Aiming for a 90% recycling rate to minimize waste, conserve resources, boost economies, and protect the environment.

“It was such a pleasure to sink one's hands into the warm earth, to feel at one's fingertips the possibilities of the new season.” ― Kate Morton, The Forgotten Garden Throughout March and April, we’ve been offering a 5-gallon compost pickup service every Saturday morning from 9 to 11. We started offering this for the simple reason several local master gardener groups wouldn’t take no for an answer.  And good thing they didn’t because it’s been such a pleasure to meet so many area gardeners and talk to them about their plans for the season.  As a lifetime gardener myself, I know well that hope springs eternal—especially every Spring! Throughout these conversations, I’ve heard many, many vegetable gardeners voice their...

What about the little guy? Springing forward every year for daylight saving time is always a bit of a shock to my system—and becomes more so with each passing year. It’s hard answering that alarm bell when it still looks like the dead of night outside. Thank goodness for the snooze button reprieve. On the flip side, the time change also serves as a signal to our many Food Loops gardeners, farmers, nurseries, and landscapers that it’s compost time! Food Loops recycles everything that can be recycled, but our go-to commodity has always been food waste. The fruits of those efforts—all puns intended—is wonderful, sustainable compost. Nothing against regular carbon or mushroom compost, but from what our customers repeatedly tell...

British anthropologist and author Robin Dunbar observes the ‘magic number’ for meaningful contacts in our lives is roughly about 150. There are several layers to this, but essentially Dunbar bases this onhis theory that relative to our brain size, there is a corresponding number to the size of our ‘cohesive social group’.   Lost? Bear with me. Dunbar sees the numbers in our personal and professional networksmuch like the circles that form when you drop a rock in a pond.  In our closest circles typically there are 5 loved ones, 15 close friends, 50 good friends, 150 meaningful contacts, 500 acquaintances, and finally 1500 people you can recognize by name.  Do these numbers square with your network?     I can...

For the first time in five years of doing business, we sent a survey to our customers in Q4 last year.  Truth be told, your first tendency may well be to roll your eyes and your cursor right past most customer surveys.  That is, right up until the time you decide to do one of your own.  And while I wouldn’t necessarily recommend waiting five years to solicit feedback, turns out it’s true—there really is no time like the present.   As it turned out, much of the feedback we received was about what we anticipated, but some unexpected things also surfaced.  In the end, we were blessed with both positive & negative feedback, which was equally appreciated because bottom...