Northfield is a member of Minnesota GreenStep Cities, “a voluntary challenge, assistance and recognition program to help cities achieve their sustainability and quality-of-life goals. The Northfield City Council voted to become part of the GreenSteps Cities Program in 2011 and has since been using pursuing the green “steps” matrix to develop more sustainable practices on the part of the City.This free continuous improvement program is sponsored by the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) and based upon 28 best practices. Each best practice can be implemented by completing one or more actions at a 1, 2 or 3-star level, from a list of four to eight actions. These actions are tailored to all Minnesota cities, focus on cost savings and energy use reduction, and encourage civic innovation.” (http://greenstep.pca.state.mn.us/)
Category Archives: Focus: Waste
Transition Youth Composting Project
Transition Youth – a sub-group of Transition Northfield – is currently working with the City of Northfield’s pilot composting project, raising awareness, promoting, and making the practice of composting more accessible to people in the community.
City Compost Pilot Program & Statistics Project
General Project Description:
The City of Northfield and Dick’s Sanitation, Inc., conducted a test of food waste composting over a six month period in 2013. DSI provided 148 households with weekly pick-up of their compost which was taken to a commercial composting site from June through November. Data is being reviewed by the Northfield Environmental Quality Commission (EQC) and will be presented to the City Council in early 2014, for consideration of expanding citywide. Separation of organics would help extend the life of the County landfill, reduce methane generation, produce usable compost for residents and city use, and has a possibility of reducing overall expense to Northfield of solid waste.
Additional Project Outcomes:
Data from the pilot program was analyzed by Carleton College statistics students led by professor Laura Chihara in hopes of informing City decisions based on quantitative program outcomes. Analysis opportunities included organics weight data, percent of waste diverted, and customer survey results.
A summer 2013 internship position focused on increasing participation in the pilot program through community outreach and education. Carleton College student Caffi Meyer created educational materials, raised awareness for the program, collected data about organics bin usage, analyzed waste weight data, and projected city-wide financial cost/benefits.
Project Reports:
Cows, Colleges and Composting Poster
2013 Internship Report (Caffi Meyer)
Project Contact: George Kinney geokinney@gmail.com