WasteNaut Consulting

We had so much fun at the RI Compost Conference & Tradeshow, thank you to Rhode Island Food Policy Council?&?Rhode Island College?for hosting! Awesome job?Iris-Bella Quiroa on your empowering presentation about the importance of youth voices and leadership when defining school programs, and your and Emma Pautz's journey on working with RI legislators to amend the statewide school composting bill to better represent the needs of schools! We also loved hearing from?Eva Touhey?about her role as the Sustainability Specialist for North Kingstown School District and how she is working with?Patricia Cawley, North Kingstown Schools Child Nutrition Services,?to implement a lunchroom composting program across eight of their schools! ?? Team WasteNaut (Mathilde Wadson, Eva and Bella) and Jayne from Earth Care Farm! #compost #conference #rhodeisland #sustainability #climatechange

?? Are you interested in learning more about what we're up to in the community? ?? Sign up for our newsletter on our website: https://wastenautri.com/ to receive the latest updates! ?? Be on the lookout for our first newsletter coming out in a few weeks celebrating our one-year anniversary as a business ?? #composting #communications #newsletter #sustainableliving #zerowaste #greenbusiness

Mark your calendars – tickets for the 2025 RI Compost Conference and Tradeshow are now on sale! ?? We are very much looking forward to March 11th, as both Eva Touhey and Iris-Bella Quiroa, will be participating on two separate panel discussions about school composting initiatives and zero waste events! To learn more about all the speakers and register for the event, visit https://lnkd.in/eCxCScDp! We look forward to seeing you there! ?? #compost #conference #wastefoodsolutions #zerowaste #rhodeisland

We're starting off the New Year bright?? Have you ever thought about what would happen if composting didn't exist? What would this mean for our world, and what would come of it? ?? This is a day in the life of me, Iris-Bella Quiroa, living in the year 2070. I live in an urban area, not too far from an incineration plant. Going outside is a bit of a challenge, because the air is not entirely safe for us to breathe, so we have to wear special masks. Even with the masks, I always have my inhaler with me due to severe asthma. Today I have to go out to get more filtered water for my family, because the water from our sinks isn't safe to drink. On my way to get more water, I get an alert for a severe hurricane coming through. This isn't out of the ordinary though. We get several severe weather occurrences a few times a month. I finally make it to the store, and figure while I'm here I should get food as well, but, food isn't what it used to be. Our soils have become so devoid of nutrients, we need chemical fertilizers for their growth. Due to this, our foods aren't as fulfilling to our needs, and we have to take several daily supplements. I grab what I need, and head back home, thinking about how life could've been different. Though my life is far removed from your reality, it's important you all take advantage of the solutions the Earth provides. Composting should be in more than just your future, it should be in your present as well. ?? ?? ?? #composting #climatechange #foodwaste #oceanhealth #storms

Teamwork makes the dream work – that’s our motto here at WasteNaut Consulting. We are *very* excited to introduce our interns who are helping to get this small business off the ground. ?? Say hello to Mathilde Wadson and Iris-Bella Quiroa! Mattie is a communications major at Salve Regina University with two years of experience in sustainable agriculture at the University of Rhode Island. Her interest in sustainability stems from growing up on Aquidneck Island, working the Seafood and Oyster Festivals at Bowen's Wharf, where she became familiar with different waste streams. Through various volunteer opportunities at large-scale events such as the Newport Stopover of the 2015 Volvo Ocean Race and the 2022 Newport Bermuda Race, she experienced the challenges of sustainability facing both event producers and attendees. At Wastenaut she will use her background in sustainability, photography and graphic design to enhance our social media presence and engage our community in sustainability efforts! Bella is a senior at the East Bay MET School, where she worked with Eva previously at Clean Ocean Access. She enjoys supporting students around the state with lunchroom composting because she gets to interact and be in community with others, while seeing the impact of food diversion first hand. These experiences have developed Bella's passion for the environment, allowing her to expand this work into a Youth Compositng Campaign Initiative (YCCI) to get composting into more schools, integrate the same initiatives at the MET School, and pursue environmental work in college. At Wastenaut she will support all lunchroom composting efforts and assist with content creation for social media! #composting #internships #sustainability #zerowaste #community

In August we worked with?CAMP SUREFIRE FOUNDATION, Rhode Island’s only camp for children with type I diabetes, to create and implement a sustainability program! In just ONE week, Camp Surefire diverted 83% of their waste from going into the landfill. Some of the program sustainability highlights included: ?? Implementing food scrap separation in the prep kitchen and during meal times ?? Securing a mixed-recycling dumpster to recycle plastic, glass and aluminum containers ?? Facilitating a counselor training on the new compost and recycling program ?? Providing signage to help campers and staff sort their waste during meal times ?? Assigning waste sorting roles & responsibilities to Leaders In-Training and Junior Counselors to ensure program accountability ?? Meal planning to minimize food waste from the start ?? Purchasing leftover food from a previous camp to reduce food waste ?? Using reusable service ware and certified compostable plates and bowls when needed #composting?#zerowaste?#recycling?#greenevents??#summercamp?

We had so much fun this past weekend working the Newport International Boat Show and supporting their sustainability efforts across the show! ?? We informed patrons on how to sort their waste into recycling and landfill waste bins through signage posted at 25 waste receptacles across the venue! ?? Shoutout to?ALLINI WATER FILTERS OF FLORIDA, INC.?for providing water refill stations across the venue, allowing patrons to refill their water bottles and stay hydrated. Thank you to the Newport International Boat Show team, you are rockstars, and we look forward to continue working with you to grow the show's green event initiatives! #greenevents #eventsustainability #recycling #composting

We are very excited to be working with the Portsmouth School District to implement a uniform K-12 lunchroom composting and recycling program! Check it out here: https://lnkd.in/edfFf38x?

Did you know that newportFILM Outdoors has been certified as a Green Event by the Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management RIDEM? We are honored to be a regional leader in sustainable event practices and look forward to deepening our impact through ongoing collaboration and strong partnerships! Thank you to our supporters and partners 11th Hour Racing, Black Earth Compost, WasteNaut Consulting, LLC and Bike Newport RI for saying 'yes' and taking this journey with us! And thank you to the Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management RIDEM for recognizing this important work!

Helping the environment is a team effort — let’s work together to achieve your sustainability goals! ???? Here at WasteNaut Consulting, we want to empower communities to make decisions that directly have a positive impact on local environments. ?? Our approaches are rooted in systems-thinking, advocacy and environmental behavior change techniques. ?? We create individualized sustainability plans for our clients, aligning environmental goals with your organizational mission and values. Check out our new website: wastenautri.com! ? Stay tuned for more updates very soon ?