Gainesville Compost, Pedal Powered Pick Up, Fla.

Food scrap waste for composting collected by pedal power. That’s what Gainesville Compost is doing in Northern Florida. Founder Chris Cano, and co-owner Steven Kanner, Chief Systems Engineer and Inventor of the bicycle trailers, started picking up pre-consumer (before human lips have touched it) food scraps from Gainesville businesses, just over one year ago, by bicycle. “It seemed silly to pick up waste for composting using gas to do it,” says Cano. 


Gainesville Compost pedal powered vehicle, Gainesville,
Fla.

The food wastes include vegetables, fruit, eggshells, and coffee grounds. The end product is a premium soil amendment (fertilizer) that includes a rich assortment of minerals and worm castings.


Steven Kanner, Chief Systems Engineer & Inventor at
Gainesville Compost, shows how food scraps are 
contained, Gainesville, Fla.

There is a charge for the service but it comes with lots of perks for the Venue Partners, companies that contribute food waste to the program. They get a clean bucket when every full bucket that is picked-up. As well as marketing space on Gainesville Compost website, regular mentions in the monthly newsletter, and a decal to put in their front window saying they are a Gainesville Compost Partner.
The Venue Partners also get advertising exposure at area farmers and green markets where the compost is sold.

There are even benefits for the Community Partners, companies that offer space for composting on their properties. They get a portion of the compost for their gardens.

 

Steven Kanner, displays Gainesville Compost collection
containers, Gainesville, Fla.

“It is a tight community based company designed to fit individual needs,” says Kanner. This means they offer different sized buckets for different clients depending on their needs. Even though the service has distance limitations because of the pedal power pick up, Kanner sees it spreading to other urban areas.

Earlier this year, a Los Angeles based composting group contacted Cano inviting him to come out and see their operation, based on his model. He did, and was impressed that the pedal powered composting idea was catching on outside of Florida.

In the future Cano hopes to re-launch a CSA program he started this past spring. It will allow members to have access to educational materials on how to use compost.

To find out more about the company you can go to their website www.GainesvilleCompost.com

Or email GainesvilleCompost@gmail.com

Or call Chris Cano at 352-356-8178