Composting effort by 30 restaurants helps green resort

Part of what we are trying to do here is to take food waste and yard waste and turn it into a valuable renewable resource that sequesters carbon and helps the waterways, Heiderman said.

“It’s hands on now because we don’t have money for heavy equipment, but we’ll get there.”

“Our approach is crawl, walk, run.”

The process is small scale at this point, even with a target of 300 tons of food waste. That is very small compared to industrial facilities that are composting tens or hundreds of thousands of tons.

“What we are trying to create is a pathway for recycling in Ocean City.”

“What we are doing is changing the thought process of people who are exposed to this and say this is the way things should be done.”

Heiderman emphasized the fact that this process is taking products that are considered waste, like food and wood chips, that would otherwise go into landfills and release methane and turning it into something good for the environment.

“The participating restaurants don’t save any money by composting, they simply do it because they believe in it,” he said.

“The composting agreement doesn’t cost the city any money. It simply redirects payment that would normally go to the incineration company to Ocean Compost for the weight they remove from the waste stream so it is a complete wash financially.”

“That’s how we [Ocean Compost] derive our revenue,” Heiderman said. The whole process would not work without the volunteers organized through Go Green OC.

Patrick Trate is on his second season with Go Green OC. Trate is an Ocean Pines resident and works Monday mornings throughout the season. He found out about the project through the local Sierra Club.

“We think this is fabulous and Sierra Club wants to support them any way we can.”

Sierra Club donated funding for trash cans this year.

Grey Lee of West Ocean City knows a couple of restaurants that participate in the program, but never knew there were volunteer opportunities. He found out through the Environmental Students Association at Salisbury University, where he is a sophomore.

“This is my first day volunteering. I am blown away,” said Lee.

“It’s not just that I want to come out and do some work. It’s the entire city doing meaningful work. It’s small right now, but I can just imagine in the future that this is really going to blow up.”

He planned to go back to the university and do some recruiting for the project.

Katie Riley lives in West OC and works at The Hobbit and Our Harvest.

“I tried to start my own composting and it did not work. So I was looking for a local effort where I could compost,” Riley said.

“I wanted to give back. It’s really exciting to see my personal household waste turn into compost.”

Riley has been volunteering for a month but has been composting since last summer.

Currently, the compost is given away for free because they don’t make enough to start selling it.

The project has a retired USDA agronomist running a full spectrum research study on the compost in a community garden in Bowie, Maryland.

They’ve gotten great feedback from everyone who has used it.

Right now Heiderman and Chamberlain are cherry picking businesses that will produce a product that will reflect what would be produced if all the restaurants in OC were participating. They expect to have a nutrient analysis at the end of the year.

For those interested in volunteering, donating or learning more about the composting effort in Ocean City, visit the Go Green OC website: https://www.gogreenwithoc.org/

Recognition

Sen. Mary Beth Carozza (R-District 38) presents William Kozma with a Governor’s Citation in recognition of his demonstration of high integrity and ability on becoming an Eagle Scout. William Kozma, a senior at Stephen Decatur High School, has also served in the General Assembly Page Program during the 2023 Legislative Session.

Anime Oc

The first-ever Anime Ocean City convention drew more than 4,500 participants from April 29-30. The convention featured dozens of vendors, guest speakers and celebrities such as Johnny Yong Bosh from the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers franchise. Showrunner Mike Federali said he hopes to be back next year.

New Members

Christina Dolomount-Brown, left, president of the Ocean City-Berlin Optimist Club, welcomes new members, from left, Carole Spurrier, Kathy Outten and Jim Driggers to the group at the April dinner meeting.

Writing Project

Liz Engh’s kindergarten class at Ocean City Elementary School has been working on persuasive writing. Their latest project was writing letters to others to try and change our world and make it an even better place.

Arbor Day

Ocean City Elementary held an Arbor Day event on April 28 in the school auditorium, where students performed poems, skits and songs celebrating trees. While they had planned on having students help Ocean City Mayor Rick Meehan plant a tree in front of the school building, it had to be canceled for rain. Pictured are Student’s trying to answer questions about Smokey the Bear.

Lesson

Students in Laura Black’s Kindergarten class at Ocean City Elementary School have been learning about forces and how to change the direction of a moving object. Pictured are River Kennedy and Morgan Connolly experimenting with push pin poles on a mountain to protect Tiny Town from falling boulders.

Collection

Ocean City Elementary School recently held its annual Worcester County Humane Society Care for Pets Drive. This year, the students, faculty and staff collected 627 cans of Friskies cat food, along with many treats, toys and supplies to help keep the Berlin no-kill shelter clean. They also raised $656 in monetary donations.

Honored

American Legion

Post 166 held its annual First Responders Award Program April 5, at which Worcester County Sheriff Deputy Mark Shayne was singled out for an award. He was unable to attend, so his award plaque presented by Legionnaire George “Bo” Spicer, was accepted on his behalf by Sheriff Matt Crisafulli.

Visits Farm

Members of the Worcester County Garden Club recently visited Cross Farms in Showell to learn about growing plants hydroponically. Owner Carol Cross described the benefits of hydroponics and demonstrated the ebb and flow system in use at the farm.

Pollinator Garden

Worcester Prep students, staff and volunteers braved wind and rain to build a new pollinator garden on April 1. Located by the school’s existing raised flower beds, the pollinator garden will offer five 8x4 garden beds, with each class in the first through fifth grade designing a 4x4 section. The garden is designed to attract and support Monarch butterflies, but also many of the species on the Maryland critical watch list.

Winners

The Ocean City-Berlin Optimist Club hosted the winners of its oratorical competition at the April 6 dinner meeting. Pictured, from left, are Dr. John McDonald, Head of School Worcester Preparatory School; Jude Damouni, first place, Worcester Preparatory School; Alexandro Pace, third place, Stephen Decatur Middle School; Lynn Barton, principal, Stephen Decatur Middle School; Avery Weber, second place, Stephen Decatur Middle School.

Guest Speaker