Waste Innovation
12-Week Pilot Project Result: TWP captured 470 lbs of food scraps from 15 tenants at our low-income apartment to support compost production for locally grown produce with FoodShare Toronto.
Composting Pilot Project: After a 6 Month #Women4Climate Mentorship with the City of Toronto, Niki Cesta from TWP pitched the Project to a panel of judges and investors on June 11, 2023. TWP placed 2nd out of 11 Women and was granted $5000 to execute the project alongside co-founder Savannah Stephen this Fall 2023.
TWP Pilot Project
January - June 2023: Mentorship with the City of Toronto and building a partnership with FoodShare Toronto.
June 2023: TWP granted $5,000 grant from the City of Toronto execute a 12-week pilot project this Fall 2023. 3 weeks of prep and information sessions prior to 9 weeks of food scrap collection.
August 2023: TWP donated $500 to FoodShare Toronto for their execution and processing of our community Food Waste. TWP will host a tenant info session to onboard participants.
August 16th - November 1st 2023: TWP pilot project is being executed, measured and documented. Result: 470lbs of food scraps captured to support compost production whereby tenants received discounts on locally grown produce.
Strategy: TWP’s subscription-style composting pilot project aims to bridge the gap in under-resourced neighbourhoods who don't have access to green bins.
15 subscribed tenant units received a pre-assigned bin for their food scraps which was collected weekly by TWP.
The subscribers food bin was delivered to FoodShare Toronto, a registered charity, who used the compost to grow and sell their local produce.
Tenants in turn received a discount on FoodShare’s locally grown produce.
With Food costs and food waste rising, this is our solution to support our neighbourhood, soil and overflowing landfills.
Deliverable: This will divert food waste from landfill, support our under-resourced neighbourhood and contribute to the City of Toronto’s "Love Food Hate Waste" Campaign as a part of their Long Term Waste Management Strategy and Net-Zero by 2040 Strategy.
Our team at TWP is seeking grant funding opportunities to support long-term execution of this pilot project.
Read more about our Composting Pilot Project to support the City of Toronto’s ‘Net-Zero by 2040’ and ‘Long Term Waste Management Strategy’:
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Our Story: TWP moved into our low-income apartment/home-office in August 2020. Our excitement was quickly extinguished with disappointed when we discovered that there weren’t composting bins or a recycling service integrated into the property’s waste management system. For two+ years, we sorted our waste, and brought it to the nearest park bin by foot or by bike. We brainstormed how we could turn this challenge into an actionable solution - and that was when we applied to the #Women4Climate mentorship!
There has been incredible value in piloting this subscription style composting system at our low-income apartment. With this in place, TWP has been able to support the City of Toronto’s Net-Zero by 2040, and Long Term Waste Management Strategy to help build-up the less resourced communities to become more climate action driven, knowledgeable and resilient. This project can be replicated at our apartment and at numerous surrounding apartments through continued funding and access to composting, education and community outreach programs.
Research: Research shows that when food waste breaks down in landfills, it releases methane, a greenhouse gas that has a global warming potential 23 times greater than carbon dioxide. In contrast, composting organic waste creates nutrient-rich soil which becomes a carbon sink for harmful GHGs.
Composting organic waste also reduces the need for harmful pesticides/fertilizers and creates more soil security as modern-day agriculture contrarily destroys the natural structure of its vital fungi and bacteria. Projections show that composting organic waste instead of landfilling it can reduce more than 50% of carbon dioxide-equivalent emissions; this is an estimated total of 2.1 gigatons of emissions reduced between 2020 and 2050.
Read our our Pitch Presentation and Budget
In partnership with FoodShare Toronto who is supporting our pilot project efforts to bridge the gap in the Etobicoke/Mimico Area. TWP delivered food scraps, from 15 subscribed tenants in our low-income apartment building, to FoodShare for 9 weeks. Food waste was composted, educational workshops were offered, discounts on produce were honoured.
Savannah (TWP) donating $500 to Orlando and Fianna from FoodShare Toronto, August 2023.
In June 2023, TWP was granted $5,000.00 from the City of Toronto, C40 Cities.
DONATE TO SUPPORT THE GROWTH OF OUR COMPOSTING PROJECT!
January 2023
TWP was selected as one of eleven projects to be mentored by the City of Toronto’s ‘Women4Climate’ 6-month mentorship program. In June, the city will hold a pitch competition where one woman-led project will receive funding. With this potential support, TWP aims to implement the “Subscription-Style Composting Pilot Project for our Under-resourced Community”.
“Imagining environmental recovery possibilities is not the job of politicians, it is the job of scientists, artists and creators”
- BBC, Costing the Earth Podcast