♻️ We're picking up your compost now.

Earth Month is around the corner. And we're not just celebrating — we're launching something we've been building for years. Curbside composting is officially here.

But that's just the headline. We've also got a gala recap, a free seminar, a family quiz that might humble you, and a full list of our top Earth Day month events. Let's get into it.

This issue’s rundown:

🚛 Finally: Composting comes to your curb. $25/mo. No bag tags. Free compost back.
🏆 Steal This: 10 Omaha orgs that cracked the code on zero waste. Copy what they did.
🎟️ Free Class: The exact recycling playbook behind 400+ Omaha programs. All yours in one morning.
✍️ Earth Day Events: All our favorite Earth Day events to keep you busy all month long.
⚡ Quick Hits: A family quiz, volunteer spots, and a behind-the-scenes journey of what our new Hillside Fund is up to.

THE BIG STORY

Your compost. We’ll pick it up.

We've been hauling compost for businesses and schools for nearly a decade. We've watched 1,800+ households use our drop-off program. And the number one request we hear?

"Can you just come pick it up at my house?"

Starting April 20th — we can.

What goes in your cart (way more than you'd think):

Fruit and vegetable scraps. Meat, dairy, and bones. Coffee grounds. Egg shells. Pet waste. Yard waste — unlimited, year-round, no bag tags. That's stuff a backyard bin can't touch.

How it works:

Pick your cart (35, 65, or 95-gallon) → Fill it all week → Roll it to the curb → Get 3 cubic feet of compost back free at Soil Dynamics. Or donate it.
$25–$35/mo. Weekly pickup, unlimited yard waste, 20% off at Soil Dynamics, and a free month for every neighbor you refer.
Zone 1 is signing up now: Dundee · Elmwood Park · Aksarben · Midtown · Field Club · Morton Meadows · Parts of Westside
Not in Zone 1? Get your neighborhood on the list — we expand based on demand.

I’m in. Sign me up!

EVENT

How Omaha's Best Organizations Recycle & Compost — Free Morning Seminar

You care about recycling at work. You just never have time to actually fix it. We made a free seminar just for you.

Our sustainability consultant, Samantha, and Hillside Fund Director, Sasha, are walking through our full 12-Steps to Zero Waste guide — live, in-person, with time for real questions. This is the same playbook behind 400+ successful programs at Omaha businesses, schools, restaurants, and nonprofits.

A taste of what's in it:

How to set up bins so people actually use them correctly.
Why your cleaning crew might be the biggest gap in your program.
How to recycle soft plastics that most cities can't touch.
How to train your team so you don’t continue being known as the office know-it-all.

📅 Thursday, April 3rd · 8:30–11:30 AM 📍 Hotel Indigo · Downtown Omaha 🎟️ Free. Light bites provided.

RSVP →

GALA RECAP

Kaleb Duncan Photography

10 Omaha organizations surpassed our expectations in 2025. Here's exactly how they did it.

We didn't just hand out awards and call it a night. We documented the playbooks for you.

At the Hillside Impact Awards Gala, we packed the Highlander's event venue, handed out repurposed bowling trophies, heard Nancy Williams of No More Empty Pots lay out her vision for Omaha's food future, held a paddle raise for the Hillside Fund, and then hit the dance floor.

But here's the part that matters to you — every winner did something you can replicate at your business, school, church, or apartment building:

🏆 Levy Restaurants composted 93 tons at CHI Health Center in one year.
🏆 Montessori Children's Room built a circular food system run by elementary students.
🏆 Saving Grace rescued nearly 10 million pounds of food since 2013.
🏆 National Indemnity — 1,400 employees composting 50,000 lbs/year across six years.
🏆 Elmwood Tower — a 219-unit senior high-rise that cut trash by two-thirds.
🏆 HDR hit 96.1% diversion at a zero-waste event.
🏆 Castelar Elementary — 71% diversion in a dual-language South Omaha school.
🏆 St. Vincent de Paul Church followed the 12-step guide start to finish.
🏆 Omani Carson x Heartland Gathering built a seven-stream system on open land.
🏆 Kent Holm led the effort behind Nebraska's first-ever EPR law.

The blog breaks down what each one actually did — so you can borrow it.

Read the Full Breakdown →

EARTH DAY MONTH EVENTS

🌎 Earth Day Month Is Here — Mark Your Calendar

April is stacked with ways to celebrate Earth Day across the Omaha metro. Here's what's happening:

April 2 — Soil Health and Garden Workshop | 11 AM–1 PM | Conservation Nebraska
April 3 — ⭐ How Omaha's Best Organizations Recycle & Compost | Hotel Indigo | Free seminar, presented by us!
April 11 — First Star Recycling Center Tour | 10 AM–12 PM | Conservation Nebraska
April 18 — Earth Day at Mulhall's | 11 AM–2 PM | Greenhouse, 120th St
April 18 — Party for the Planet | 9 AM–2 PM | Henry Doorly Zoo
April 19 — Earth Day in Bellevue | 12:30 PM–3:30 PM | Green Bellevue
April 21 — Rethinking Your Lawn | 6–7:30 PM | Conservation Nebraska
April 25 — ⭐ Earth Day Omaha | 11 AM–4 PM | Elmwood Park | FREE
April 26 — Cass County Earth Day | 9 AM–12 PM | Plattsmouth
April 26 — Riverfront Earth Day | Noon | Lewis & Clark Landing

We'll be at Elmwood Park running zero-waste stations, and we need your help — sign up to volunteer.

Full details on every event → hillside.solutions/blog/earth-day-events-omaha-2026

SNIPPETS

🧠 Think you're greener than your kids? Prove it. We built a family eco quiz — 11 questions, 3 rounds, and your kid runs the whole thing. You get a personalized action plan at the end. Most parents don't make it past Round 2 with their dignity intact. 😅 Take the Quiz →

🙋 Earth Month needs you. Hillside Fund is looking for volunteers to run zero-waste stations at events, help with school composting programs, and show up at community cleanups. No experience required. Sign Up to Volunteer →

🌱 Want the behind-the-scenes story? Our nonprofit arm, Hillside Fund, just launched its own newsletter — and it's not what you'd expect. Sasha and Audrey are writing journal-style entries about what it actually takes to close the circular food economy gap in Nebraska: turning your food scraps into compost, getting that compost to local farmers, and keeping chemicals out of our drinking water. It's personal, it's real, and it's a different side of this work you won't get anywhere else. Subscribe to the Hillside Fund Newsletter →

NEW PARTNERS

If you wanna use your dollar or enthusiasm to support local organizations that have joined the recycling and composting movement, here are some of the new partnerships we’re celebrating …

Union Pacific

This one's been a long time coming. Each week, we're now composting over 1,000 pounds of pre-consumer food scraps from Guckenheimer's kitchen inside Union Pacific. One thousand pounds. Every week. Let that sink in.

Harney Street Apartments

Our partnership with Milestone Development continues with their newly renovated Old Market lofts. We're handling landfill and recycling — including a valet door-to-door recycling pickup with RecyclePal. Valet service is the single best way to get quality recycling in apartment buildings. More of this, please.

Automatic Printing Co

We walked in expecting to set up their recycling. Turns out, they'd already built an elaborate, fully customized system on their own. All they needed from us was a landfill dumpster for what's left, which isn't much. They might be Omaha's only zero-waste print shop. Need something printed? This is who we use.

Subscribe to this newsletter here.

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With love, your friends at Gretna Sanitation, Soil Dynamics, and Hillside Solutions.

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