A Green Business Idea for Those Interested in Getting a Little Dirty

So, I keep having this thought that someone should start a business collecting all the compost-able material from restaurants and businesses. I recently read an article where a prison had gotten its inmates involved in a work project that gathered all the compost-ables from that one prison. The inmates then made large windrows of this good organic matter, which was sold to the public after it had been actively composted. This accomplished 3 key things: The inmates were learning a valid and employable skill during their incarceration, the prison was earning funds through the sale of finished compost, and the prison's waste removal costs dropped by something like 60%!

This is not rocket science. If businesses can realize a 60% reduction in their waste, they will gladly pay a fraction of that for a service that collects everything that isn't really garbage. I mean, just look at the packaging materials alone at a fast food restaurant. It will all end up in the trash can, but the reality is that almost all of it can be composted or recycled; the bag, the wrapper, the paper cup, the plastic straw and lid.

I think that if a service was started where an extra "composting can" was provided in one or two locations in fast food restaurants, many people would utilize them. Yes, it takes two extra seconds to sort your trash, but most people are embracing the reality that we are literally trashing the space we live in.