Intervale Eco-Industrial Park is an agricultural and farming focused Eco-Industrial Park. Waste Heat from a Biomass Plant warms greenhouses for a mixture of local farms, and a community garden. Food waste from Burlington city is mixed with wastewater from the local Ben & Jerry’s ice cream plant (yes, Burlington is the home to Ben & Jerry’s!) which mulches into fertiliser, which is then used by both the Intervale and other farmers.

Intervale is a demonstration site for the first Living Machine, invented by biologist John Todd, as a natural water purifier. The water is treated using plants, cleaning a specific waste stream, using diverse communities of bacteria and other micro-organisms, algae, plants, trees, snails. The Living Machine is a good example of ecological engineering.

Intervale is also a core part of the community food system. According to Greener Ideal magazine: (article here)

“by integrating food production, processing, distribution and consumption, the park seeks to enhance the surrounding community’s social and economic well being while stewarding the environment and improving nutritional health.”

Intervale Eco Park Research paper by John Todd here