Georgia’s Aisi College recently started a composting and recycling program with assistance from USAID’s Waste Management Technologies in Regions (WMTR) program. When the college’s 800+ students from across Georgia tell their families and friends about their experiences, they will help raise awareness about environmental protection throughout the country.

Because the majority of Aisi students live on campus, the college accumulates plenty of organic waste, which was previously dumped in a landfill: 500kg in kitchen waste and 100kg waste from their fields each season.

This program not only protects the environment, but it also enriches student learning by integrating composting into its curriculum in such fields as veterinary science, culinary arts, carpentry, electrical engineering, tourism, plastering, and beekeeping. Agriculture students, for example, are using the compost as a cost-saving, chemical-free fertilizer. And even carpentry students have gotten involved by constructing a large, three compartment composting bin from repurposed wood.

WMTR educates the public by focusing on young people who tend to be more receptive to changing their behavior. Through programs like this one, young people are gaining a hands-on understanding of the whys and hows of environmental protection.

Funded by USAID and implemented by the International City/County Management Association (ICMA), together with CENN, WMTR assists the Government of Georgia in designing an adequate waste management system in the regions of Adjara and Kakheti.