MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Caroline Norris is the president of Compost Fairy, a non profit organization that works hard to reduce food waste by educating Memphis and the Mid-South.
“We all feel like compost is the number one easiest way to make a difference today, right now,” Norris said. “Just go home and recycle your food scraps. Easy! Composting is the process where we recycle food waste, food scraps and even lead litter, tree branches and make that back into healthy and happy soil.”
You can divert your coffee grounds, veggie peels, leftover dinner scraps plus yard waste and even dryer lint. Yes, dryer lint is compostable into your compost bucket.
“You can go home and instead of scraping off your plate into the trash can, put it into a baggie and take it to the farmer’s market and drop it off,” Norris said.
Composting dryer lint allows it to be repurposed into healthy soil rather than ending up in a plastic garbage bag at a landfill that turns it into methane gas, which is a potent greenhouse gas.
That is why Compost Fairy partnered with Atlas Organics which is an industrial composting company in Memphis. Mike Larrivee is their licensed geologist and general manager.
“We received food waste. Not just banana peels but meats and fish bones and oils and greases that you can’t compost at home,” Larrivee said. “We’re turning a liability into an asset essentially. Managing it in a landfill is creating problems. It’s a liability. Managing it in a compost facility is creating a soil amendment that solves problems.”
That is why our anonymous donor wanted to give Compost Fairy $1,000 because when you help your community become more sustainable, everyone benefits.