Nicodemus Wilderness Project -- Global Registry of Apprentice Ecologists

My name is Michael Chen, and I am a 17-year old student from Salt Lake City, Utah. One of my life ambitions is to make a positive impact on the issue of environmental sustainability, which is why I started Compost Utah, my 2022 Apprentice Ecologist Project. But before I get into that, let me provide some context.

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It all began back in elementary school, where I started noticing the enormous amount of cafeteria food that was being discarded largely untouched - something which I was appalled at. Back then, perhaps it was simply a reaction ingrained by my mom's frequently-spoken "Don't waste food". When I progressed to middle school, however, my view was corroborated by much more: I discovered the truly pernicious effects of food waste.

Beyond the gross misuse of resources - especially when considering the alarming state of food security - a study by the UN found that food waste amounts to 3.3 gigatonnes of greenhouse gas emissions annually. That's a figure only exceeded by two *countries*, the United States & China.

In response, I started a 'sharing table' at my middle school: somewhere where students could place uneaten food for others to take. While this was effective to an extent, there were some important drawbacks (for example, the sharing table would sometimes 'fill up' - everyone would leave something but no one would take anything).

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As I entered high school, two primary factors added to my motivation to address environmental sustainability. The first was an event, the 2019 Amazon rainforest wildfires: I vividly remember watching the news coverage of the fires during the start of my freshman year, and the potent sense of urgency it engendered within me. The second factor was a sudden increase in appreciation of the sublimity of the nature in the mountains near my home: although I had grown up hiking, mountain biking, and kayaking in the mountains, they gained a deeper meaning in high school, as I've taken to spending more time simply relaxing and taking in the natural beauty. I've often found sanctuary on a secluded mountain trail or serene lakeside view, where my thoughts become clearer and emotions calm.

Stimulated by these and other factors, I started an environmental sustainability-focused high school club, Hillcrest Earth Club, in my sophomore year (Fall of 2020). Immediately one of the most active and popular clubs at my high school (with 60+ members in our first year), we had many operations focused on sustainability and environmental service: student garden, multiple school/park clean-ups, paper recycling, metal/misc. item recycling operation, Adopt-A-Highway Cleanups (3 done), and multiple events to raise environmental awareness. Perhaps our most important project was a composting program, which greatly improved on the drawbacks of the sharing table. Au fond, compostable waste from the cafeteria (both from students and the kitchen) was collected in buckets, and then we had teams every day after school transport this to the compost bin and process it. In preparation for this program we actually did a lot of research work, which I will elaborate on below.

After running Earth Club for a year, I found that out of our many operations, composting was by far the one with the largest impact, and so I decided to step down from Earth Club to start Compost Utah, a nonprofit that starts composts at other schools. Earth Club is still alive and thriving today; you can check out the Instagram account @hillcrestearthclub.

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Although the idea was conceived months ago, my team and I started actively working on creating Compost Utah during the start of my junior year (Fall of 2021). Our idea was simple: use the knowledge and experience we learned from our own composting program to help start composting programs at schools across the Wasatch Front, which is simply the metropolitan region surrounding Salt Lake City, comprised of a chain of cities from approximately Ogden (north) to Logan (south). During the fall and winter, we worked to specify our focus and get the legal paperwork and grant application done to start a composting program in the spring.

To give a brief description of our organization: Our team of seven runs the organization. My specific role is leading our team of seven by planning meetings, delegating work, providing direction, etc. Our model is 'community composting', where compostable waste from all sorts of community sources including restaurants, farms, and grocery stores is transported to composts we help start at community sites (which are mostly schools). The material is then composted at the site, with the physical work done by community volunteers (at schools it is simply students). Finally, the finished compost is transported back to the community (e.g. to community gardens), thus diverting waste from the landfill and giving it back to the community in the form of a valuable commodity. Generally, when we first pilot a composting program at a school we don't immediately start funneling them community waste, instead just having them start with their cafeteria waste. As of now, only our high school has implemented this second component, but we hope to extend it to other programs in 2023.

We strive to execute composting programs largely based in scientific principles. As mentioned above, in preparation for our pilot composting program during my sophomore year, we actually spent the entire summer researching, and compiled over 150+ pages of research to inform our composting practices, including things such as: specific material information, aeration practices, watering practices, location, foundation, size, activators, layering, the 'fast composting' method, temperature, finishing, and more. I also created a brute force algorithm and then optimized it to determine the ideal combination of brown (carbon-rich) materials to add to a compost at any time. The 150+ pages of research and research paper on the optimized algorithm can be found at https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1PAciXxoQonE-YznEiOQI1v9zx0xughfT?usp=sharing and the code accompanying the algorithm (which our programs use) can be found here: https://github.com/michaelchen78/composting

To give a brief overview of our activities in 2022: In January 2022, we received 501(c)3 status from the IRS. In the spring, we simultaneously ran two composting programs - one at an elementary school, and one at our high school. Over the summer, we maintained our high school's compost and finished the elementary school's. In the fall, we ran 3 programs simultaneously: 2 new programs, one at an elementary school and one at a high school, and continued the one at our high school. In all, we saved 500+ pounds of food, and received $2750 in grant money. You can find pictures/info at our website: compostut.org and Instagram account @compostutah

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I suppose that to communicate why I believe this work is meaningful, I can point to my motivations mentioned above: composting addresses food waste, which is a huge problem for sustainability in general but also for climate change (due to the greenhouse gas emissions); every piece of food that is composted is diverted from the landfill - where it would contribute to global warming - to a community garden where it can help grow sustainable local food.

Beyond the direct utilitarian benefits of our operations, I also believe such initiatives that are integrated within communities are uniquely valuable as they solve the so-called 'collective-action problem': making sustainability relevant to the public will (for example, impressing upon young students the importance of sustainability), which is important due to both the dependence of political will on public will and the necessary changes at the individual level. Since they directly engaging individuals' everyday lives, educating about sustainability and making it relevant to the individual, such community-level initiatives are uniquely valuable.

Furthermore, I discussed the appreciation I have of the natural beauty of my home; this and uniquely pressing concerns such as the Great Salt Lake drying up provide why I think our project being based in the Wasatch Front is particularly meaningful.

Ultimately, I believe this project has enriched my life by allowing me to consummate a deep exigence that I've had since I was kid. It has also taught me how to be a leader, and caused me to form many important relationships which I value very much. Looking ahead, I hope to continue working in and forming such community-level initiatives in college and throughout the rest of my life (I'm also excited to explore other avenues in the public and private sectors); I wish to use the experience I have gained on this project to make these initiatives even more effective, and really to try to help fulfill the ultimate dream of a sustainable planet.