Para esta información y solicitud en español, haga clic aquí.
Find the press release Aquí.
Deadline extended: Applications now close April 7, 2024
El Instituto para la Autosuficiencia Local (ILSR) is launching a BIPOC Community Composter Mini-Grant Program to support new or existing local community composters in coastal states in New England. Programs seeking funding must be BIPOC-led or BIPOC-serving, in a Native Nation, or working in a historically excluded neighborhood. We will provide $100,000 in sub-grants to selected projects, awarding up to 10 grants with a minimum grant of $5,000 and a maximum of $20,000. This new opportunity is made possible by Carrera de última hora’s grant program, funded by The Schmidt Family Foundation.
Además de la financiación, los adjudicatarios recibirán virtual capacitación en compostaje caliente, a travel stipend to attend the 8th National Cultivating Community Composter Forum in Cleveland, Ohio, in October 2024, and access to ILSR’s Coalición de compostadores comunitarios, una red de compostadores comunitarios que crea conexiones, difunde lecciones aprendidas e inspira nuevas operaciones.
Varios estados de Nueva Inglaterra have enacted legislation to divert food waste from disposal, mainly targeting large food waste generators. While abundant resources are available to assist supermarkets and other food waste generators in meeting these regulations, there is a notable lack of support for schools, community gardens, and urban farms in historically excluded neighborhoods to establish a local circular economy. This program addresses this disparity by providing limited resources and guidance to fill this gap.
Cumpliremos con nuestro Principios rectores de equidad guiar nuestra toma de decisiones y ayudar a garantizar la equidad, la justicia y la inclusión apoyen nuestras decisiones de financiamiento de minigrandes.
How to Apply:
BIPOC-led or BIPOC-serving programs, Native Nations, or those working in historically excluded neighborhoods.
Los proyectos deben financiar iniciativas de compostaje comunitarias locales nuevas o existentes.
Applicants must reside within a New England coastal state. These are:
- Connecticut
- Maine
- Massachusetts
- Nuevo Hampshire
- Rhode Island
Los grupos de ejemplo incluyen huertos comunitarios, congregaciones, instituciones educativas (por ejemplo, escuelas), granjas, cooperativas de alimentos, proveedores de servicios de recolección de desechos de alimentos, empresas con fines de lucro, instituciones gubernamentales, Naciones Nativas, organizaciones sin fines de lucro, cooperativas de trabajadores y más.
The application will open on March 4th, 2024, and close on April 7th, 2024.
APPLY HERE to submit an application via Google Forms or submit a video.
Los candidatos deberían dedicar entre 20 y 30 minutos al postularse. La aplicación de Google Forms guardará automáticamente tus respuestas. Sin embargo, debes iniciar sesión para comenzar y regresar a la postulación.
Para dificultades técnicas o preguntas sobre el programa de minisubvenciones o la solicitud, por favor envíe un correo electrónico a [email protected].
Frequently Asked Questions:
- Composting is the controlled aerobic decomposition of raw organic materials (such as food scraps and dry leaves) via fungi, bacteria, and other microbes in order to create compost, a dark, crumbly, earthy smelling soil amendment. Community composting is a model of composting that sources organic materials locally, engages the community in the composting process, and uses the compost produced in local soils. To learn more about community composting, download our Guía básica sobre el compostaje and check out our videos for EPA highlighting the benefits.
- Community composters make and use compost within the same community where wasted food and other organic materials are generated. Their distinguishing feature is keeping the process and product as local as possible while engaging the community through participation and education. Local composting circulates dollars in the community, promotes social inclusion and empowerment, greens neighborhoods, builds healthy soils, supports local food production and food security, sustains local jobs, and strengthens the local workforce’s skills. Community-scale composting plays a crucial role in addressing environmental justice concerns. It offers an alternative to landfills and incinerators that have disparate impacts on BIPOC and low-income individuals. Additionally, community composting can strengthen capacity in historically excluded neighborhoods while promoting social engagement and connectivity.
- ILSR’s 2014 report, “Growing Local Fertility: Guide to Community Composting,” was the first to demonstrate the viability of community composting. It described successful initiatives, tips for replication, start-up steps, and the need for private, public, and non-profit sector support. Since the report’s release, interest and growth in community composting have skyrocketed. ILSR has sponsored seven Foros Nacionales de Cultivo Comunitario de Compostaje, convened a national Community Composter Coalition and community composter listserv, hosted numerous networking events, launched a webinar series focused on how el gobierno local puede apoyar el compostaje comunitario, creado un Compostaje para la Comunidad podcast (que amplifica voces y programas en comunidades desfavorecidas), lanzó guías sobre las mejores prácticas de manejo y cómo evitar problemas de roedores en sitios de compostaje comunitarios, se llevó a cabo una Censo de Compostadores Comunitarios, y más.
- Nuestro Principios rectores de equidad fue informado por Soul Fire Farm Pautas de Equidad para Donantes y Fundaciones y la Community Wealth Partners Fomentar la creación de capacidades de manera más equitativa guide. We wrote this document to guide our decision-making and help ensure equity, justice, and inclusion support our mini-grant funding decisions.
- We commit to undergoing a fair and impartial process. We aim to genuinely support historically excluded communities. We will achieve this by adopting a creación de capacidades approach in our collaboration with grantees. This step involves cultivating community scale and on-farm composters who engage residents, promote social inclusion and empowerment, build healthy soils, improve local food production and food security, sustain local jobs, and strengthen the local workforce’s skills. We aim to minimize bias, reduce disparities, and be inclusive. Organizaciones de primera línea servir a las comunidades que experimentan racismo ambiental, which includes BIPOC and low-income individuals. We want to help these organizations without assuming we know what is best for their communities.
- Additionally, BIPOC advisors outside the organization will decide on the awardees.
- We anticipate notifying awardees around the end of April to the first week of May.
- The awards are expected to be announced during International Compost Awareness Week, from May 5 to May 11.
- The contracts are slated to be signed and payments made by the end of May.
- We plan to evaluate the program’s success on how the funding beneficially impacts the operation and growth of BIPOC-led and BIPOC-serving community composters. We will help these groups by funding their Core Mission Support. At the same time, we trust that frontline organizations know what is best, and we will support them in deciding how the funds should be allocated.
- Great news! You can apply for a grant and be a part of other organizations’ applications. Community composting projects are an excellent way for organizations to unite and positively impact BIPOC communities. By working together, we can create more opportunities for collaboration and help promote a healthier, more sustainable environment for everyone.
Acerca del ILSR
Fundado en 1974, el Instituto para la Autosuficiencia Local es una organización nacional de investigación y asistencia técnica que construye los cimientos y el marco para que las comunidades se hagan cargo de sus recursos locales, sus economías y su futuro ambiental. Nos enfocamos en mantener el poder económico y político lo más cerca posible de la gente, donde tienen la responsabilidad y la autoridad para tomar las decisiones que impactan sus vidas.
ILSR Iniciativa comunitaria de compostaje cataliza el compostaje local, distribuido y diverso en todo el país para reducir el desperdicio de alimentos, mejorar suelos y cuencas hidrográficas, apoyar la producción local de alimentos y proteger el clima, al tiempo que se aborda la prosperidad y la equidad de la comunidad. Estamos amplificando soluciones distribuidas que abarcan el compostaje en el hogar, huertos comunitarios, granjas urbanas y rurales, escuelas y microinstalaciones operadas por organizaciones sin fines de lucro, cooperativas y empresas sociales. Con demasiada frecuencia, las ciudades y los estados favorecen la producción de compost industrial a gran escala y dejan de lado la rica variedad de opciones basadas en la comunidad.
El plan de trabajo actual de ILSR para nuestro Iniciativa comunitaria de compostaje está diseñado para apoyar y hacer crecer un sector de compostaje diversificado y descentralizado que responda a la apremiante necesidad de reciclar alimentos desperdiciados, al tiempo que crea tierra fértil para huertos y granjas locales, mejora la capacidad del suelo para actuar como sumidero de carbono, brinda oportunidades educativas y mantiene empleos de calidad. Nuestra iniciativa más amplia tiene tres objetivos clave:
- Facilitar la replicación y crear conciencia sobre los beneficios del compostaje.
- Cultivar compostaje a escala comunitaria y en la granja.
- Cambiar las reglas para promover el compostaje sobre el vertido y la quema, y promover el compostaje como una práctica de conservación del suelo.
