By David Gordon
There’s a new company on the Chippewa Valley trash collection scene this week, but it’s not really interested in the usual garbage, trash and recycled materials that are put out at the curb.
Its focus, instead, is on the one-third of the average household garbage pickup that can be turned into compost.
Earthbound Environmental Solutions (EES), which launched its pickup service this week, will be collecting both garbage and traditional recycled materials from its customers. But its real focus, according to co-principal owner Jamie Pappas, is in collecting organic household waste material and diverting it from landfills in order to compost it.
All three types of material will be collected at once, because Eau Claire County requires that trash haulers must collect everything from each customer, rather than being able to pick and choose what they will haul away, she said in a recent interview.
Pappas said the company is providing its customers with compostable bags and a countertop container for organic waste material. When a bag is full, it will go into the household’s regular garbage container, and the pickup crew will separate the compost bag from the garbage at the curb.
The compost bag will be taken to the EES composting facility on U.S. 12 just east of Eau Claire, located on 52 acres of company-owned property near Highway FF. There, the organic waste will be treated for up to six months and then made available for sale to gardeners and other compost users. The company will utilize existing landfill and recycling facilities in this area to dispose of the other materials it collects, Pappas said.
Pappas expects that the amount of material going into the landfill “should be significantly less” than would otherwise be the case from the number of customers that EES is serving. She cited a 2009 waste management study which found that some 37% of the typical household waste stream is comprised of organic material and it’s this material that the company will be keeping out of landfills.
Pappas said she and her husband, Zacharious, have been developing the plans for this venture for the past four years. This week’s collections began with about 15 customers who have signed up for an October start, and at least 30 more customers have signed up to begin in November, she said.
“Our first day was a smashing success,” she said in an e-mail. “We met with community members (who) were excited about our services starting.”
She added that one person expressed surprise that the organic material did not emit an odor from the countertop bin.
Prices for the EES service are in the middle of the range that’s charged by other area trash haulers, Pappas said, and collection days will remain the same since these are assigned to haulers by local governments. In addition to Pappas and her husband, the company has only one employee – Jamie Pappas’ father, who carries the title of operations manager and who – along with Zacharious Pappas – will comprise the crew for the firm’s lone truck.
Jamie Pappas said that, while her husband is now is working “around the clock for Earthbound,” she is continuing in her full-time job as a care manager for an Eau Claire managed care organization and works on EES business after she finishes that job.
EES has gotten a number of local groups interested in its approach, including several environmental organizations and JONAH (Joining Our Neighbors, Advancing Hope), an Eau Claire area faith-based group that deals with social justice issues. Additional information about the company and its services is available at https://www.earthboundenviro.com/.