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18 CONNECTICUT GREEN GUIDE • FALL 2016 www.CTGreenGuide.com Medina is New Haven's composter in chief I n 2014, Domingo Medina started a compost ex- periment that's had a positive impact both on the environment and the New Haven urban-farming nonprofit where he works. The kicker? Medina operates solely by bicycle — collecting compost bins from fee-paying area resi- dents. Medina dumps the contents of the buckets into larger bins on a trailer he pulls by bike. Medina, compost director for New Haven Farms and its Peels & Wheels program, even built a solar-powered blower to aerate the compost. He recruited city government to donate wood chips that are used in the composting process, while Yale and landscapers have donated leaves. By the end of last year, Peels & Wheels had convert- ed 13 tons of food scraps and other usable waste into nutrient-rich compost. That compost went to Phoenix Press Farm, which is one of nine plots New Haven Farms operates in partner- ship with various community partners, such as commer- cial printer Phoenix Press — the site of Connecticut's first major wind turbine in 2010. The 100-kilowatt turbine towers over the vegetable plot below. Without Medina's efforts, New Haven Farms would have to produce its own compost or purchase it. Com- post can cost $20 or $30 per cubic yard, or even more, depending on quality, amount and other factors. Besides benefitting a local nonprofit that promotes healthier living for urban residents, Medina's com- posting operation also helps the environment. When landfilled, food waste is a major source of the potent greenhouse gas methane. It also produces greenhouse gases when incinerated (which costs money). Medina, who has spoken at area schools and other events about composting, hopes to scale up the com- posting operation. Domingo Medina PROJECT ELEMENTS: Energy & climate change; material management; civic improvements; innovation START DATE: Jan. 2015 COMPLETION DATE: Dec. 2015 Medina and his pedal-powered composting rig. PHOTO | LYNNE BONNETT CATEGORY: Individuals/Group GreenCircle Sustainability Awards 2016