Fight climate change, support local, and consume more consciously.
If you have a backyard and you live in Lansing, Michigan, we bet you’ve at least thought about composting. After all, we are next door to the country’s first land grant college. We have farmers markets aplenty, and you can even keep chickens in the city. Urban garden tours abound, and it’s likely that someone in your neighborhood is even a Master Gardener.
With all this wealth of urban agriculture around us, it’s pretty common to start a backyard compost pile. And, if you are willing to take the time and learn the process (greens, browns, moisture, etc.), it can be very rewarding. Making your own compost is cool! And if you’ve already got a great system that is working for you, you can probably stop reading this blog now. Goodbye! *waving*
Now, for the rest of you…
We’re guessing you’re here for one or more of the following reasons:
- You have tried backyard composting and it’s not working. Racoons or mice and rats have become an issue. You’re wondering if there is a way out.
- You would love to save your food waste from the landfill, but you aren’t in a position to do that. Maybe you live in an apartment. Maybe you’d rather spend your time doing something else.
- You heard about Eastside Compost and you’re like, “Isn’t this just paying for recycling? Why would I do this?” We are so glad you’re here. Stay with us, my friend.
Let’s start with the folks who are putting food in the backyard, but not exactly composting. We get it! You can’t stand to see food go to waste. But there are so many potential reasons why your pile isn’t working. Googling is starting to feel like a second job, winter is coming, and it’s looking like a failed science experiment.
- The upside: your efforts have not been entirely in vain. We would love to haul your compost pile away, and mix it with our commercial grade compost, where it can decompose and have a new life as nutrient rich soil!
After that corner of the backyard has been returned to you, you might want to consider our residential compost pickup service.
Now we’re getting to the folks who want to save food waste from the landfill, but can’t for a variety of reasons. Here’s what you need to know about our service:
- Eastside Compost is a local, worker-owned collective that streamlines food scrap pickup for a low price.
- You can now compost everything under the sun. Meat, dairy, bones, fried and processed foods, in addition to fruits and veggies. With a commercial service, way more food stays out of your trash can.
- You keep your bucket under the sink and keep the lid screwed on tight. No fruit flies or smells.
- Weekly, or bi-weekly, you leave your bucket on the porch, and we come and pick it up. We leave you a clean, fresh bucket, and the cycle repeats.
- You support a local business that is contributing to a strong, circular economy.
- Your trash smells less and is lighter.
- You reduce waste, and methane.
Finally, let’s get to the folks who just wandered into this conversation and are like, “…this feels like something for hippies…”
Hello, non-hippie! Let’s find common ground. It will come as no surprise to you that the ways we do things as a society are sometimes very wrong, inefficient, and shortsighted. Food waste is one of those things.
Here’s the short story: When food waste goes into a municipal landfill it rots and produces methane, which contributes to greenhouse gases and worsening climate change. In fact, food waste accounts for 25% of all materials in municipal landfills, and its rotting produces 58% of landfill emissions. Wow! Gross.
When you add in other compostable materials like lawn debris and paper, half of the material in the landfill is compostable.
Here is the upside: When you compost your food waste properly (like, with us) zero methane is emitted. This is called… science.
So yes. Much like in the 1970s when people started recycling on their own, we are starting to divert food waste from the landfill at scale using a small business model.
We believe that eliminating methane emissions by properly composting is good for the planet and for people.
Our many customers agree, and we hope you that will consider trying this daily, habit-based approach to fighting climate change. It might sound cliche, but many small actions really do add up.
Of course, if you are flying in a private jet, we really need to talk about that.
No responses yet