Welcome to BioBag’s Community Heroes series! Each month, we will highlight community heroes that are making a difference in their communities and working to make their local environments cleaner and healthier.
This month, we are taking a look at Green Heron Compost!
Green Heron Compost Service is a curbside compost service in Knoxville, Tennessee that launched in 2019. They are committed to protecting and restoring the environment by diverting organic food and plant waste away from landfills and instead, delivering compost to local farms to replenish their soils. We spoke to owner Kat McDearis about her organization, which you can learn more about in the interview below.
What led you to start your composting operation?
McDearis: I started Green Heron Compost because I was living in a small apartment in downtown Knoxville and tried to start composting. After some research, I realized that there wasn’t any sort of composting option in Knoxville at that time. Since my wife is a soil scientist, I decided I would use her expertise to try and start a small composting operation. After almost a year of prep and testing, I launched Green Heron Compost Services using my small sedan until I got enough customers to afford a pickup truck. Luckily, business took off from there!
Who do you serve, and how can people get in touch with you if they want to start composting?
McDearis: We serve Knox County residents and businesses by providing curbside food waste collection services. From there, the waste is processed at our farm facility where it becomes high-quality compost. If someone would like to start composting with us, they can visit our website www.greenheroncompost.com and sign up by registering their address.
How much organic material do you typically take in on a weekly basis?
McDearis: We are currently diverting about 1-2 tons of organic waste per week, and that number continues to grow each month.
Please give us one fun fact about you or your business.
McDearis: Green Heron Compost got its name because the owner is an avid birdwatcher especially with Grandma Elma. The company name is a tribute to one of their favorite wild waterfowl.
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If you would like to be featured in a future edition of Community Heroes, please email us at marketing@biobagusa.com.
