battery recycling

Mustard Seed And Their Amazing Mattress Recycling Service

There’s only one mattress recycler in the whole state of Florida. This unicorn is otherwise known as the Mustard Seed of Central Florida  and is located in the historical town of Eatonville. The Mustard Seed is known for its work rebuilding the lives of families who have suffered disaster or personal tragedy by providing household furnishings, clothing, and overall, making their house a comfortable home. What’s unique about this non-profit organization is that it has a scrappy approach to carrying out its work while also being environmentally responsible in the community.

Since 2011, The Mustard Seed’s recycling efforts have deconstructed more than 175,000 mattresses and sold their components, diverting nearly 4 million cubic feet of waste from the landfill. Landfills hate when a truckful of mattresses comes in to dump because mattresses have a low bulk density. Mattresses don’t weigh much, so the revenue they generate on the tipping fee is low. Plus the bulkiness of mattresses means that they take up a lot of the landfill’s precious capacity. It’s a win-win for everybody when mattresses are recycled.

Recycling a mattress takes manual deconstruction, and it’s not easy work. Mr. Howard, the supervisor of the Mustard Seed’s mattress recycling program, is always looking for volunteers to help him shuck the ever-growing stack of mattresses and boxsprings. It starts with a sharp box cutter and making a steady incision around the entire length of the mattress. Once you’ve opened the outer part, you can pull off the foam, metal boxsprings, and fabric topper. Oftentimes, the biggest deterrent is the glue that’s holding everything together. Howard has been recycling mattresses for over ten years and knows every technique in the book to break them apart for the valuable materials inside.

In states like California, Rhode Island, and Connecticut, there exists the non-profit organization the Mattress Recycling Council. They were formed by the mattress industry to operate recycling programs in states that have passed mattress recycling laws.

MRC assembles a network of collection sites and recyclers in each state. The consumer/resident drops off the old mattress at the collection site for free. MRC pays a fee to the collection site for each mattress they turn over to them. Many of these collection sites are municipal transfer stations or landfills. MRC pays a fee to transport the mattresses from a collection site to a mattress recycler. In the final step, MRC pays the recycler (like Mustard Seed) a fee for each mattress they recycle and any earnings from the re-sale of steel, foam, wood, etc is theirs.

To get a similar statewide program, the Florida legislature would need to pass a law (like CA, CT and RI) that requires a mattress recycling fee of 15-20 dollars be charged on every mattress sold within the state – by both traditional retailers and online retailers.

At the Mustard Seed, recycling efforts generate income to help fund the furniture and clothing programs. They accept donations of furniture, appliances, household items, linens, dishes, toys, home decor, and anything that makes a house a comfortable home. They serve around 3,000 people each year — and rely on community support.

Volunteer to help out The Mustard Seed by signing up here.

 
 

Mr. Howard, the king of mattress recycling.

 
 
 
 
 

Composting Advocacy Opportunities

To achieve the goal of a Zero Waste Central Florida, it’s going to take political advocacy and action at the community grassroots level. Going forward, we want to bring together our subscribers, who are willing to write, call, and canvass for political change in support of food waste recycling.

Our subscribers are already doing a lot, diverting their household’s food scraps from the landfill, and deserve all the praise. Although, to live in a zero waste society, we need to unify our voice.

Click on the link below, and send us an email letting us know you’re interested in joining the Composting Advocacy Group, and we’ll be in touch shortly with more information about our efforts. Members of The Compost Advocacy Group will be subject to discounts, and promo codes.

I'm interested in being more active in further composting in Central Florida. CLICK HERE.

 

O-Town Compost doesn’t take bio-plastics, but accepts paper, bagasse, wood, and bamboo products

 

Sign The Petition - Stop Online Retailers from Selling Falsely Advertised "Compostable" Products

For the regular person, it’s not easy to decipher the difference between a bag that’s compostable and a bag that’s green-tinted plastic. As Orlando’s Community Composter, we’ve been unpleasantly surprised by compostable products and bags ending up in our collection containers that clearly label themselves as “compostable/biodegrable” but are obviously not. The fact of the matter is that producers of these products don’t take the time to test out their products, or consult the composting industry. Customers believe they’re purchasing the correct bags to breakdown in compost piles, but are being dupped by the greenwashing.

With the petition found below, we’re urging big online retailers, like Amazon, regulate and prevent sellers from greenwashing and making false claims. The responsibility for fighting contamination needs to start with the retail industry, and trickle down to the consumer, who should also learn what is and isn’t acceptable in their compost bins.

By requiring all products labeled “compostable/biodegradable” to meet either CMA or BPI certification, composters can be rest assured that the material they get isn’t going to be tricking them and polluting the earth. Not to mention, composters like us would love to not have to be the police.


Composting Advocacy Opportunities

To achieve the goal of a Zero Waste Central Florida, it’s going to take political advocacy and action at the community grassroots level. Going forward, we want to bring together our subscribers, who are willing to write, call, and canvass for political change in support of food waste recycling.

Our subscribers are already doing a lot, diverting their household’s food scraps from the landfill, and deserve all the praise. Although, to live in a zero waste society, we need to unify our voice.

Click on the link below, and send us an email letting us know you’re interested in joining the Composting Advocacy Group, and we’ll be in touch shortly with more information about our efforts. Members of The Compost Advocacy Group will be subject to discounts, and promo codes.

I'm interested in being more active in further composting in Central Florida. CLICK HERE.


O-Town Compost doesn’t take bio-plastics, but accepts paper, bagasse, wood, and bamboo products


Over a quarter million pounds were kept from the landfill in October!!

Check In with Charlie, the Founder of O-Town Compost (Short Video)


Composting Advocacy Opportunities

To achieve the goal of a Zero Waste Central Florida, it’s going to take political advocacy and action at the community grassroots level. Going forward, we want to bring together our subscribers, who are willing to write, call, and canvass for political change in support of food waste recycling.

Our subscribers are already doing a lot, diverting their household’s food scraps from the landfill, and deserve all the praise. Although, to live in a zero waste society, we need to unify our voice.

Click on the link below, and send us an email letting us know you’re interested in joining the Composting Advocacy Group, and we’ll be in touch shortly with more information about our efforts. Members of The Compost Advocacy Group will be subject to discounts, and promo codes.

I'm interested in being more active in further composting in Central Florida. CLICK HERE.


O-Town Compost doesn’t take bio-plastics, but accepts paper, bagasse, wood, and bamboo products


Almost a quarter million pounds were kept from the landfill in August?!

O-Town Compost funds the Construction of a Community Garden's Compost System


Apopka’s ABDC Garden Gets A New Compost System

 The ABDC Garden in Apopka, FL was founded to provide a safe place for community members to grow their own food and to share gardening education with all who visit. At ABDC Garden we also donate fresh produce to the food bank, Loaves and Fishes. 

For over 10 years the garden has served our community and last year we were overjoyed to receive a generous grant of 47k  from the Orlando Regional Realtors Association. The volunteer Garden management team worked hard to thoughtfully allocate the grant money to improve existing infrastructure and to expand our ability to host events for the community, such as gardening and seed saving workshops. 

The garden improvement plan also included plans for an updated compost system. The shortage of local, high quality compost means that creating our own compost is imperative. The updated house compost system will significantly improve our soil for healthier plants and more nutritious crops. 

     Unfortunately, the ABDC Garden has experienced a set of challenging circumstances whereby some of our funding was lost and the work was not completed. The garden team was heartbroken to see the completion of our compost system grind to a halt. 

        As luck would have it, a generous local business heard about our loss and stepped up to help complete the compost system! Charlie Pioli of O-Town Compost is a friend of the ABDC garden. He has helped educate garden management staff and members on how to successfully create compost and when he got word that the gardens compost system was in distress, he offered to donate the $300 that was needed to complete our compost project! 

     Thanks to the help of OTown Compost, our garden team will move forward on building a multi bay compost system. Check out our garden design below. ABDC garden would like to extend our most heart felt thanks to Charlie and O-Town Compost for saving the day… and our soil! 



Composting Advocacy Opportunities

To achieve the goal of a Zero Waste Central Florida, it’s going to take political advocacy and action at the community grassroots level. Going forward, we want to bring together our subscribers, who are willing to write, call, and canvass for political change in support of food waste recycling.

Our subscribers are already doing a lot, diverting their household’s food scraps from the landfill, and deserve all the praise. Although, to live in a zero waste society, we need to unify our voice.

Click on the link below, and send us an email letting us know you’re interested in joining the Composting Advocacy Group, and we’ll be in touch shortly with more information about our efforts. Members of The Compost Advocacy Group will be subject to discounts, and promo codes.

I'm interested in being more active in further composting in Central Florida. CLICK HERE.


O-Town Compost doesn’t take bio-plastics, but accepts paper, bagasse, wood, and bamboo products



Now Serving Kissimmee & Lake Nona!!! 🌍🌱🥕🌶️


O-Town Compost now serving Osceola County

Current O-Town Compost subscribers, please share this announcement with anyone you know in Kissimmee and Lake Nona!

Don’t forget to sign into your customer portal, and use your unique referral code to Get $15, and Give $15 when they sign up. ✌️

They can sign up here: https://o-towncompost.com/subscribe



Composting Advocacy Opportunities

To achieve the goal of a Zero Waste Central Florida, it’s going to take political advocacy and action at the community grassroots level. Going forward, we want to bring together our subscribers, who are willing to write, call, and canvass for political change in support of food waste recycling.

Our subscribers are already doing a lot, diverting their household’s food scraps from the landfill, and deserve all the praise. Although, to live in a zero waste society, we need to unify our voice.

Click on the link below, and send us an email letting us know you’re interested in joining the Composting Advocacy Group, and we’ll be in touch shortly with more information about our efforts. Members of The Compost Advocacy Group will be subject to discounts, and promo codes.

I'm interested in being more active in further composting in Central Florida. CLICK HERE.


Don’t trust products that look like plastic, feel like plastic, but say they’re “compostable.”



January Newsletter: Our New Year's Resolution is to Compost More Food Waste


Featured Subscriber of the Month: Hanalei Shave Ice

Slow down, take a load off, and embrace the ALOHA spirit. That’s the vibe at Hanalei Shave Ice, one of O-Town Compost’s longtime commercial composting partners located at 1308 Lang Avenue in Orlando.  Here is where you will find Hanalei’s charming ‘ice-truck’ nestled in the backyard of The House on Lang under the beautiful trees and hanging moss. Owner, Brandy, is following in her father’s footsteps by serving up delicious shaved ice treats. The ingredients are always fresh, seasonal, and free of fake chemicals and sugars. Did we mention that ALL the serviceware used to serve and consume these treats are compostable?! 

Before she started her shaved ice business, Brandy worked for Darden and was tasked with implementing the company’s “green team.” She was always specifically interested in capturing food waste to make a valuable end-product rather than see it wasted in the trash. Diving more into her Hawaiian culture, Brandy learned how Hawaiians prioritize environmental stewardship, and how the practice of composting was ubiquitous. According to Brandy, “living aloha and being good to the Earth is just part of one’s responsibility as a human citizen.”  After opening her shaved ice truck, Brandy was composting all of the business’s waste on her own but could not keep up due to the high volume. Once she did some searching on the internet, she was happy to find the services of O-Town Compost. 

Since partnering with O-Town in October 2021, Hanalei Shave Ice has diverted 869 pounds from the landfill! In fact, 95% of the food truck’s waste goes to compost, leaving only a small bag for recycling and an even smaller bag for trash at the end of the day.  Customers have noticed these efforts too, and given her lots of positive feedback. They get excited about the possibility of composting, and through the example of Hanalei, can picture themselves doing it at home. As Brandy advises, “it only takes a small change to start.” That being said, Brandy’s heart sinks when she sees single-use plastic products being used by other food service businesses. Sure, compostable serviceware can be slightly more expensive than plastic and Styrofoam, but she believes “living Pono” and being good to the environment is an important part of her choices as a brand. 

Hanalei Shave Ice definitely stands out as a waste warrior in the Central Florida Community. If you haven’t visited Hanalei Shave Ice before, now is your opportunity! Hanalei has special flavors weekly, so check out their Instagram page to stay updated! Right now, all O-Town Compost subscribers can receive a family 4 pack ($28 value!) when they show an email receipt proving an active residential subscription. This is Brandy’s thanks to her customers who are doing good for their home, family, and for our world. 

O-Town subscribers! Each month we want to highlight subscribers that are standing out as waste warriors in our composting community. If you are interested in being featured, send us a direct message or e-mail us at info@o-towncompost.com


Get Involved With our Partner Farms, and Help Them Pick out Contamination at the Compost Site.

O-Town Compost is growing, and taking on more commercial customers. We’re laser-focused on our mission to divert as much possible food waste from the landfill as we can. For a region like Central Florida, where composting is a bit of a foreign concept, this inevitably leads to contamination. And lately, our partner farms have been receiving higher contamination than they’d like to. Of the total contamination found at our partner compost sites, 99.5% is from commercial customers, not residential subscribers, who are oftentimes self-policing.

We try everything in our control to make sure the correct materials end up in the correct bins, but at the end of the day, we can’t babysit our commercial clients. That’s why we’re asking for our community’s support in filling an occasional volunteer slots to pick out contamination at Froot Farm in Christmas, FL and Everoak Farm in East Orlando.

Details:

  • Volunteers will be given the address of the farm that needs the help, and the contact info of the farmer.

  • Time slots will be around an hour for volunteers, or however long it takes to remove the bulk of the contamination.

  • Trash pickers and buckets will be provided, so volunteers won’t have to bend down to get contaminants.

  • Please dress for the compost site (i.e. boots, hat for sun, sun-screen). You’ll probably get some soil on you.

  • If interested, please email us at info@towncompost.com, and we’ll reach out when we have opportunities available.


Composting Advocacy Opportunities

To achieve the goal of a Zero Waste Central Florida, it’s going to take political advocacy and action at the community grassroots level. Going forward, we want to bring together our subscribers, who are willing to write, call, and canvass for political change in support of food waste recycling.

Our subscribers are already doing a lot, diverting their household’s food scraps from the landfill, and deserve all the praise. Although, to live in a zero waste society, we need to unify our voice.

Click on the link below, and send us an email letting us know you’re interested in joining the Composting Advocacy Group, and we’ll be in touch shortly with more information about our efforts. Members of The Compost Advocacy Group will be subject to discounts, and promo codes.

I'm interested in being more active in further composting in Central Florida. CLICK HERE.


Our new residential infographic is looking sleek!


What have we been up to?


December Newsletter: New Partnership with Oh Eco, Orlando's Zero Waste Shop


Sign up for O-Town Compost’s service at Oh Eco Zero Waste Shop

Thanks to Alyssa Bolaños, owner of Oh Eco, you can now sign up for O-Town Compost’s convenient residential composting service at the shop! Simply scan the QR code, enter your details, and take home a bucket!

Anyone who signs up at Oh Eco’s shop will receive a special promo code for $10 off service. We love to see community partners teaming up to fight waste and starve the landfill.

What you do if you have a pumpkin, or more than fit in your bucket.

Americans toss out 25% more trash from Halloween to the New Year than any other time of year. O-Town Compost will only pick-up what’s contained in your bucket on a normal pickup day. Then what do you do if your scraps won’t all fit in the bucket, or you have a Jack-O-Lantern?

Step 1: Sign in to your customer portal and access the shop.

Step 2: Scroll down mid-page to locate the item titled “Additional pickup of material that doesn’t fit in bucket.”

Step 3:Order item for $5. Now our driver will know on your next pickup to expect additional material outside the bucket, and will happily collect it.

Step 4: Keep your additional scraps in the fridge or freezer until the night before pickup day, and put them out in a bag, box, or even a container of your own. We’ll wash and return the container to you if you reach out and let us know!


Get Involved in The Community…

Sign Up to be a “Feed The Need” volunteer!

Feed the Need Florida launched in 2020 as a response to increased food insecurity caused by the COVID-19 Global Pandemic and continues to respond to the dynamic food needs of our community.

Volunteers are an important part of the 4Roots family and key to the success of our mission.


Composting Advocacy Opportunities

To achieve the goal of a Zero Waste Central Florida, it’s going to take political advocacy and action at the community grassroots level. Going forward, we want to bring together our subscribers, who are willing to write, call, and canvass for political change in support of food waste recycling.

Our subscribers are already doing a lot, diverting their household’s food scraps from the landfill, and deserve all the praise. Although, to live in a zero waste society, we need to unify our voice.

Click on the link below, and send us an email letting us know you’re interested in joining the Composting Advocacy Group, and we’ll be in touch shortly with more information about our efforts. Members of The Compost Advocacy Group will be subject to discounts, and promo codes.

I'm interested in being more active in further composting in Central Florida. CLICK HERE.


Give The Gift of Composting 🎁

Follow the instructions below to gift a friend/neighbor a composting subscription.

Step 1: Click HERE to access the gift card page.

Step 2: Enter the dollar amount you’d like to give, your name, and your email.

Step 3: Enter the recipient’s details and even a personal message to them.

Step 4: Enter payment information.


What have we been up to?