Composting Program

We are pleased to announce a new pilot program that began just a few weeks ago with Organicycle, a local composting company, made possible with a grant through the Beacon Hill Foundation.

Organicycle, founded in 2011 by husband-and-wife team Dan and Bridget Tietma, began with a simple yet impactful question: “When we throw away food, where does it end up?” They discovered that most organic waste ends up in landfills, where it releases significant amounts of greenhouse gases. Additionally, valuable nutrients in food waste are not returned to the soil, leading to soil depletion and increased reliance on chemical fertilizers. With the mission “A Simple Step for a Sustainable Future,” Organicycle has grown to become the leader in curbside composting in West Michigan, raising awareness and driving change in the community.

The pilot program began in the Garden Café kitchen, which is composting food scraps and food waste through curbside collection. During the pilot, we will evaluate its effectiveness and how we can extend this program to our other food service areas within Beacon Hill.

Currently, the Garden Café is collecting approximately 40-44 gallons (approximately 160-176 pounds) of compost daily.

Items that are being composted:

“Through our work with the Beacon Hill Community Sustainability Initiative (BHCSI), we have identified areas of opportunity throughout the community to improve our sustainability efforts through our operations,” says Sarah Johnson, BHCSI member and Service and Events Director. “We are grateful to the Beacon Hill Foundation for helping make this possible, and we are excited to see the results of this initial effort.”

It is important to note that composting our food waste has sustainability benefits: (1) Composting helps to restore soil for farming and gardening in our area. (2) Composting reduces our climate impact—Each pound of food waste that is composted (and not landfilled) decreases Beacon Hill’s climate impact by approximately ½-pound of CO2e (Carbon dioxide equivalent) (US EPA). CO2e is the term used to track various types of climate impacting substances, like methane. When we compost food waste instead of landfilling it, we significantly reduce the amount of methane generated from the decomposing food waste. Methane causes twenty-five times the climate impact compared to that of carbon dioxide! In other words, a pound of methane emitted from landfills due to decomposing food waste is the CO2e of 25 pounds of carbon dioxide (US EPA).

As we begin this exciting program, we will continue to update our community on its progress. In other sustainability news, the BHCSI continues to solidify the community wide Sustainability Plan, which will include short- and long-term goals. “The Steering Committee is in the process of finalizing the multi-year plan, and we are looking forward to implementing additional programs at the operational level and introducing resident-focused initiatives,” says Ashley Edwards, BHCSI member and Marketing and Communications Director.