Bootstrap Compost

INCHING CLOSER: We're hosting our second “Wormy Wednesday'' open house at our warehouse in Everett, Mass. on July 24. Then and there you’ll have the opportunity to see, smell and actually feel Bootstrap HQ in all its gory!

Curious to learn how castings are made? Come on through. Bring the kids. 6-8 p.m.

DM for details.

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Calling all compost nuts short on plans! This Wednesday, Team Boot is kicking off its summerlong open house series (AKA WORMY WEDNESDAY) at our Everett, Mass. HQ (145-147 Broadway; half a mile east of the casino!).

From 6 to 8 p.m., we'll be talking slop and the future of food waste in Boston and beyond; sipping Mexican lager; and showcasing our vermicompost operation (modules by Wormgear). All attendees can leave with as many castings as they can hold; all for $1 per pound.

Please plan on biking or taking the T. Parking is rough and unfortunately, our lot can only accommodate company vehicles.
This event is family friendly! There are worms, after all.

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Years ago, Miguel started as a driver at Bootstrap on residential routes. These days, he's our chief schmoozer AND large-accounts hauler (operating high-capacity vehicles like our F650 equipped with a Perkins Satellite Collection Unit).

Now what’s super cool for us is the unbridled enthusiasm on display in this photo from students at the Greenhalge Elementary School in Lowell. And though it’s certainly conceivable that their giddiness stems from an inevitable summer break, we are 95 percent certain it’s all about their diversion impact.

Since enrolling with Bootstrap in May, the school’s 450 students (pre-K through 4th grade) have diverted 350 pounds of organics from the waste stream. Thumbs up, all around.

Is a school in your community in need of a sustainability jolt?! Give us a shout at info AT bootstrapcompost DOT COM.

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Please excuse Team Boot for having an EXTRA SKIP in our step this week. We only recently learned that we were named one of 10 awardees of the 2024 BIPOC Community Composter Mini-Grant Program from the inimitable Institute of Local Self-Reliance. Specifically, Bootstrap was awarded the grant for advancing composting services for public housing residents in the City of Boston.

From the release….

‘Projects are diverse in scale and operation but are united in their mission-driven, innovative approach to community improvement. The support of ’s makes this opportunity possible. This BIPOC Community Composter Mini-Grant Program provides $165,000 in sub-grants to selected grantees, with a minimum grant of $5,000 and a maximum of $20,000.”

But we ain’t done! So calling ALL public housing residents and advocates — give us a shout and let's work on solutions. Together we will keep advancing the accessibility of composting infrastructure throughout the Northeast for years to come.

Call it a career highlight. Last week, we set up the Xfinity Center(capacity 19,900) with 23 toters with the simple goal of capturing and processing all manner of its compostable service ware. The storied venue is, to be sure, our biggest account by every measure.

Our biggest takeaway, meanwhile, is the enormous potential of musical and performance venues to become +MAJOR PLAYERS+ in the compost movement. Hear us venues!? We’re here and ready to rock and to roll and to break down your compostable feedstocks.

Props to Live Nation Concerts for understanding the power of composting at live events.

And just like that, has entered the fourth quarter! Score your castings today at 20% OFF before the final buzzer sounds in a few short days. Visit our Shop at bootstrapcompost.com to make it happen

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OLD PIC, NEW NEWS: This week, Team Boot delivered 2 yards (or about 2,500 pounds) of our castings-infused compost to the 8 places of learning that comprise North Andover Public Schools. This vibrant community of admin, teachers and students in grades preschool through 12 is among Bootstrap's biggest consortium of waste slayers.

Props to these schools and this community for their long commitment to wise resource management, compost education, and their practical use of the finished product for their fields and gardens. Thank you and enjoy the compost!

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Farmer Anna from Stone Bridge Farm in has partnered with Bootstrap for a few short months. In case it wasn't completely obvious, she has loads of enthusiasm for receiving clean, locally-generated food scraps for the purpose of transforming them into a soil amendment for growing more food.

This, Boot Nation, is what it’s all about.: Homes supporting Bootstrap to support growers to feed homes.

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What an assist! 20 percent off castings all monthlong.

Visit our Shop at bootstrapcompost dot com to pick up a shot or two of our silky, microbe-rich soil amendment.

Bootstrap co-founder Andy Brooks is THRILLED to be taking part in the upcoming The Healing Power of Plants online masterclass, which launches tomorrow (March 4)! Brooks will be joining other professionals in the fields of herbalism, organic gardening, and natural health and wellness.

Whether you're just getting started working with plants or are a seasoned green thumb looking for some inspiration, the series — hosted by Lauren Almquist (aka https://www.facebook.com/heartspaceherbals ) — promises practical tips and mindset shifts to deepen your relationship with plants.

You can register for a complimentary spot at https://www.healingherbalgardens.com/ABrooks. The series runs through March 8.

3-2-1 COMPOST: In a few short days, Bootstrap will begin delivering approximately 5,500 pounds of our "Beantown Gold" (compost with worm castings) to thousands of households throughout three states!

For Team Bootstrap, each compost season is a testament to the extraordinary commitment and vision of our clients to transform a waste product into a commodity. Ultimately, that’s what we’re packing; something like magic in a bag.

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HOT AND HEAVY: Drug store chocolates are nice, but to really bring the passion this Valentine's Day, Team Boot suggests giving the gift of home composting.

Visit https://accounts.bootstrapcompost.com/gift-certificates/ to purchase a gift card for a few (or many!) months of weekly or biweekly service. All amounts are welcome ($5 minimum).

BREAD ALERT: Team Boot is thrilled to welcome Mel the Bakery to our roster of radical clients. When they’re not making insanely delicious baked goods with regional grains, this exceptional neighborhood bakery in the heart of Hudson, N.Y. serves up powerful feedstocks like eggs shells, coffee grounds, paper flour bags (and one neglected baguette) for the purpose of creating compost to feed mid-Hudson Valley growers.

Mel the Bakery is located at 324 Warren St. Open Friday through Sunday from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Bonkers delicious.

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FEEDBACK: These wacky light fluffy things are rice hulls we recently collected from Bootstrap clients . According to these always affable cidermakers, this material is used to increase juice flow during the pressing process. Amazing. And now they’re a future feedback for making compost.

Behold, the mighty rice hull. Have they no limits?! ! !! ? !

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SNUG AS A BUG: Team Boot maintains a pair of 24-foot vermicomposting modules at our shop in Everett, Mass. It’s here that we transform locally-sourced coffee grounds and fruit scraps into approximately 1,000 pounds of incredibly dank, microbial-rich worm castings each and every month. (For a bedding, we use untreated sawdust collected locally, forgoing peat moss or coconut coir.)

For our part, we keep the worms comfy this time of year with cardboard and heat pads. (Anything below 50 degrees will not only decrease their productivity and reproduction, but could prove fatal.) Based on their healthy digestion and output, they’re plenty cozy.

Meanwhile, these castings are now available for sale nationwide! Visit our Shop at bootstrapcompost.com to learn more.

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Just like people with cute shoes shuffling from home to the office and back, microbes slow down in cold weather, but they don’t stop. As a result, optimally-engineered compost piles will keep keepin’ on throughout the winter.

But what’s an “optimally-engineered compost pile” anyways?

For starters, it's one that features appropriate carbon to nitrogen ratios (30 to 1); periodic agitation; and moisture content akin to a wrung out sponge.

With those key conditions set firmly in place, the feedstocks will undergo a marvelous biochemical transformation marked by three 3 phases. They are:

1) the mesophilic or moderate-temperature phase, which lasts a few days
2) the thermophilic or high-temperature phase, (could last MONTHS depending upon the size of the pile)
3) the cooling maturation phase

Now here's a fun fact to impress your friends next time y'all visit a farm. Steam coming from a compost pile is a by-product of the thermophilic phase!!!

Even in the dead of winter, a well-managed compost pile can reach 140 degrees. Temps above that are generally undesirable as they can destroy good bacteria.

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The end of the year almost came faster than our ability to post our 2023 recap series in its entirety. Fortunately, we spared our subscribers and supporters a complete conniption fit by jamming our 3 remaining MILESTONES of the year in this post! We even ended it with a fascinating bonus nugget for good measure. Here it goes:

#8. We managed to raise almost $16,700 through our fundraising campaign to “go electric”. In case you missed it, here’s the thing... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Esl2GkopWf8

#9. We expanded our low-cost drop-off program to include six sites throughout eastern Mass and Providence.

#10. We welcomed over 70 new commercial accounts into the waste slayin’ fold.

BONUS NUGGET: Arguably, the best part about 2023 was: Waking up EVERYDAY committed to providing the best community composting experience that we could muster. Thanks 2023 for the lessons and thank you, supporters, for composting with Bootstrap. We look forward to another year of gRoWinG pLaCeS!!!💥🎸🌲

TRAILER: Can you help Bootstrap Compost 'Go Electric"? Boston's Bootstrap Compost (AKA "Your Local Food Scrap Go-Getters!") are shifting toward electric vehicles in pursuit of increasing their impact via zero e...

With our easily-digestible 2023 recap nearing to a close, today we’re highlighting our 8th FAVORITE THING of the past year: moving units with purpose.

Considerable updates to our site and online shop this past year — coupled with well-timed sales (if we say so ourselves) — resulted in the sale of a record number of castings, compost, compost tea and bumper sticker orders to both our local subscribers AND folks across the country. It’s true, we now ship castings and stickers domestically!

All told, these developments represent a boon for humus heads everywhere who are passionate about quality soil amendments AND smart resource management.

You can visit our shop at www.bootstrapcompost.com.

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And just like that, we’re halfway through presenting our 2023 recap! Here’s Bootstrap's 5th MILESTONE of the year (which features our favorite rescue pup turned farm dog, Bubba).

We entered into a formal partnership with Cobble Hill Farm Education & Rescue Center, a 25-acre Williamstown destination run by former Massachusetts governor and unabashed compost nut Jane Swift. Here we teach kids and tend to the soil in one fell swoop.

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Merry Christmas, Boot Nation. We did it.

And now onto the main event — Bootstrap's 2023 recap, of course. Our 4th MILESTONE of the year (also arguably our coolest) comes from Bootstrap business development mensch and trained chef .surgess Take it away, Sam.

“Mid-December, I had the opportunity to help cater large parties at the White House in Washington D.C. I knew from a young age I wanted to be a chef and it was always a lofty goal to cook in the White House — until it fell into reach. After traveling down from R.I., through various security checkpoints, I finally arrived at the historic yet newly renovated White House kitchen! There was a skillful team assembled to assist the White House Executive Chef, Cris Comerford, prepare to feed daily parties of 400-950 attendees.

Food unites us all, no matter where you are on the chain of command. Happy holidays and keep cooking!”

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Happy Christmas Eve, soil mates.

For your continued enlightenment, here’s our 3rd MILESTONE from 2023. Enjoy.

This year, Team Boot onboarded an additional 23 schools throughout Massachusetts and Rhode Island, introducing THOUSANDS of young scholars to soil science, chemistry, public policy, resource management, etc. Bootstrap passionATEly makes food waste diversion possible at over 70 schools throughout the region.

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For your continued enlightenment, we present MILESTONE NUMBER 2 in our end-of-year recap.

We unleashed our Perkins food scrap satellite unit allowing for highly-efficient, high-capacity farm runs. Since adding It to our fleet in February, the unit has hauled and delivered approximately 540,000 pounds of organic feedstocks to our partnering compost sites; saving our backs and the planet.

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Happy holidays Boot Nation.

With 2023 mercifully set to expire in less than 2 weeks, our posts for the remainder of the year will focus on key milestones from the past 12 months. It wasn’t an easy year by any stretch, but it was always interesting, frequently fun and ruthlessly impactful.

And so, for your enlightenment, here’s an easily-digestible recap of 2023. Thank you, dear year, for your lessons and growth. Now git!!

In August, we collected our 10 millionth pound of organic "waste." Final count since our launch in 2011:12,133,040 pounds of scraps diverted from the landfill. Along the way, Bootstrap has facilitated the creation of over 5 million pounds of finished compost for our subscribers and partnering farms.

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COMPOST CHECK 1, 2, 1, 2: Staying on top of all the fallen needles this time of year is a bit of a fool’s errand, but at least composting the stuff makes you less of a dummy. And though these evergreen leaves (yep, they’re leaves) aren’t the best feedstock for making compost due to their waxy coating, they will decompose eventually (around Labor Day is our bet).

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BLACK GOLD FRIDAY: Our Worm Castings in a Compostable Bag are now available nationwide. Finally, our brethren in Boise and cousins in Columbus can order and behold the power of Bootstrap’s Beantown Gold!

Made in Everett, Mass. from locally-sourced brewers grains, coffee grounds, smoothie castoffs and untreated sawdust (no peat moss or coconut coir), our castings are a welcome soil amendment for plants everywhere.

Available in 6-pound COMPOSTABLE bags from Elevate! . $28 which includes shipping. Visit our Store at www.bootstrapcompost.com to get going!

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Team Boot has formally partnered 🧑‍🤝‍🧑 with the Town of as their official organics hauling provider and HOLY MOLY has it been fun to watch this thing TaKe oFF! 🚀

Since this partnership launched, we’ve seen a 70%↗️ uptick in enrollment 📝 from this community alone, which will amount to the diversion of an extra 16,000 pounds of food scraps annually from the waste stream 🗑️. Go Westford!

Here's the deal. 🤝

Folks who call home will be afforded a 45% discount 🏷️  for composting with Bootstrap (amounting to $6 per visit for weekly service or $8 per visit for biweekly service).

To redeem this deal, simply sign up 📝 via bootstrapcompost.com (once you enter a Westford address the discount will be automatically applied). Tap the link in bio and navigate to the website.

So, what are our key takeaways thus far? 🤔

These programs WORK to increase participation 🙋‍♀️ and impact but only with clear and consistent communication from the town. (Westford has absolutely knocked this piece out of the park 🏌️‍♀️).

And now we’re taking it organic. Calling all Westford Compost Nuts 🥜: Tell your people!!! 🫵

Is your town or city interested in forging a preferred vendor partnership with Bootstrap? If so, give us a shout 📣. We can cater a program unique to your needs and ambitions. 🤘

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What a treat to swap out the home office (for a few hours, anyway) for a home on the range. Thank you, Jane Swift and Cobble Hill Farm Education & Rescue Center for hosting us and lining up several dozen (!!!) 5th graders to hear us blaaaather on about the evils of methane gas and the importance of carbon-to-nitrogen ratios.

And what a terrific group of young scholars from Lanesborough Elementary School they were! So inquisitive and bright.

Quote of the day about compost: “It’s like soil but it’s not soil.”

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