas emissions and support regenerative agriculture. Currently, City of Boston contracts lack language to ensure testing and equitable distribution of city-sourced compost to urban agricultural efforts, especially those in food insecure neighborhoods.<\/p>\n<p>Along with the Trustees of Reservations, Sam conducted a case-study on organic waste cycles and compost production for use in community urban agriculture in four cities. This work aimed to strengthen legal contracts concerning organic waste collection and testing during compost production in Boston. Compost inputs should be regulated more stringently to avoid the intrusion of hazards in the compost system, which could be a threat to human and environmental health.<\/p>\n<p>Legislation and contracts can protect compost content through regulation of feedstock and mandatory testing requirements. Together, Sam and The Trustees 1) prepared language to improve city contracts; and 2) developed a Best Management Practices (BMP) document for The Trustees and Boston\u2019s Department of Public Works to promote a safer and more just organic waste cycle in Boston. Sam also prepared a letter for Boston Mayor Michelle Wu to advocate for administrative and financial support to ensure compost safety and guarantee compost access to community gardens.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Main Project Deliverables:\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Proposed <span><a href=\"https:\/\/docs.google.com\/document\/d\/17t-7FNzy1o_kBIu6BXjUNaDcP9SdXM7H\/edit\">Language for contracts<\/a><\/span> between City of Boston and industrial compost producers<\/li>\n<li><span><a href=\"https:\/\/docs.google.com\/document\/d\/1oC0FXTyMM81yIUAKV8dvN9KQsW6EJzWH\/edit\">Best Management Practices<\/a><\/span> recommendations for centering safety and justice in organic waste-to-compost cycles<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>See Sam&#8217;s URBAN Internship lightning talk <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=0ErG49-PvDA&amp;list=PLF0SN9CrRTPgcRE1KROD_rWSJgsLbtu_6&amp;index=2\">here<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Project Partner: Trustees of Reservations, Summer 2022 Project Description:\u00a0Collection of food and yard waste, production of compost, and distribution of compost to urban growers reduce greenhouse\u00a0gas emissions and support regenerative agriculture. Currently, City of Boston contracts lack language to ensure testing and equitable distribution of city-sourced compost to urban agricultural efforts, especially those in food [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":18240,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":46,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/urban\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/5089"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/urban\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/urban\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/urban\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/18240"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/urban\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5089"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/urban\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/5089\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5096,"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/urban\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/5089\/revisions\/5096"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/urban\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5089"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}