Green Mapping

Who we are and why we're reaching out to you...

We are the Mt. Airy Greening Network, on the net at Mt Airy Greening Network . We’re residents of Mt Airy, passionate about taking all that we've read about sustainability and actually living it! We therefore try, as individual households, to reduce the waste we send to the landfill. One of the ways we achieve this is by composting our kitchen and yard waste.

While we are adding to the compost pile, or turning it, we've wondered if we're the only ones struggling with issues of the pile being too hot, too cold or too buggy in our resolute intent of living lightly. We look around, and know that there are other families with a similar intent; some currently compost, some have tried and given up, some would like to compost but don't know where to begin.

What is our request and what results do we hope to obtain by your participation....

By showing, on a map of our neighborhood, where the active compost sites are, we hope to quantify the waste we, as a community, divert from the landfill. From personal experience, composting diverts about 45% of residential waste, a sixth of which becomes a wonderful additive to flower beds!

 There's also the warm fuzzy we'll all get from knowing there are others that care about returning our waste back to the earth.  Somehow, if we discover that there's someone composting every two blocks, it would make each of us feel less of a "freak", while we're privately dealing with worms and fruit flies! Seeing public role models could tip those that were thinking about composting, but haven't yet. When they see what a "hot" activity it is, and what it symbolizes, we expect there will be many more folks composting.

 Out of this exercise could grow a support system, maybe even a compost hotline as in Vancouver, out of our mix of local composting "experts" and "wannabes". We've noticed that some people own compost bins but have never used them, and some have started to use them and given up, alone in their effort. This mapping exercise could solve a local problem (making waste diversion “cool”) while building community.

 What specific information are we asking you to supply…

Specifically, we'd need a street location to get your compost pile on the map. If you're concerned about someone going on a walking tour of Mt Airy looking up compost piles, you can simply send us the nearest cross street! So, instead of '647 W Ellet', you could state 'Ellet & Sherman'.

Also, we'd like to know if you compost:

kitchen waste,
yard waste
both kitchen & yard waste
nothing, but would like to learn about it

And if you consider yourself:

an expert and could help others troubleshoot their bins
an expert, but wish to be left alone
a novice that could use help troubleshooting
or a composting wannabe

Finally, and this is optional.... how & if you wish to be contacted, either a phone number and or email address.

How this exercise is linked to a bigger vision we have for Mt. Airy and vicinity

There's talk of leading New Zealand  & Australia to zero-waste nations. Regions of Canada are bringing zero-waste discussions into the public forum. Members of MAGNET have pledged to work towards turning Mt Airy into a zero-waste community.  Philadelphia has a city-wide statistic of 6% recycling & 94% waste headed for a landfill. However, we've logged 84% diversion & 16% waste in one dedicated Mt Airy home, which includes reduced consumption, sending reusable items to thrift stores, recycling all that can be, and of course, composting.

You can check out our initial attempt at mapping local compost sites. If you want to develop this and other sustainable projects with us, please contact Meenal Raval (meenal@markis.com or 215-381-0399).