John is a self-proclaimed novice when it comes to composting and running a micro-hauling company. That didn’t stop him from starting New Earth Farm’s community composting initiative in St. Louis, MO. He asks the right questions, and doesn’t jump into decisions. Although, community composting is a passion, for it to be successful, you can’t think of it as a hobby, and John is doing a great job.
Episode #17. Field Culture Compost - Matthew Nesbitt
Being one of the few dedicated composters in Alabama, Matthew, is positioning his company to be a success. Lucky for him, he won $100k in prize money from the business accelerator program he was part of when starting up. Listen to the episode to find out how he spent the winnings, and plans to take Birmingham, Alabama’s food waste by storm.
Episode #12. Black Earth Compost - Taking Massachusetts' Food Waste By Storm
After Massachusetts passed the statewide organics ban in 2014, Connor saw his company, Black Earth Compost, balloon in size over the next year. Surprisingly, he believes pig farmers are the largest food waste recyclers in the state, and sets a great example how to work side by side with other food scraps collectors, like Bootstrap Compost.
Episode #11. Rust Belt Riders - Cleveland, OH
Oh boy, this was an inspirational interview. As we hear from more and more community composters around the nation, we gain perspective on what a successful community-driven business looks like in order to emulate in our own practices.
Daniel, one of the Rust Belt Riders’ co-founders, started like many composters in the food service industry. He witnessed firsthand how much edible food and food scraps were going into the trash, and knew it was wrong. Today, the Rust Belt Riders are making a huge positive impression on the Cleveland, OH area, and absolutely crushing it when it comes to organics recycling and creating a healthy soil for gardeners and farmers.
Episode #10. Gary Bilbro - EcoSafe
Gary has been a mentor to Charlie from the beginning of O-Town Compost. He founded his own composting company in Charleston, SC, SMART Recycling, and is a wealth of experience and knowledge. Now Gary represents Ecosafe as a product manager, distributing compostable bags, dog bags, and serviceware across North America.
If you’re a community composter, this interview is going to blow your mind!
Episode #7. Naples Compost, Owner Hannah Rinaldi (Naples, Florida)
The community composting movement is sweeping the state of Florida, and we absolutely love to see other successful composters, like Naples Compost, crushing it in out home state. Listen to this inspiring interview on any podcast platform (Apple, Spotify, Soundcloud, etc).
Check out their website: https://naplescompost.com/
IG: https://www.instagram.com/naplescompost/
Episode #6 - CompostableLA, Los Angeles, CA - Founder, Monique Figueiredo
Monique founded Compostable in 2019 when she saw a need for additional community composting resources in Los Angeles. Her vision for a community-led organization is woven through the fiber of Compostable's foundation.
Enjoy listening to another fascinating interview with Monique!
Episode #3. Compost Queens, San Antonio's Bokashi Composters
Kate Jaceldo is the co-founder of Compost Queens, a company that transforms food waste into compost. A special-ed teacher, social worker and transition facilitator for a public school district, her passion for a sustainable food system and concerns about the climate crisis radically changed her course. Born and raised in South Texas, today the Compost Queen works hard to save the planet one bucket at a time.
Compost Queens: https://www.compostqueenstx.com/
FB and IG: @compostqueens
Subscribe for O-Town Compost's convenient residential service and use promo code WESTORANGE for your first month free! https://o-towncompost.com/subscribe
FB Page: @otowncompost
Instagram: @otowncompost
Twitter: @otowncompost
Introducing "The Community Composting Podcast"
It’s ironic that we’re producing our Inaugural “Community Composting Podcast” on Inauguration Day. Not to take away from Kamala and Joe, but what’s going on in Orlando right now to recycle food scraps is pretty dang exciting.
This episode interviews our team members, Christy and Rich, who thoroughly enjoy rescuing food waste from the landfill. There are a lot of interesting tid-bits about composting and the science behind it, as well as how the company plans to turn Orlando into a full fledged composting metropolis of the Southeastern United States.
I guarantee you’ll walk away with the warm and fuzzees.