In 2023, Baltimore City’s Department of Public Works (DPW) invited Johns Hopkins University, University of Maryland Baltimore, and Loyola University to be partners on the Baltimore Comprehensive Composting Pilot to expand access to composting by removing long standing educational, social, and economic barriers. The three higher education institutions received funding as part of a USDA grant DPW won to increase food waste diversion by growing the network of DPW’s existing food drop-off sites to reach communities in areas with limited access to composting services.
Over the two-year grant period the schools established 5 new collection sites open to their institutions’ affiliates and all community members. Collectively they supported the diversion of almost 20,000 lbs. of compostable material from over 1,300 visits to the sites. This project highlights how partnerships between universities and city government build on the unique strengths and relationships of both groups to implement local zero waste strategies. It also illustrates how institutions of higher education can have a multiplier effect on the important work of city government to address sustainability. Learn from the city government and university representatives on how they collaborated to develop the individual programs, sharing resources and insights, that contributed to regional solutions for sustainability.
Moderator: Caroline Eader
Speakers:
- Leana Houser, Sustainability Manager, Zero Waste, Johns Hopkins University
- Angela Ober, Sr. Sustainability & Effectiveness Specialist, University of Maryland, Baltimore
- Cara Murray, Program Analyst, Baltimore City Department of Public Works