A Composting Angel

I am writing this from the West Coast, so it is on West Coast time! Theo and I traveled to Los Angeles for a friend’s wedding and have been under the spell of warm sunshine and wildflowers.

Everyone reading this will have a unique relationship to composting. It could be that you’ve only heard of it, but you’ve never done it, or you might be the kind of person who tries to compost but has never figured out how to incorporate into the daily routine, or you could be the person who saves their food scraps in the freezer and religiously brings them to the farmers market every weekend to be composted. So, who are you?

Just like many behaviors that need to change to move humankind into a more sustainable world, they can be hard to do. Composting is a big part of how we can create a circular food system. When we throw away food and other organic material, it creates methane gas, which is a top contributor to global warming. On the flip side, if we compost our food waste, it can be broken down and turned into soil to grow more food - how incredible is that!?

As with most change, its a slow movement, and many of you who are reading this, don’t have easy ways to compost. I understand how challenging it is to keep food scraps in the freezer and then travel with a de-frosting soggy mess to drop it off (I’ve tried it.) NYC now offers compost pick up, so most of us New Yorkers really have no excuse, but if your city doesn’t offer pick up, you would likely have to pay for a private service, and if you can afford it, this is the move.

But my plea is really with foodservice. Schools, hospitals, catering companies, event venues, this is where large-scale food waste happens and real impact can be made. Have you ever seen your leftover office catering go into the trash and felt guilt? We can change that. Leftover buffet food? Even floral arrangements? This food and other organic materials can be composted through the magical work of getting it picked up and brought to the right place.

Please meet Vivian Lin, who is the founder of Groundcycle. I see her as a composting angel. She shows up with her team after events, methodically gathering all the