Who We Are
Adrienne Edmands and Paul Kmiotek met on Earth Day in Georgetown in 1996. They have been almost inseparable ever since, and were finally married in June of 2008. They have both been self-employed for many years, and have been looking for a way to join their talents and start their own business.
Adrienne is a native Washingtonian and mother of two grown children. She is a former elementary school teacher, and ran a local trash and recycling collection company for 11 years where she learned the ins and outs of refuse collection.
Paul is a native of Buffalo, NY and relocated to DC in 1989. He worked for the Federal Government for 10 years, but found it to be unrewarding. He has worked as a contractor, doing home improvement in the DC metro area for many years.
As Paul and Adrienne brainstormed, they came up with the idea of starting a compostable material collection company. They realized the need for the service and recognized that it would be something they could do together, while helping to protect our planet by redirecting their customers' compostable waste away from landfills and to an appropriate facility.
Adrienne is a native Washingtonian and mother of two grown children. She is a former elementary school teacher, and ran a local trash and recycling collection company for 11 years where she learned the ins and outs of refuse collection.
Paul is a native of Buffalo, NY and relocated to DC in 1989. He worked for the Federal Government for 10 years, but found it to be unrewarding. He has worked as a contractor, doing home improvement in the DC metro area for many years.
As Paul and Adrienne brainstormed, they came up with the idea of starting a compostable material collection company. They realized the need for the service and recognized that it would be something they could do together, while helping to protect our planet by redirecting their customers' compostable waste away from landfills and to an appropriate facility.
Compostable Facts
Composting food waste and organic yard debris reduces the serious landfill challenges facing the US today. Not only are landfills leading contributors to climate change (by emitting large amounts of methane gas), they also pollute groundwater, waste precious resources, require a great deal of energy to manage, and discourage recycling, reuse, and composting. For more information on the effects of composting on our environment, please visit http://www.epa.gov/foodrecovery/
Our society often makes it easier to throw things away rather than reuse or recycle them. According to the Environmental Protection Agency, the average american throws out 4.5 pounds of trash per day, adding to the grand total of more than 236 million tons of refuse per year in the US. Of that amount, approximately 25% is composed of food scraps and yard debris. These are the very materials which, once in the landfills, produce ozone-damaging methane, a greenhouse gas that is twenty-one times more potent than carbon dioxide - another climate change threat.
Instead, these organic materials can be turned into rich, life-supporting compost. Whether you live in an apartment, in a home with a backyard, or on a farm, you can help reduce the emission of damaging greenhouse gases by composting.
The benefits of composting go far beyond keeping millions of tons of waste out of our landfills. Compost is an ideal medium for growing fruits and vegetables, flowers, shrubs, and trees. Because it is a rich source of nutrients, use of compost significantly reduces or eliminates the need for fertilizer. Compost improves soil texture and its ability to hold onto moisture, thus protecting against drought. Compost also helps control erosion and weed growth and acts as a protective barrier against toxins in the soil.
Below is an informative video made by Highfields Center for Composting that explains what compost is and why it's important, aimed at how composting works in a school setting.
Our society often makes it easier to throw things away rather than reuse or recycle them. According to the Environmental Protection Agency, the average american throws out 4.5 pounds of trash per day, adding to the grand total of more than 236 million tons of refuse per year in the US. Of that amount, approximately 25% is composed of food scraps and yard debris. These are the very materials which, once in the landfills, produce ozone-damaging methane, a greenhouse gas that is twenty-one times more potent than carbon dioxide - another climate change threat.
Instead, these organic materials can be turned into rich, life-supporting compost. Whether you live in an apartment, in a home with a backyard, or on a farm, you can help reduce the emission of damaging greenhouse gases by composting.
The benefits of composting go far beyond keeping millions of tons of waste out of our landfills. Compost is an ideal medium for growing fruits and vegetables, flowers, shrubs, and trees. Because it is a rich source of nutrients, use of compost significantly reduces or eliminates the need for fertilizer. Compost improves soil texture and its ability to hold onto moisture, thus protecting against drought. Compost also helps control erosion and weed growth and acts as a protective barrier against toxins in the soil.
Below is an informative video made by Highfields Center for Composting that explains what compost is and why it's important, aimed at how composting works in a school setting.
Published on Feb 5, 2014 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dRXNo7Ieky8
"Highfields Center for Composting presents an animated teaching guide for starting a compost program in your school. In this brief video, students will learn about compost, the importance of closing the loop on their food system and how to separate food scraps effectively."
"Highfields Center for Composting presents an animated teaching guide for starting a compost program in your school. In this brief video, students will learn about compost, the importance of closing the loop on their food system and how to separate food scraps effectively."
For more information about our services, please visit our How it Works page.
Fat Worm, LLC
4401-A Connecticut Avenue, NW
PMB 149
Washington, DC 20008
202-362-WORM (9676)
gogreen@fatwormcompost.com
4401-A Connecticut Avenue, NW
PMB 149
Washington, DC 20008
202-362-WORM (9676)
gogreen@fatwormcompost.com
