Moving the Needle

Concerning PFAS

Black Earth Compost does not manage or process any type of water treatment sludge or paper mill waste. These materials can contain heavy metals and various types of chemicals such as PFAS and will never be accepted at one of our compost sites. It is important to remember that 'composting' is a process that is used by many industries to manage organic waste. What you put into that process as your initial ingredients dictates what type of compost will come out and thus no compost is the same. Our ingredients are food scraps, certified compostable cups, plates, etc, leaves, manure and wood.

Black Earth Compost has put purity of our ingredients as a top value since the beginning in 2011. This is why we don't even put grass in our compost due to concerns of lawn chemicals. Our ingredients are simple, and we personally collect the food scraps in our trucks to quality control them. We closely monitor for the presence of salts, nutrients, different metals, herbicides, food web biology and PFAS. We share our results here which show our compost is safe for use even at Massachusetts strictest standard. We use our own compost to grow healthy food for our own families.

We ask that you join us in asking manufacturers why PFAS are present in consumer products in the first place and what needs to be done to remove them from the marketplace. PFAS is put on products like mascara and makeup, microwave popcorn bags, stain-resistant carpet, non-stick cookware, waterproof outdoor gear/cloths and food wrappers that our children eat off of. Manufacturers of these products need to hear that we do not need the 'benefits' these additives imbue on the endless amount of stuff we consume. We are glad to see the attention the press gives this issue as it brings awareness to the composition of the consumer products we buy everyday.

Lab results are again listed here:
Quality Assurance | Black Earth Compost

Why Composting is Critical

Mandatory Compost Supplementation to Soil

Compost reverses global warming through deep carbon storage, AND reinvigorates out our ability to grow food. A major challenge being in MA, is that the vast amount of food we eat comes from outside New England. So we are a net importer of nutrients, and it is not cost effective to ship compost out of the area. We must expand our outlets of where compost should be used to make sure the whole system works. If compost manufacturers over-produce compost, the price plummets, and the cost of collecting food waste rises to offset that. Cities on the west coast know this and have implemented mandatory uses for adding compost to post construction soil to help cities manage rain water run-off problems due to composts' ability to soak in moisture like a sponge: https://kingcounty.gov/depts/dnrp/solid-waste/programs/green-building/home-builders-owners/soil-standard.aspx

So step one is to divert the organics, and step two is to make sure compost has end markets. I would argue step two should be combined limiting our chemical warfare on the environment with an effort to decrease chemical fertilizers due to over fertilization causing algae blooms, low oxygen in the water, and depleting fish stocks. And even more important, restricting the use of pesticides and herbicides.

Illinois has a new law requiring municipalities, DOT, and other state agencies to use of compost:

https://news.wttw.com/2018/08/21/new-law-aims-increase-use-compost-illinois