The wisdom of the rainforest in Northridge

This is part of an ongoing series of blog posts following up on some of the real-world, community-based work initiated through Pando Days that’s continuing in development. We talked with Carlos Marin, a team lead from Cal State University, Northridge and current project lead of an innovative composting program first developed as part of Pando Days ‘23. Currently, they are processing approximately 400-500 pounds of organic waste per month, which means a reduction of over one metric ton of CO2 emissions over one school year  We discussed the project’s impact for the participating middle school where it was first developed and how the project could scale to benefit more parts of the Los Angeles Unified District.

Pando: Hello Carlos. So, how has it been going?

Carlos Marin: Well, it’s been great. Much better than I expected to be honest. Actually, I was in the rainforest in Brazil a couple of weeks ago. And it impacted me a lot. 

It reconnected me with my commitment to this project because even though many people see the project as just a small, composting waste management project, there is much, much more to it. 

OK – you have me curious now. What does a composting program in LA County focused on a middle school cafeteria have to do with the Brazilian rainforest? 

Well, I see it as a soil regeneration project where we are utilizing organic waste with the combination of microbiology to increase nutrients, water infiltration, and transform it into healthy soil. If we can do this in 90 square feet, we can do it in one hectare. And if we could do it in 100 hectares, we could scale this up as big as we want. This is just the pilot project. 

For instance, in just the little area we have set up at the school, we process over 100 pounds of food waste per week with no issues concerning animals or smell. 

Can you imagine the implications of this if we increased scale? Imagine if we could scale up, utilizing city waste to regenerate damaged areas. We could simultaneously eliminate greenhouse gas emissions and improve soil quality.

That is pretty amazing. How have your partners been reacting?

Well, I just met with the principal of the school two weeks ago. He told me that LAUSD loved our project. He even said that the school just received part of a multi-million dollar grant to help develop and expand sustainability on campus and that our project was a significant contributing factor to getting those funds. 

It is incredibly exciting to hear. They want to continue the composting and also do some water remodeling to create more green areas.

Are you still working with your partner school?

Yes, I go there regularly to check on the compost. At this point, many of the staff have been trained as well so I am coming less frequently than before. Sometimes, I do minor modifications to ensure that there are no issues with smell or animals. And, I am in discussions with the principal to see if we can have a bit more money to continue working and, perhaps, expanding. 

I mean, the feedback has just been great. And, you know, it’s important because I do not think a lot of people are doing the process of mixing the biology into composting. It is fairly innovative. 

Forgive my ignorance, but I would think that composting is composting – as it’s been done for thousands of years. So talk a bit about just what makes your composting process unique?

The conventional way of composting, particularly commercial composting, is to gather organic waste and artificially heat it up and aerate it. It uses a good amount of electricity in order to speed up the process of decomposition. However, it also kills all the microbiology and sterilizes the soil. 

What we do is allow for the natural process to occur and develop, not kill, all that richness in the compost. And, the result is an incredibly nutrient rich soil.  

Let me give you an example. About six months ago, the principal at the school we work at told me that he started noticing a lot of birds on their grounds. He said, before, they never had any. I told him that, yes, this is normal and expected. 

With the composting, we develop the soil ecosystem which invites insects, And, with insects come birds. All these creatures live, eat, and, yes, poop, and all of this activity feeds back into the soil, creating a healthy ecosystem. 

For me, the most amazing thing is that we are adding over a hundred pounds of organic waste a week but we still never run out of space. It feels like magic at times. 

We could easily process almost 100% of the school’s food waste. Do you understand what that means? 

Imagine all the waste that comes from hauling waste hundreds of miles. I wouldn’t have said this six months ago but, after seeing the test results and process, I truly believe this type of composting could replace a lot of traditional waste management systems.

Wow. That warrants a blog post in and of itself. But before we end, I need to ask, how are the students reacting to all this work?

Well, for me, this is the other most exciting part of the project. 

Part of the process involved teaching children how to separate foods, the purpose of separating plastic out from organic material, and how all of this ends up feeding and bringing in more worms. And so many of the kids volunteer to get involved. 

Whenever I go to school I hear, “Can I help you today? Can I come, too, to help?” 

Funnily enough, the kids also love the worms. They get so excited to see how their food waste is feeding the worms. 

Through all of this, I find myself having many serious talks with these students about science too. Which, especially when working with low-income students, is always very important. It all just makes me very happy.

OK, final question to end on. What are some next steps going forward we can all be expecting?

Well, for me personally, I am hoping to expand. I have had a couple conversations with LAUSD and with their new Chief Sustainability Officer. We are currently talking about ways to move things forward. 

Also, I have been implementing a similar composting system at a local, nonprofit food pantry. The pantry is processing even more waste than the school. 

Lastly, there is a third organization which provided some funds to continue testing. But, the next step is, in coordination with this organization, to get an acre of degraded land, and expand the process to use the organic waste from businesses in the area to regenerate the damaged soil. 

If we do that, imagine the impact. If we can do it in one acre, we could do it in a hundred acres. In general, now it’s time to scale up. Because I truly believe that this could have significant ramifications for the betterment of the environment.

That is all really exciting Carlos. And, I hope that we can help – help you move into exactly the future you imagine.

Thanks for the time.