Sophia Hosain: Composting for Community

The Bottom-Up Revolution

In today’s episode of The Bottom-Up Revolution podcast, we’re talking with Sophia Hosain, who’s helping to lead a community composting initiative headed up by the Institute for Local Self-Reliance, a long-time friend and partner of the Strong Towns movement.

Right about now, some of you are probably very excited to hear more, while others are thinking, “What the heck does compost have to do with building strong towns?” As Sophia explains in this conversation with Strong Towns Program Director Rachel Quednau, community composting programs do a lot to make our communities more economically resilient. First, they allow our neighborhoods and cities to be more self-reliant, taking the garbage we generate and—instead of pouring it into a landfill that occupies precious space and decreases the value and livability of everything around it, and costs money to maintain—we’re taking our food scraps and turning them into soil, which can then help us grow more food.

Almost every town in America is far from a goal of being able to sustain itself on locally grown food. A community composting network like the one Sophia leads in Baltimore helps neighborhoods to develop rich soil in which to grow healthy food. This process takes waste produced by the community and turns it into something productive that benefits the community. Everyone wins.

As Sophia will also share, the programs she’s worked with have helped generate job training, opportunities, and entrepreneurship, plus strengthen neighborly connections and a sense of ownership within neighborhoods.

Listen with an open mind to this conversation about community composting.

Additional Show Notes

• Institute for Local Self-Reliance (ILSR)

• ILSR’s Composting for Community program

• Community Composter Coalition, where you can find information about composting in your area

• Neighborhood Soil Rebuilders Composter Training Program

• Sign up for “Breaking Out of the Resource Trap: An Economic Plan for Resource-Based Communities” - June 8 webinar and ebook release

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