About me
Cormac Quinn - owner/operator
I am a certified Master Composter with previous experience in waste management at Lamoille Regional Solid Waste Management District as part of my AmeriCorps service. Before that, I created a compost system on my university's campus that serviced over 200 students and three food and beverage outlets. I'm glad to help a friend with their backyard compost pile, but I understand that real change for Anchorage requires a dedicated compost processing facility.
I'm fascinated by the fact a simple, natural process can create such a complex, beneficial soil amendment. I hopes that the simple act of starting this business and servicing your neighborhoods will create a complex web of community engagement and support to aid Alaska's soils.
Compost experience
Master Composter
University of Vermont Extension Program
October 2019
The course involves class sessions covering the science and mechanics of composting systems, and a volunteer component assisting local Master Composter projects. The class portions covered the science of composting, the ecology of microbial decomposition, and the human factors in creating compost services. The volunteer portion provides hands-on experience with community composting and educating the public about the process.
September 2019
Compost Operator certification
Vermont Agency of Natural Resources
The course met the requirements for the VT Agency of Natural Resources small, medium, and large compost facility site operators. It focused competency in site management and regulator compliance. Topics covered included: compost recipe development, windrow construction and aeration, stormwater and leachate management, and neighbor relations.
January 2019
Undergraduate thesis: "Why aren't they composting?"
St. John's University, Collegeville, MN
The thesis focused on barriers to the student body engaging with a compost service. First, a compost service was created and supplied to 55 residences for over 250 students in apartment housing. Study found that most participated with the program, identifying a lack of opportunity for why they've never used, or thought of, composting food waste.
Article from St. John University's campus newspaper, The Record, May 5, 2019, about my compost system implemented on campus as part of my undergraduate thesis research.
I constructed a two-bin system for Middletown, Connecticut's compost demonstration garden as part of a Master Composter volunteer project.
I assisted with an elementary school lunch's waste sorting ahead of Vermont's Act 148 Food Scrap Ban.
Want to help?
If you know of people interested in diverting their food waste, send them here so they can learn more about Chugach Compost! Is there an event or group in town that is all about composting and I should meet them? Give me their details and I'll reach out! Important work like this won't be accomplished alone. I want to engage with all stakeholders and provide the community a service based out of needs and desires.