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
