Go Green Park Ridge asked Vanessa about her role in stepping up to be our "Point Person" to get commercial composting up and running in Park Ridge!  Please email [email protected] for more information on how you can get bi-weekly pickup for compostables at YOUR residence!

GGPR:  Do you see an important connection with the role you play in spreading awareness of composting and our future on this planet?  Would you like others in our community to know more about your efforts?


Vanessa: As a city kid, I never really had a relationship with growing food or thinking about how to use food waste to best impact the planet.  It wasn't until moving to Park Ridge three years ago that we started with a few tomato plants and began to understand how valuable compost can be to the growing process.  We began to compost ourselves and our food gardens have expanded to take over almost all of the border areas of our yard.  Seeing how much of our daily waste was able to be composted instead of being thrown away was eye opening.  As I heard about other communities piloting commercial composting programs and the additional waste items that can be composted commercially, I was excited.  Thankfully, Go Green Park Ridge was able provide some experience and know-how to help us begin our own pilot.  With so many issues facing our planet today, it is sometimes difficult to feel you can impact anything on your own. It was a wonderful experience to see my small efforts translate into something tangible and I feel lucky to live in such a great community.