Corrections_Today_May_June_2020_Vol.82_No.3

n Green Prisons

Photo courtesy Lois Fegan

Greensville Correctional Center, Jarratt, VA.

Training and sustainability The grant required that the project have an element of sustainability, meaning the ability to continue as part of daily operations beyond the grant period. To this end, funds were set aside to provide training for 30 staff mem- bers. VADOC utilized a training curriculum developed by the U.S. Composting Council (USCC), which covers the core competencies that make up the tests required to become USCC certified. To facilitate the training, the project team took advan- tage of free training space at the VADOC Academy for Staff Development and hosted local USCC instructors for the weeklong training. VADOC offered this course to staff members at the end of July 2019, in conjunction with Virginia Tech, University of Maryland and Craig Coker from Coker Composting & Consulting. With the savings realized from the training program, the project team determined there was room in the budget to hire a summer intern to assist with fieldwork and soil testing. The team hired a Virginia Tech student majoring in crop and soil science. The student developed a soil-testing program to evaluate hydrological proper- ties, pH and qualitative soil improvement metrics for amended soils.

greener by diverting food-waste from the landfill,” said Brandon Rawlings, the safety manager for Greensville Correctional Center. “Our composting program will be used as topsoil, planting for flowerbeds, in greenhouses, and many other agribusiness operations.” The decision-making process is critical when plan- ning for a large-scale waste management program such as composting. Facilities must review their unique opera- tions and determine what staff and resources are essential to make the program work. Having a champion for the program is always important. Program staff should have an honest dialogue about their goals, needs, and obstacles for success. Planning for large-scale waste management is essential to achieving program goals. For one of the larger locations, the size and scope of the project was too difficult to manage once they consid- ered the amount of land, carbon materials, and offender workers required. The facility decided to incorporate a much smaller composting effort as a component of its horticulture program. The facility will divert a manage- able amount of food waste to the program’s garden and greenhouses. The bulk of the waste will be hauled to a nearby prison and incorporated into its larger, more estab- lished compost program.

42 — May/June 2020 Corrections Today