WHAT WE DO

We conduct research to develop more effective tools and methods,

then support the application of these innovations in the real world.

We focus on addressing climate crisis in two areas of national priority:

Community Composting

HOW WE SUPPORT COMMUNITY COMPOSTING

We're working to develop exceptional compost formulas that can make community composting more effective.

Composting Process and Methodology

Developing composting methods that:

produce the best possible compost for specific uses,
support the long-term financial viability of community composting, (e.g, by simplifying the process and reducing costs), and
require a relatively low capital outlay for space and equipment as the community composter scales up their processing capacity.

Premium Compost

Develop compost formulations that:

utilize quality feed stock and enhancements to produce compost that improves soil health and produces nutrient-rich food crops,
can be tailored to the requirements for specific food crops and soil conditions.

Testing and Verification

establish rigorous criteria for compost quality, and
verify quality utilizing state-of-the-art technology such as DNA testing, and
test for both the positive attributes (e.g., healthy and robust microorganisms) and the absence of negative attributes (contaminants such as heavy metals, glyphosates, and other pesticides).

Regenerative Farms

HOW WE SUPPORT REGENERATIVE FARMS

Healthy soil needs nutrients. Those nutrients can be added with compost. By using compost that has been tested for quality we want to expand the amount of acreage being farmed using regenerative agriculture practices. Using quality compost reduces the use of chemical fertilizers and pesticides. Regenerative farming also increases carbon sequestration in soil.

Regenerative Farming Methods

Using high-value compost makes regenerative farming more viable. This includes:

reducing costs to produce food crops (e.g., less water usage, reduction or elimination of costly chemical fertilizers and pesticides),
increasing crop yields, and
producing food that is more valuable to purchasers (greater nutrient content, more robust in appearance and flavor).

Carbon Sequestration. Drawdown is now viable on rangeland and pastures.

Research and develop farming practices using specialty-formulated compost to significantly increase the amount of carbon sequestered in the soil. Provide testing and verification methods to quantify and report increased carbon sequestration.

Testing and Verification

In our work to support community composting and regenerative agriculture, we continuously develop and refine methods for testing and verifying:

soil health,
compost quality,
the impact of the use of quality compost in the production of food crops,
carbon sequestration, and
other quantifiable aspects of composting and regenerative agriculture.

Education and Dissemination

Many national and local organizations have excellent educational programs in place to disseminate information regarding community composting and regenerative farming. Our role is to partner with existing organizations to:

develop educational materials and presentations that support the application of our research in the real world,
support educational programs for use by a wide range of audiences, including community composters, farmers and gardeners, professional and trade organizations, public agencies, higher education, schools, and community groups.

THE NEED

THE CLIMATE CRISIS

The U.S. and the U.N. have set a target of holding global warming to 1.5° centigrade. Beyond that, the impacts of climate change will be catastrophic and irreversible. But we are behind in reaching that goal.

We have one chance to achieve 1.5°. We must slash greenhouse gasses in half by 2030, and then stop adding carbon dioxide to the atmosphere altogether by 2050. Keeping food waste out of landfills and applying compost in farms and gardens are simple things we can do RIGHT NOW to help achieve these goals.

The U.S. generates more food waste than any other country – 3,000 pounds per second. It is the most common material going into our landfills.

As it rots in the landfill, food waste produces methane -- a powerful greenhouse gas, more potent that carbon dioxide, and a significant contributor to global warming.

The U.S. has set a goal of reducing food waste by 50% by 2030.

FOOD WASTE AND METHANE

CARBON SEQUESTRATION

Carbon sequestration captures carbon dioxide, preventing it from entering the earth’s atmosphere and our oceans. About 45% of carbon dioxide stays in the atmosphere; the rest is sequestered naturally by forests, farms, grasslands, and oceans.

Compost application rates range from 3-8 tons per acre for annual crops. For rangeland, compost applications rates are 6-8 tons/acre. But the drawdown impacts are significant, and our goal is to increase the acreage across the U.S. in partnerships with organic and regenerative farmers and community composters.

Meet Our Founder

Bridgett is the former Director of the California Department of Conservation, where she scaled up the world's largest recycling program. She directed a staff of 750 with a budget of $1.2 billion. She then co-founded the Cradle to Cradle Products Innovation Institute, which scaled the open-source Cradle to Cradle Certified® product standard. She established an ongoing multi-stakeholder refinement process and persuaded hundreds of the world’s leading manufacturers to adopt the certification standards. Cradle to Cradle certification has become a keystone of the Circular Economy.