Veteran Compost (http://www.veterancompost.com/) turns food scraps
into organic compost in the Washington, DC metro area.
A veteran-owned business, it
employs other veterans and their family members. The team collects trash and
food scraps from bins in both residential and commercial areas. They also work
special events, composting materials for anything from small weddings to large
festivals.
Veteran Farms has a 30-acre farm
in Aberdeen, MD, with a farmhouse dating from the 1870s. The team uses
wind power there to compost materials, and they have a large-scale
vermicomposting operation in their barn, collecting castings from more than a
million worms, according to their website
The business was started by
Justen Garrity nearly six years ago. Garrity, who grew up in Howard County,
MD, was in the Army for around 10 years. Upon returning, he noticed a
demand for organic materials for soil improvement. He created Veteran Compost
to meet this need and help with the landfill problem.
“We get to work with so many
great people in our business,” said Garrity. “It’s a cool way to help people be
more environmentally sustainable.”
Iraq and Afghanistan combat
veterans have a higher-than-average rate of unemployment. Also, two-thirds of the material that we throw away each
year is compostable. Veteran Compost seeks to solve both of these
issues.
The business sells organic
compost blends, gardening and potting mixes, seed starting mix, worm castings,
and tea and coffee bags.
While it started very small, the
business has been expanding largely since its inception.
“We’re always growing,” said
Garrity. “We’ve been steadily hiring more employees, requiring more equipment,
opening more facilities.”
About the Author
Seema
Vithlani is a junior multi-platform journalism major and French minor
at the University of Maryland. This spring she is also an editorial
intern for Washington
Gardener Magazine.
"Local First Friday" is a weekly blog series profiling independent
garden businesses in the greater Washington, DC, and Mid-Atlantic
region. Washington Gardener Magazine believes strongly in supporting and sourcing from local businesses first!
No comments:
Post a Comment