Londyn Crenshaw ‘22 worked this past winter at a composting company in her hometown of Cleveland, Ohio. The company picks up compost from businesses and homes, similar to how a trash pick up system works. Londyn says, “They call themselves a ‘climate solutions’ company, because for them it's not about the money, it's about the community.” Londyn worked as a social media intern promoting the compost pick up services, often taking photos of the process such as the ones featured above.
When asked what led her to sustainability, Londyn said “I’ve always been into the planet, but my senior year of high school I spent a lot of time trying to be ‘zero-waste.’”
However, it was not until she attended Dartmouth where she took classes in Environmental studies and became involved with the sustainability office through the Eco-Reps program that empowers first years to make sustainable change in their communities, that Londyn began to see sustainability as a career choice.
Londyn asserts that Eco-Reps, “Changed my life.”
“It was at Dartmouth that I began to see sustainability as something more serious than caring about the earth,” she said.
It was this conviction, along with some luck, that led Londyn to the composting company, Rust Belt Riders. Londyn was waiting tables when she overheard a customer talking about his intern, who was majoring in Sustainability studies. Londyn asked the man about where he worked, and it turned out that the man was a cofounder of Rust Belt Riders.
The company began when the owner and a few employees would pick up compost around Cleveland on bikes with large trailers attached. Now, Rust Belt riders has outgrown bikes and has a large, family-like workforce. Londyn appreciated the company’s egalitarian nature.
“I felt like everyone had equal respect and say. I felt like I was on the same level as other employees, even though I was an intern,” she said.
Now, Londyn is working as an Intern in the Dartmouth Sustainability Office as a Digital Media and Storytelling intern.
“My goal for this term is to use the technology we have to educate about sustainability and make it more accessible,” she said.