Scraps to Soil: Door-to-Door Composting

While still seniors at the University of Rhode Island, Brendan Loflin, Conor Macmanus and Miguel Costa formed a “compost club,” in order to reduce the waste they saw emerging from the school’s dining halls. After graduation, two of them went into teaching and the third into a solar company, but this past year, they decided to take their composting passion to a new level. They launched Rhodeside Revival, a door-to-door household composting business servicing the Providence area to the East Bay, Newport, North Kingstown to South County. “We believe that picking up from people’s houses helps generate more interest in composting,” Brendan says, “and it educates people about just how much food waste there is.” (40% of the average household’s trash is compostable.)

Looking at the possibility of the Johnson landfill reaching its capacity in just 15 years, the Rhodeside trio hope to extend its life with their household composting business. They provide a five-gallon bucket with a lid and compostable bags. Then they pick it up once a week or bi-weekly and bring it to Earth Care Farm in Charleston. The cost is $18 for bi-weekly and $25 for weekly pick-ups. At least twice a year, they project returning some of that rich compost back to each customer household.

More at RhodesideRevival.com.