MCR Volunteers get crafty with their payback hours

It sure has been a wild ride for the MCR Class of 2020! It's hard to believe it's been about five months since we all last saw each other. Due to the pandemic, we had to cancel our last couple training classes. Luckily, we are all making the most out of this time and doing our best to stay connected. We have been hosting monthly meetings on Zoom, sharing fun and interesting posts on our Facebook group page, and putting in some hard work at our demo sites. (Of course, our work parties are limited to five folks, and everyone is wearing a mask and social distancing.) However, it's no secret it has been difficult. We so wish we could get together in person, but now more than ever, it is important to keep each other safe and healthy. The day we can all be together again will be such a wonderful day!

Each MCR volunteer must complete 30 hours of volunteering by the end of the year in order to become a certified Master Composter Recycler. Usually during this time, our volunteers would be doing outreach at various farmers markets, festivals, and other events to share their composting and recycling knowledge with the community. Since these events have been canceled or postponed, the volunteers had to get creative with how they will complete their hours. Here is what a few of our Class of 2020 volunteers have been up to.

Growing up, Carol and her family always made the most out of what they had. Her parents lived during the Great Depression and knew the value of saving and reusing as much as they could. Carol has been composting for 20 years and vermicomposting for 10 years. She joined the program to help more and learn more. After taking the MCR course, she realized that she didn't know as much as she thought and found herself learning something new each week. Because she wasn't producing enough food waste to feed both her compost and worm bin, Carol sent out a letter to nine of her neighbors asking for theirs. The neighbors agreed and ever since, they have been dropping off their kitchen scraps and coffee grounds in a bucket in front of her house. "I love turning kitchen waste into soil. It's a perfect trash to treasure project," she said. In addition to her community composting project, Carol helps to spread the word about composting and recycling and feels more confident doing so. She truly feels that she is making a difference for Mother Nature, and we are grateful to have her part of the team!

Meg Johnson learned about the MCR program many years ago but couldn't quite find the time to take the course until she became an Educator and Recycling Events Coordinators with Waste Connections. She has always been passionate about recycling and sustainable gardening, so it was a perfect opportunity to add to both her professional and personal resume. Over the last seven months, Meg's property has become a compost hub for the ShareWaste program. Currently, she is collecting food scraps from six other households and turning them into compost. This has greatly improved her compost quality and she is able to share it with others in her community. Aside from her composting work, Meg is also looking forward to putting in some hard work at the Heritage Farm demo site and contributing to some videos for the MCR Facebook page. "I'm all in for breaking a sweat in the name of good food and good soil," she said. Overall, Meg has really enjoyed her time in the MCR program and is looking forward to working with all the amazing people she's met along the way.