COMPOST PICKUP SPOTLIGHT #3: Beth Rankin

Go Green Park Ridge is proud to spotlight our neighbors COMPOSTING! This interview is part of a series raising awareness of reducing wasted food, seeing the various opportunities to compost right outside our doors and inspiring each other to keep making a difference. 

Join us in becoming better stewards of the soil, partners in sustainability and proud participants in a greener future. Together we are building a more resilient Park Ridge by composting.

What motivated you to begin composting? 
When we moved into our home, my mom offered to buy us a garbage disposal as a housewarming gift. After doing some investigating, it seemed that a garbage disposal was ok but not the ideal solution for food waste. Composting would be the best, but we felt we didn’t have the bandwidth to learn backyard composting at the time (babies, work, etc.). I found out that Collective Resource Compost Cooperative (CRCC) serviced our area, and it wasn’t exorbitantly expensive, so mom was able to pivot and sponsor our first year as a gift. 

It was also - and I stress this - incredibly easy. A commercial organization like CRCC can accept things that could not go into a backyard bin (namely, animal products). For us, it is a matter of collecting scraps in an undersink bin, transferring them to the orange bucket, and leaving it outside on pickup day. The hardest thing was adding the reminder to our family calendar. 

Please describe any a-ha moments when you began composting.
After composting for a while, I would try to compost *everything* that might be acceptable. Since CRCC accepts “anything that was once alive” I wondered if that included things like supplements/vitamins (yes) and even compost-certified cups (also yes). Every time I had a question, I emailed the team and received a quick response. It is much better to ask first because contamination is a problem everyone wants to avoid.

How long have you been composting? 
We have been customers of Collective Resource Compost Cooperative since 2019. Our family of four has a bucket swap every other week. The highest volume times were during COVID lockdown and when our children were babies and were trying/rejecting/throwing new foods.    

Do you have any advice for new folks on how or where to begin? 
The new collection bins in Uptown are a good way to try out composting and get a feel for how much a household produces in a certain amount of time. Then, if it makes sense to go bigger and contract with CRCC or set up a backyard system, it’s easier to take that step. We are fortunate to live where we have options!  

Any advice to help PR increase participation in composting?
I hope the Uptown collection bins multiply and pop up in more locations - from what I can tell, they are popular. Students in D64 schools separate lunch waste into composting and landfill bins - parents can ask their students for a demo! If a restaurant or event practices composting, they should advertise that - it would be a big plus for waste-conscious customers and gets the food waste conversation going for others. Hosting a party at home is also a great opportunity to demonstrate to guests how easy it is.  

Composting in Park Ridge