Rust Belt Riders Composting: A Business to Support Community Gardens

By seeing value in what others throw away, Daniel Brown and Michael Robinson found a creative way to turn their passion for helping their community into a full-time job. The inspiration for their business came while they were running a community garden in Cleveland, Ohio. The garden was formerly the site of a factory, so turning the poor-quality compacted soil into fertile farmland was a constant struggle. They turned to composting as a means to improve the soil condition but had trouble procuring the volume of compost that they needed. Brown and Robinson were both working in restaurants at the time, and they began soliciting food scrap donations for the garden. They soon realized that other gardens all over the city must be struggling with the same problem, and they started brainstorming how they could change that. With a starting budget of only $2000, Rust Belt Riders Composting was born.