OCEAN CITY – Go Green OC’s founder said composting efforts will expand in 2024.
On Wednesday, Josh Chamberlain, founder of Go Green OC presented members of the Ocean City Coastal Resources Legislative Committee (Green Team) with a review of the nonprofit’s efforts in 2023. With its composting program now closed for the season, he said Go Green OC collected more than 353,000 pounds since April.
“That’s up from 230,000 pounds last year,” he said.
In recent years, Go Green OC and Ocean Compost LLC joined together to launch a composting program that invites local businesses to divert food waste from the town’s waste stream. Throughout each season, volunteers collect food waste from participating businesses and haul it to a farm in Worcester County, where the food is turned into compost.
Since its inception, the program has grown drastically. Since 2018, the amount of food waste converted to compost has increased from 2,000 pounds to 353,000 pounds. Chamberlain told committee members this week those efforts were made possible through volunteering.
“Volunteers volunteered over 1,600 hours this year,” he said. “We had over 24 volunteers at the farm, on a rotating basis.”
Chamberlain added that Oceans Calling Festival also contributed to composting efforts in 2023. He noted that the festival composted 5,300 pounds of food waste and donated $5,000 worth of trash cans, which Go Green OC was able to keep.
“So we won’t have to buy cans for probably the next two years,” he said. “And they want to do it again next year.”
Looking ahead to 2024, Chamberlain said Go Green OC will offer sponsorship opportunities.
“So we’re trying to get people to sponsor our compost piles, or the tractors, or the fuel,” he said. “They get a social media presence, they get a video, they get shoutouts.”
Chamberlain said the nonprofit will also undergo a slight expansion next year. He said Go Green OC is partnering with the Roland E. Powell Convention Center to move its events toward zero waste.
“We’re not going to expand dramatically,” he said. “We are in talks with the convention center. So every event at the convention center will now be composting, including the catering and things like that. Our focus will be on redefining and zero-wasting these events.”
