416: Sarah Boltwala-Mesina on Community Composting.
Transforming waste into soil, jobs, and community.
Editor’s Note: We also interviewed Alyssa Brodsky from Food2Soil. Listen to Podcast Episode 654
Sarah is the executive director of Inika Small Earth, a nonprofit that started Food2Soil where they train interns in good composting techniques. Food2Soil collects vegetative food scraps from local restaurants then composts the scraps at two urban farms in San Diego, selling the finished product to local gardeners looking for high-nutrient soil.
Inika Small Earth is a charitable organization working to enhance the network of community composting hubs across San Diego. Their aim is to build the collective capacity to transform food scraps into soil and jobs for the community.Don’t miss an episode! Click here to sign up for podcast updates
In This Podcast:
Sarah Boltwala-Mesina, along with other parents, hoped to start a recycling program at their children’s school. This was the first step on her journey to creating Food2Soil, her business that collects food scraps from people and businesses in San Diego and turns those scraps into rich compost. Her company provides services helping homeowners become successful composting in their own backyard, provides hubs around the city for people to drop scraps off, and offers scrap pickup service to restaurants. There is even a wait-list of businesses and breweries hoping to participate.
Listen in and learn about:
“I was headed to Wall Street and fell into the dumpster along the way!”
- Sarah’s journey to community composting
- The three levels of services offered by Food2Soil
- Dealing with city regulations and still being successful
“Even if Food2Soil were to fail and this would all just not pan out in the end, I think the fact that we’ve been able to offer a different model, start the beginning of a paradigm shift, for me is success.”
As well as:
- Her failure – We’ve tried to implement some programs in Food2Soil that were not received well by the community.
- Her success – Showing that community composting can be a viable option
- Her drive – Designing a self-functioning organization that helps people, provides jobs for people, serves the planet and is financially secure is my challenge.
- Her advice – Start somewhere. When we try to solve a really big problem, just take that first step and things will fall into place.
Sarah’s Book recommendations:
Big Magic: Creative Living Beyond Fear
Reinventing Organizations
How to reach Sarah:
Website: www.food2soil.net
Facebook: @food2soil
Instagram: @food2soil
Email: info@food2soil.net
Sarah’s Blog Article:
SOIL RECIPE: Hot Composting for Cool Folks
UrbanFarm.org/food2soil
Note: You can also find these books mentioned above at one of our favorite local independent bookstores and have the satisfaction of knowing you are supporting a small business.
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Some of the links in our podcast show notes and blog posts are affiliate links and if you go through them to make a purchase, we will earn a nominal commission at no cost to you. We offer links to items recommended by our podcast guests and guest writers as a service to our audience and these items are not selected because of the commission we receive from your purchases. We know the decision is yours, and whether you decide to buy something is completely up to you.
