CState Environmental students will lead litter clean up in Walnut Hills on Apr. 7

Community, Students

Apr 1, 2022

Environmental Engineering Technology students in the Spring Semester class EVT 160 (Solid and Hazardous Waste Management) invite members of the College community to join them on Thursday, April 7, for the Cintrifuse Litter Hack-a-thon.

Starting at 1:30 p.m., students will be in Walnut Hills, on the E. McMillan St. block between Gilbert Ave. and Kemper Ln.

The Litter Hack-A-Thon is a volunteer-driven, three-day effort across Cincinnati’s metropolitan area to tackle the build-up of refuse throughout the city.

The CState students chose this location after a visit on Mar. 17 to the Walnut Hills Community Gardens (right) and LaSoupe (photo below).

As part of the Organics Diversion unit for the EVT 160 class, students and Professor Ann Fallon visited Walnut Hills Community Gardens and LaSoupe to learn more about diverting food waste from landfills through food recovery and composting.

Walnut Hills Community Gardens began as an asphalt lot and now offers garden boxes enriched with food waste compost to allow urban residents to grow their own food.
The site also provides for large scale food waste composting through an innovative container design.
The Community Gardens are located on a busy street corner between two schools, and serve as an important educational resource for many students.
In addition to providing food for community farmers, the Community Gardens are part of the volunteer network that donates produce to LaSoupe.
La Soupe rescues perishable produce from farms, grocers and wholesalers and then transforms this food that would have otherwise would have gone into a landfill into healthy meals that are distributed to roughly 100 partner organizations that provide meals for people with food insecurities.
In turn, LaSoupe sends food waste to the Community Gardens to compost and the cycle continues.

For more about the Litter Hack-a-thon download this flyer or contact Ann Fallon (ann.fallon@cincinnatistate.edu or 513-569-1750).

(Photos provided by Ann Fallon)