On Wednesday, November 6,  Clark Composts! received  ‘Best Student Effort’ in MassRecycle’s 18th annual state-wide competition! The Awards Ceremony took place at Worcester’s beautiful Hanover Theatre. The event was exciting and the crowd gave several rounds of applause as our Clarkies took the stage! Clark could not place in the ‘University’ category this year since we used that category in 2012. In true Clark fashion, the organization’s awards committee recognized that they had to actually create a new awards category to give Clark the recognition this innovative waste-diversion program deserves.

From its beginning as a student-designed pilot in 2011, Clark Composts! has evolved into an institutionally-supported practice with collaboration from RLH, Physical Plant, Recycling Crew, Clark Sustainability Collaborative, Student Sustainability Fund, Clark Eco Reps and Sustainable Clark.  Clark Composts! is now collecting compostable materials in 3 residential halls (Johnson-Sanford, Wright & Dodd), and hopes to expand strategically as it continues to reduce Clark’s environmental impact and reduces costs. Kerry Burke ’15 acknowledged all the Clark Composts! collaborative partners when she accepted the Award on stage. Clark Composts! was nominated for the award by Recycling Captain Allen Roth and Sustainable Clark’s Rachel Sorenson.

Check out a video and a photo of the Clarkies receiving their award that Kevin Forti shared of the Award Ceremony & Clark Compost’s! win: https://www.facebook.com/ClarkRLH/

Congratulations Clark! For more information on composting or sustainability please visit Sustainable Clark’s website: http://www.clarku.edu/offices/campussustainability/