Each month, we will highlight community heroes that are making a difference in their communities and working to make their local environments cleaner and healthier.
This month, we are taking a look at MakeSoil!
MakeSoil is a tool that matches those who compost with nearby soil supporters. Biobag Associate spoke to Marty Wetsch about the organization. Their interview is transcribed below.
What led you to start your composting operation?
MakeSoil founder Josh Whiton first learned about composting while living in a suburban apartment. Once he realized that half of what we put in the trash doesn’t belong there, he couldn’t unsee it. So, one day, he found some discarded wooden pallets, fixed them together to make a compost bin outside his building, and went door-to-door inviting his fellow residents to donate their food scraps to it. People soon got the idea, and were glad to have a clear, simple and practical way to do something good for the planet. And as Josh began to master the art of making soil, they were all amazed to see how every sort of organic matter turning back into rich, living soil. "I'm still in awe of the transformations I saw in people as they began to participate in the composting process. It was the simplest thing I had ever done that yielded so much benefit." Wherever Josh went in the world, he saw food waste and organic matter going in the trash. So he decided to use his background in computer science to come up with a way to help more communities to make soil together and have the experience he and his neighbors had. And so the charitable initiative of MakeSoil was born.
Who do you serve and how can people get in touch with you if they want to start composting?
Anyone and everyone can participate. MakeSoil matches ‘Soil Makers’ (people who compost) with nearby ‘Soil Supporters’ (people who contribute scraps). By doing this at scale, worldwide, we are creating a distributed network for organics recycling.
Sign up at https://www.makesoil.org/signup.
How much organic material do you typically take in on a weekly basis?
MakeSoil is helping to divert up to 200,000 lb of household food waste each week (or 100 tons of household food waste each week!)
Please give us one fun fact about your business.
MakeSoil has matched thousands of neighbors in over 75 countries around the world! Some of our ‘Soil Makers’ knew nothing about composting or the environment, but decided to learn and host a soil site because they love neighbors coming by to drop off their scraps and so enjoy it as a meaningful social activity!
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