(WSVN) - An effort is underway to clean up South Florida and support local farms at the same time. Now you can be part of it. Heather Walker takes a look in our 7Spotlight.
Shoveling soil and emptying garbage bins is dirty work, but Francisco Torres is up for the job.
Francisco Torres: “When you think about it, you are either part of the solution or you’re part of the problem.”
Torres is turning food scraps into compost to help the environment.
Francisco Torres: “So, when we think about composting, it’s a natural breakdown of organic matter, and it’s the way that nature recycles.”
When Francisco moved to South Florida a few years ago, he noticed a need.
Francisco Torres: “There was no composting service here, there was not an opportunity to prevent food waste, and I said, ‘You know what? I’m going to start doing something about it.'”
Not only did Francisco want to encourage people to start composting, he wanted to make it easy for them.
In 2020, he started Compost for Life. It works like a trash service. People toss their leftover food into a bin that’s picked up and taken to a compost hub in Homestead or Miami Beach.
Francisco Torres: “So we repeat that process every week. So we go to your condominium, your multi-unit, your house, we go to your doorstep.”
The scraps are mixed with mulch and turned at least once a week to break down the food. Then, nature does the rest.
Francisco Torres: “So, in 90 days, we’ll have finished compost. We collected 110 pounds that first week. Fast forward almost five years later, and we’re collecting over 65,000 pounds per week.”
Compost for Life is gaining traction across South Florida, and restaurants like Stubborn Seed on Miami Beach are helping out by chipping in with their scraps.
Logan McNeil: “Anything that once had life can be composted, recycled and made into compost and utilized again, right? So that’s any trims on our proteins, any trims on our fruits and vegetables.”
A few hours before the restaurant doors open, the staff is busy in the kitchen prepping food for dinner service. Chef Logan McNeil says if the food doesn’t end up on a plate, it’s tossed in a container and taken outside to a bright pink Compost for Life bin.
Logan McNeil: “We’ve been able to offset over 11,000 pounds of food trims and scraps and things like that, that would have otherwise been in a landfill. It’s just one way that we can give back to the Earth, right?”
Most of the compost is sent to local farms that supply produce to restaurants like Stubborn Seed. It’s also donated to community gardens across South Florida.
Francisco Torres: “All that we’re doing here is making sure that every time that you put a food item or food scrap into a pink bucket, that bucket will be composted. That’s our guarantee.”
A guarantee for a cleaner, brighter future. Heather Walker, 7News.
Compost for Life’s service starts at $24 a month for houses. Prices for multi-unit buildings and businesses vary and quotes are available. For more info on Compost for Life and how to register, click here.
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