Hillside Solutions debuts Compost Club benefits, helps Creighton University with composting project to reduce food waste

Juli Oberlander • October 7, 2020

Hillside Solutions debuts Compost Club benefits, helps Creighton University with composting project to reduce food waste

Photos courtesy of Brent Crampton

In 2017, about 139.6 million tons of material solid waste went to landfills, with food being the largest component at about 22 percent, according to the Environmental Protection Agency. That same year, only about 94 million tons of waste were recycled and composted, equaling about a 35 percent recycling and composting rate.

Created in 2017, Hillside Solutions is seeking to increase the number of items that are composted in the Omaha area. A waste hauling company based in Gretna, Hillside Solutions works with subsidiaries Gretna Sanitation and Soil Dynamics to divert materials from landfills, offer people sustainable alternatives and help the community live a zero waste lifestyle.

Brent Crampton, director of partnerships for Hillside Solutions, says the company connects people and businesses to Soil Dynamics, which accepts food waste and turns it into soil at its composting farm in Ashland. By signing up to compost their food with Hillside Solutions, customers can bring their waste to the company's compost sites, which convert items such as paper towels, meat, dairy, bones and pet waste into sustainable soil.

For the first time in Omaha’s history, Crampton says Hillside Solutions is debuting its Compost Club to give subscribers the option to donate their composted soil to a nonprofit organization or community garden of their choice. The process also helps improve soil health and fight food scarcity.

"This pandemic has made it all the more urgent that people need access to clean, nutritious, local food," Crampton says. "As a way for our company to support community food gardens, our Compost Club subscription benefits are now giving members the option to donate their earned soil to these gardens."

Each month of membership, Crampton says Compost Club subscribers earn 432 cubic inches of soil, which is redeemable at any time for personal use. Over a year's time, the total comes to 3 cubic feet. Subscribers can then use their membership to get 20 percent off any purchase of soil or mulch at any time throughout the year.

Crampton says Hillside Solutions is also launching a give-away campaign right before the 2021 planting season for members who don't need or want their soil. This process will allow subscribers to donate soil to Hillside Solutions' nonprofit partners, schools and churches.

"This could be a game changer for our community," Crampton says, "because we know growing local food, without the use of tilling or chemicals, is one of the best things we can do to fix climate change and correct food system inequalities."

With the new Compost Club benefits, subscribers gain access to a network of drop-off sites that allow them to compost items that they may be currently sending to landfills. Since items in landfills put off methane gas, Crampton says the compost program helps improve the environment and gives customers the option to receive soil back that they helped create. Members can then use the soil for their yards, gardens and houseplants, or they can donate to the organization of their choice.

"One of the benefits of doing it is getting soil back," Crampton says. "It’s not just the composting, it’s a discounted soil program."

Available in neighborhoods throughout Omaha, Hillside Solutions' drop-off locations allow the community to deposit materials at composting sites any time. Omaha residents can place their compostables in any container, such as a trash can or bucket.

Crampton says the composting service is also available to businesses and nonprofit organizations, giving them the option to host a drop-off site at no cost. The team then picks up the compost, where it's converted into soil at the Ashland farm.

Since its creation, Hillside Solutions has partnered with many nonprofit organizations to advocate for environmental sustainability through composting. Recently, the company worked with Creighton University to launch a pilot program to compost food waste from the takeout meals served at the university's Brandeis Dining Hall.

Crampton says Nick McCreary, Creighton's sustainability director, decided to make the campus composting effort an almost entirely student-led project. Since the beginning of the fall semester, the team has composted 8,000 pounds of material.

The initiative, led by 77 students from various campus organizations, has continued to grow. Crampton says about 150 student volunteers may join the effort before the semester ends.

In addition to eliminating food waste from campus, the project has also allowed students to learn about the benefits of composting, which Crampton says has been a "wonderful educational opportunity."

Creighton University isn't the only school Hillside Solutions has worked with to promote composting. Before the pandemic, Crampton says the company was composting with 22 schools, meaning about 10,000 students were incorporating composting into their daily routines.

"Students learn about composting, start to discern more intently about where their waste goes, and then bring those ideas home and begin to put pressure on their family to make changes," he says. "We’ve heard everything from a parent amusingly telling us their kids berated them to begin recycling milk cartons to a City of Omaha Public Works official telling us that his daughter specifically chose to enroll at a school we compost with on account of its sustainability focus."

Now, Crampton says the new Compost Club program has the opportunity to build upon the awareness Hillside Solutions has been generating in the community about the importance of composting. He hopes the initiative continues to teach people about the benefits of regenerating waste into soil that can help grow produce to feed the community.

"Our company is a conduit for the rising tide of sustainability," Crampton says. "We’re just making it easier for people to do the right thing at a time when people are searching for answers. The time is now to do this work, and from what we see daily, our community is ready."

Check out the video below to learn more about Hillside Solutions' Compost Club: