Schandra Madha: From Compost to Community in Connecticut

Schandra Madha is transforming refuse into a resource at the New Haven Ecology Project and Common Ground Urban Farm located in New Haven, Connecticut. The organization Schandra works with is a working model of holistic learning and leadership development for students and community members in environmental and social justice. Common Ground Urban Farm and High School provides many opportunities for students to grow their leadership skills, feelings of empowerment, and agency to create positive change, teachings which have the potential to create ripples well beyond New Haven. Schandra sees youth themselves as a resource, and knows that adults can play an important role in young people’s lives to illuminate opportunities along their path.

One of the most important things you can do regarding climate change is talk about it.

• Schandra identifies as having an intersectional identity, being biracial, bicultural, bisexual, and bi-faith. "What I love about being queer is that it's creative; it's always a creative process of questioning and identifying yourself and being like, ‘This is who I am today; maybe I'll be different tomorrow’. It is an act of creation all the time," Schandra says. How can you be in charge of creating your present and future? What are three identifiers – values, skills, or descriptors –  that describe your identity and who you are today?
• At Common Ground, Schandra manages the only community-scale composting system in New Haven. It collects approximately 1,300 pounds of food waste per week from surrounding areas and processes it into compost for growing food. Without the option of composting, the city of New Haven, which has no landfill, transports waste to incinerators where it is burned and releases fumes that negatively impacts community health and the atmosphere. Incinerators located in the nearby communities of Hartford and Bellevue, which are predominantly Black and Brown and experience the highest rates of asthma in the state, make the composting system Schandra manages an essential solution for climate justice. Have you experienced a time when a lack of resources or options made you think about creative solutions?
• Schandra makes space for rest in their life, and will sometimes have a “no bones day”, where they will “literally just be on [their] couch, watching TV” with their dog. Schandra also describes their work on the farm as a form of restoration and a way to alleviate depression in their life by engaging in meaningful action. How might seeking rest when working on climate change be helpful when feeling overwhelmed? What are examples of different activities that are restorative for you, mentally, physically, and otherwise?

Learn about the solutions in this story.

• Solution Sectors: Land Sinks, Food, Agriculture, and Land Use
• Solutions: Reduced Food Waste, Plant-Rich Diets
• For more on all of Project Drawdown’s climate solutions, visit drawdown.org/solutions
• Learn more about Schandra’s work at New Haven Ecology Project, Common Ground Urban Farm and High School

Explore Climate Solutions 101, the world's first major educational effort focused solely on climate solutions. This video series combines Project Drawdown’s trusted resources with the expertise of inspiring, scientifically knowledgeable voices from around the world: drawdown.org/climate-solutions-101.

Check out the Drawdown Roadmap, a science-based strategy for accelerating climate solutions that ensures efforts to stop climate change by governments, businesses, investors, philanthropists, community organizations, and others are as impactful as possible.

Visit the Yale Program on Climate Change Communication, a resource that shares research, communications strategy, and opinion polling on climate communications.

• Subscribe to the Project Drawdown newsletter to receive biweekly insights and inspiration to guide your own climate solutions journey. 
• Drawdown Ecochallenge, presented by Ecochallenge.org, is a fun and social way to take measurable action on the top climate solutions. Take the challenge, and see how a few weeks of action add up to a lifetime of change for you and the planet. If you want to take action on climate solutions like Schandra, start a challenge today. 
• The Drawdown Labs Job Function Action Guides are practical resources that highlight specific, high-impact climate actions employees in common corporate professions can take at work. 
• ChangeX connects people with proven ideas for strengthening communities with the resources needed to implement those changes. Explore countless ways to improve your community and help the world reach drawdown.
• Climate Generation's Green Careers for a Changing Climate Instructional Supplement (for Grades 6-8) contains resources to help young people learn about Green STEM Careers—paths that use STEM skills to help reduce the impacts of climate change. Throughout this instructional supplement, students use Project Drawdown resources to make important connections between climate solutions and different careers.
• Solutions Journalism Network highlights the importance of reporting stories of climate solutions in the media to create a more equitable and sustainable world. Visit their Teaching Climate Solutions resource to find curated collections and the latest examples of climate solutions journalism.
• SubjectToClimate (StC) is a nonprofit online connector for K-12 leaders of all subjects to find materials on climate change at no cost. Explore StC’s educator-generated database to connect to Project Drawdown-based climate education resources.