Episode 31. Justen Garrity - Veteran Compost
Justen came out of the military unemployed and without an idea what direction he wanted to go. Fast forward 10+ years to today, Veteran Compost has two compost sites in the DC/Baltimore area and is diverting food waste by the boat-load.
Episode #16. Common Ground Compost - Meredith Danberg-Ficarelli
Tune in as Charlie interview’s Meredith from Common Ground Compost. She’s one the country’s top waste industry experts, and is based out of NYC, which has a major trash problem. Hope you enjoy!
Compost Giveback - Just in Time For Spring Planting
It’s that time of year again when the dirty bearded hipster version of Santa Claus drops 20-pound buckets of O-Town Black Gold on each of his subscribers’ door steps. Just in time for people to get their Spring planting on!
This March giveback, we are set to return 2,300 pounds of compost to our amazing customers, and 1,760 pounds to Fleet Farming for those who opted to donate their share. In these last six months since our last giveback, we’ve turned close to 23 tons of food scraps into beautiful rich compost to improve Central Florida’s sandy soils.
It still boggles our mind how this…
Becomes this…
Happy Holidays to the Orlando Composting Community
Dear O-Town Compost Community,
It’s been quite a ride so far. We’re proud to see that so many Orlando residents feel it’s necessary to recycle their food scraps, and chose us to make it happen. This community support means so much to us, and acts as a reminder every day that what we’re doing is making a difference.
Ultimately, O-Town Compost seeks to make composting as easy as possible, without pests or odors, in order to boost participation and fuel a county-wide movement. Imagine the Orlando metro area, with thousands of composting households. Whole neighborhoods putting out their O-Town Compost bucket, and admiring each other’s lush gardens fertilized by O-Town Black Gold.
It’s exciting the opportunity that composting presents as a viable solution to managing the 350,000 tons of organic waste that goes to Orange County Landfill each year. Sometimes this volume seems insurmountable! But we’re on track to grow into an organization that can handle it within 10-15 years. More importantly is the shift in the cultural mindset here in Central Florida. Our mission is to change how people look at their food scraps, and think twice before throwing a banana peel in the trash. This is going to take years, but that’s okay, because we’re in it for the long-haul.
Thank you for joining us along our crazy journey, and we hope you have happy holidays and a very merry Christmas.
Best,
O-Town Compost Team
PS. We’re offering composting subscription gift cards in 3-month, 6-month, and 1-year quantities. For more info, click the button below.
Take a Tour at O-Town's Compost Site
On the morning of September 26th, we will be opening up our composting site to the Orlando community for a tour of our operations. Come see how we have processed over 14 tons of food scraps into compost, returning nutrients to the soil. Also, there will be a permaculture component of the tour focused on growing local food and working with nature rather than against it.
It’s crazy to think how OTC has grown in the last year (hey 2020 hasn’t been all bad), and we hope to share the inspiration with everyone else. We’re not the only ones who want to see food waste recycling become commonplace in Central Florida.
After the tour, there will be a plant sale of mostly native Florida perennial plants that are easy to foster and maintain. Stepping out of the industrial food system and community composting go hand in hand, so we’re always trying to promote growing food in place of lawns.
The following tour times on 9/26 will be 10am-11am, 11am-12pm, and 12pm-1pm. Send us an email if you haven’t already to express your interest in attending. Masks are required for everyone’s safety, and you are welcome to bring guests.
