539: Bryan Kappa on ChipDrop.
Bringing green waste to your driveway.
In This Podcast:
Organic matter builds soil, and Bryan Kappa has a free service that allows nationwide users to quickly build the quality of their soil. Learn about ChipDrop, the program that connects gardeners with tree companies and benefits everyone. Not all mulch is created equal, and you’ll learn the difference in mulch options, how to properly wood chip your yard and improve your soil Ph. There are some exciting improvements coming to ChipDrop, as well as creative ways to use it! Don’t Miss an Episode!! Click HERE to sign up for regular podcast updates
Our Guest:
Bryan is a Portland native who combined his love of trees and technology into the ChipDrop web service. While hauling brush for a local tree company he realized the potential cost savings of delivering the freshly chipped trees to neighbors and homeowners, as opposed to driving long distances to the dump (and paying their fees). He also knew that people loved free things. Bryan has a history of creating life hacks to combine urban living with environmental sustainability. In 2014 he was granted permission by the Portland Water Bureau to keep 2 goats and a pig on a small lot in North Portland to help clear brush and Ivy without the use of pesticides. He and his roommates kept a composting toilet in his residential North Portland home, only a mile from downtown. In his spare time he serves on the board as a technical lead for Cascadia Wild, helping build and maintain their database of images of rare and threatened species in the Pacific Northwest wilderness.
Listen in and learn about:
-
- The ChipDrop website that links gardeners and tree companies
- Why you want to use woodchips in your yard
- Aesthetic mulch vs natural, organic woodchips that supports plant growth
- The benefit of having different sized wood chips instead of all the same size
- How the green matter in a ChipDrop starts the composting process.
- Properly using mulch in your yard
- Soil Ph and how to improve your soil
- Cities with the ChipDrop service available
- How to use this service to get firewood logs in the winter
- Future improvements to the ChipDrop program
- How neighbors and communities can work together to share deliveries
As well as:
His failure – Having some of his efforts undone because he didn’t work with all the right people for a project.
His success – Growing the ChipDrop program outside of his city.
His drive – Solving problems and creating a more efficient, less wasteful society.
His advice – Get out and start making your dirt healthy!
Bryan’s Book recommendations:
The Humanure Handbook by Joseph Jenkins
How to reach Bryan:
Website: www.chipdrop.com
UrbanFarm.org/chipdrop
