Last year, St. Columba Episcopal Camp and Retreat Center earned certification with Project Green Fork (PGF). The designation means they champion sustainability in all processes of service. From recycling and composting to conserving energy when buildings aren’t in use, all efforts are dedicated to being good stewards of God’s creation.
Chef Ashli King was instrumental in getting PGF certified. She met with members of Clean Memphis and Project Green Fork to review sustainability practices and set up a food rescue program. This partnership turns surplus into support by establishing an easy donation process for any excess food to be diverted to local charities. If a group does not have as many guests as originally intended, the extra meals are picked up and delivered to those in need.
St. Columba has recycling collection bins in every lodge for aluminum, paper and glass. Real dishes are washed and reused in the dining hall. If disposables are needed, there is no styrofoam in any food service on campus, because it never decomposes. Other points of sustainability include motion lights in restrooms and programmable thermostats to save energy when facilities aren’t in use.
Anyone who has visited Scheibler Lodge in the past year has seen the little green bin next to the coffee pot, labeled for spent coffee grounds and filters. Instead of being wasted, these are used in the garden and flower beds to add nitrogen and attract worms to aerate the soil. When the vegetable harvest comes, the kitchen will save unused vegetable scraps like carrot tops and squash stems for compost. When mixed with dry leaves and shredded office paper, over time what was bound for the landfill will break down to become nutrient rich soil.
And the cycle will begin again.
Candice Baxter
Candice Baxter is the Associate Director of Operations, Food Service at St. Columba Episcopal Camp and Retreat Center. She holds a BS in Science and an MFA in Creative Nonfiction from the University of Memphis, and she has published more than 50 cover features in various Memphis-area publications, as well as author interviews in nationally distributed literary journals.
