[O’CONNOR]
A local nonprofit is working to change the way Ocean City handles waste, one compost bin at a time. And after years of steady progress, a recent setback is testing just how resilient that mission really is. I’m Jenny O’Connor.
Go Green OC has an ambitious goal of turning Ocean City into the first zero-waste resort town in the country.
[CHAMBERLAIN]
I was really hoping this would happen over like two years… and we’re going on eight.
[O’CONNOR]
That is Go Green OC founder Josh Chamberlain.
[CHAMBERLAIN]
The process takes many, many years. It’s never been done before. Our whole goal is to create a behavioral shift. We want to be the best representative of what sustainability looks like.
[O’CONNOR]
That ripple effect is already showing up across Ocean City, from small restaurants to major events.
[CHAMBERLAIN]
Originally, we had one restaurant on board, and that was it. And we did it for two weeks, and we created a little bit of food waste, and we were like, okay, we can do this. And then we grew it to 20, and now we’re at 29. We have flower shops, juice bars, seafood restaurants—a plethora of businesses that participate with us. And all these businesses do it out of the goodwill of their heart.
[O’CONNOR]
Starting with a goal to tackle one of the busiest summer tourism destinations was a bold move. But Josh says his hometown was the perfect place to start.
[CHAMBERLAIN]
We have one of the most challenging circumstances in the country, but we find ways to do it. And the way I look at it is, if Ocean City, Maryland can do this, any city in the country can do this.
[O’CONNOR]
Even with those challenges, the impact has been significant.
[CHAMBERLAIN]
We started off with diverting 1,920 pounds of food waste… and we’re going to hit 1.6 million this year.
[O’CONNOR]
For Josh, those numbers matter—but it’s the shift in mindset that matters most.
[CHAMBERLAIN]
To implement composting and recycling so much that it shifts the expectations of everyone in Ocean City. If you come into someone’s house and you see them kick off their shoes and you see a nice, clean house, you’re probably going to treat that house the same way as a guest. And we want people to do that when they come to Ocean City. We want them to see the recycling and composting bins. We want them to know that we’re really serious about sustainability. And then maybe they go back to their hometowns and say, well, I just visited this city—they do all this great stuff, and I want to implement that in my city.
[O’CONNOR]
But just as that progress continues to build, a recent incident has created a new challenge.
Last week, a piece of equipment critical to their composting operation caught fire.
[CHAMBERLAIN]
The Bobcat is extremely old. It’s always breaking down—always something wrong with it. They heard like a click and a pop, and then it somehow ignited the gas, and it just exploded into flames.
[O’CONNOR]
No one was hurt, but the damage was significant.
[CHAMBERLAIN]
The Bobcat is a toasty marshmallow sitting on a lot somewhere, probably to be recycled for metal scraps.
[O’CONNOR]
The equipment was essential to moving tons of food waste across their composting site—something that now has to be done by hand or with borrowed machinery.
[CHAMBERLAIN]
Ironically enough, we borrowed a tractor from somebody else and it broke down as well. So I don’t know, maybe there’s a curse on the farm. Maybe the compost gods are like, stop what you’re doing.
[O’CONNOR]
Now the organization is working to replace the equipment while continuing its operations—and focusing on its larger mission.
[CHAMBERLAIN]
Money, of course, is a great thing, but being part of something is, I think, much more special.
[O’CONNOR]
Looking ahead, Go Green OC is also planning new ways to expand its reach, including a sustainability-focused event this fall.
[CHAMBERLAIN]
We’re co-hosting an event this September called Evolution Expo, and part of that event is bringing awareness to people who visit our town about what we’re doing. We’re going to have a compost tent set up and show people how we turn food waste from trash to treasure.
[O’CONNOR]
To learn more, visit gogreenwithoc.org.
I’m Jenny O’Connor for Delmarva Public Media.
