We Won! Our US Composting Council Award

Andy Harpenau receives national award

We went out to California to the US Composting Council conference to receive an award for “Organics Diversion Program of the Year.”

Founder Andy Harpenau and our Sustainability Consultant Samantha Nieman took the stage to say a few words.

This marks our first nationally-recognized award, and boy, are we proud!

This means the progress we’re making in Omaha is on par with the best programs around the nation … think about that!?

 
 

Wanna read our submission that became the deciding factor? Read on …

Nora Goldstein of BioCycle once told me we were an anomaly. I had no idea. So I asked her why. We began to make a list:

  • We don’t just haul compostables, we also process and sell them, including mulch

  • We use rear-loading and front-loading trucks

  • We work with small restaurants and up to Fortune 500 companies

  • We have a composting program with 20 schools

  • We’re full-service, offering landfill, recycling, and glass recycling hauling

  • We offer training, education, and consultation on landfill diversion

  • We have several thousand homes we compost yard waste from, and have a residential food-waste drop-off program with 1,800 subscribers

  • We have a program to get finished compost back to urban farmers and non-profit food gardens that feed folks clean organic food that would otherwise never stop foot into Whole Foods

There’s a lot going on there. And I think to Nora’s point, we’re rare in that we combine all of these things while still being a local and family-owned business.

Oh, and there’s one more thing Nora doesn’t know yet … we just started a non-profit.

Hillside Fund is bringing composting to people, schools, and organizations that can’t afford it. Nebraska has a nasty problem with nitrates in our drinking water. So we’re helping farmers do on-farm composting to reduce the use of fertilizers. Included in that will be a residential curbside food waste program that we’ll launch in the spring (!!!).

—

When the Nebraska Recycling Council said they wanted to nominate us, I didn’t see it coming. But now that I’ve written all these things out, I get what they see in us.

Maybe there are others out there doing this as well. But I can tell you, from someone on the ground here in our community, it’s making a difference. And it feels like we’re just getting started.

Giving us this award wouldn’t just be a cool thing that sits on our shelf. It would validate our legitimacy to local politicians. Help us attract donors. And it would be a catalyst for entering a new era of sustainability and regenerative agriculture in our state.

Your choice has the power to make that kind of change.

Brent Cramptoncompost, omaha, us composting council, award