soil is life

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.

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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.

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We Need Your Support! Contact a Representative Today!

O-Town Compost has been on the Central Florida community composting scene for 7 months now, and has been steadily growing. Our goals are to grow food waste recycling infrastructure around the region, and support sustainable agriculture while doing so.

If you like what we do, please contact your local politician and let them know about your support for our mission. An individual’s voice goes a long way in letting our elected officials know that O-Town Compost is making a difference. You don’t have to be a subscriber to see that what we’re doing is moving the needle.

We appreciate you writing an individual heartfelt message, or you can use the template below:

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Subject: On Behalf of O-Town Compost, Orlando’s Community Composter

Dear [insert title and name of city representative],

I am writing to you as a concerned [name of municipality] resident, who strongly supports striking a balance between economic growth and environmental conservation. In [name of municipality], wasted materials are mounting daily while the infrastructure to recycle that waste is substantially inadequate. Single-stream recycling has proven to be an uphill battle, as Material Recovery Facilities (MRF) fight contamination and cannot find end-markets for their recyclables. According to multiple recent studies, 99 percent of truck loads carrying recyclables in the County were rejected at Waste Management’s MRF last year, and transported to the Orange County Landfill as a result. That means that nearly 100 percent of everything we put out to the curb as residents is ending up trashed.

This is a serious problem as the state is running out of landfill space. Fortunately, we have another option to reduce our waste footprint, and that is composting our organic waste, which makes up a sizable 40 percent of all that goes to the landfill. Moreover, adding organic waste to our landfills contributes to greenhouse gas emissions, including methane and CO2.

O-Town Compost is a small-scale community composter that is making a huge impact with its food scrap collection service, converting both pre- and post-consumer food waste (including meat and dairy wastes) into finished compost for local agriculture projects, such as Fleet Farming. Its mission is to grow into an organization that can handle the majority of Central Florida’s organic waste stream (including animal waste, such as horse manure), and transition the Orlando-area into a circular economy.

Small community composting businesses, similar to O-Town Compost, are active in cities and counties around the nation and are proving that they can move the needle in keeping food waste (as well as pet waste and other organic materials) out of our landfills. This frees up space for non-recyclable trash, and reduces greenhouse gas emissions produced by our landfills. O’Town Compost’s model (https://o-towncompost.com/ ) is similar to Bootstrap Compost in Boston, MA and Rust Belt Riders in Cleveland, OH.

I am writing to you today to voice my support for their efforts in our community, and I would like to see [name of municipality] find ways to incentivize residents and businesses to use their services. Ideally, food waste collection and composting should save cities money, while solving our landfill challenges and beautifying our green spaces with organic compost.

I greatly appreciate your attention to this issue.

Sincerely,

[Your name and address]

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Here is a list of some politicians you can email, depending on which area’s jurisdiction you fall under:

Winter Park, FL

Steve Leary - Mayor of Winter Park, FL - sleary@cityofwinterpark.org

Marty Sullivan - Commissioner Seat #1 - msullivan@cityofwinterpark.org

Shelia DiCiccio - Commissioner Seat #2 - sdeciccio@cityofwinterpark.org

Carolyn Cooper - Commissioner Seat #3 - ccooper@cityofwinterpark.org

Todd Weaver - Commissioner Seat #4 - tweaver@cityofwinterpark.org

City of Orlando, FL

Buddy Dyer - Mayor of Orlando, FL - buddy.dyer@orlando.gov

Jim Gray - District #1 - jim.gray@orlando.gov

Tony Ortiz - District #2 - tony.ortiz@orlando.gov

Robert Stuart - District #3 - robert.stuart@orlando.gov

Patty Sheehan - District #4 - patty.sheehan@orlando.gov

Regina Hill - District #5 - regina.hill@orlando.gov

Bakari Burns - District #6 - bakari.burns@orlando.gov

Orange County Unincorporated (To find your district & commissioner: https://www.orangecountyfl.net/BoardofCommissioners.aspx#.XrAW_6hKjD6)

Jerry Demings - Mayor of Orange County, FL - mayor@ocfl.net

Betsy VanderLey - District #1 - District1@ocfl.net

Christine Moore - District #2 - District2@ocfl.net

Mayra Uribe - District #3 - District3@ocfl.net

Maribel Gomez Cordero - District #4 - District4@ocfl.net

Emily Bonilla - District #5 - District5@ocfl.net

Victoria Siplin - District #6 - District6@ocfl.net