Black Earth Compost

Black Earth Compost is a wonderful way to reduce your carbon footprint on the environment while producing something that you can use in your garden less than one year later! Founded in January of 2011, in Gloucester, Massachusetts, Black Earth Compost started as a one-man operation. Since then, it has steadily grown as the leading full-service compost company in New England, with more than 20 employees. Black Earth Compost collects food scraps from residents, schools, colleges, commercial businesses, and more, all across eastern Massachusetts. Approximately 50% of the waste that they collect comes from residents, while the other 50% comes from commercial production, such as cafeterias. Topsfield and Beverly are the two most compost-producing towns, with the North Shore making up the majority of their collection areas.

Black Earth Compost is a one-stop-shop! Should you decide that you want to reduce your carbon footprint by subscribing to their composting services, they are always accepting new customers! For about $2 a week, and the purchase of their compost collection bin (which they sell at the price they buy them for), you can have your food scraps picked up on a weekly basis! According to business partner Andrew Brousseau, their compost service “is the easiest way that a homeowner can affect their carbon footprint. Installing solar panels or buying an electric car is expensive, this is easy.”

Not all composts are considered equal. Many commercially produced composts are very heavy in lawn clippings. Given grass is not very nutrient heavy, the compost produced is not as dense in nutrients as the compost that Black Earth produces, given theirs is made from food scraps. Brousseau equates the difference as “trying to turn grass into food or food into food.” The organic matter that Black Earth collects is referred to as feedstock, and it consists largely of fruit and vegetable scraps, seaweed, horse bedding, and leaves. Compost that has a high brown organic material percentage results in a 75% reduction in volume when the composting process is complete. According to Brousseau, the finished compost is tested for herbicide, salt, heavy metals, and nutrients, to “make sure people can be comfortable growing food for their family with it.”

Once tested, the scraps are begun to be composted. Black Earth uses an aerated static pile method of composting. This means Black Earth composts in piles that have pipes and blowers underneath to facilitate the process. There are nine months between the time they pick scraps up at the curb to the time at which the compost can be used for gardening. While composting requires the use of microorganisms or “bugs”, Black Earth also utilizes black soldier fly larvae to process food waste.

Black Soldier fly larvae eat food scraps, making them a great future for the earth as people look to reduce the amount of waste making its way to landfills. Because they eat food scraps, Black Earth has started selling the Black Soldier Fly Larvae as a bird treat. Brousseau says “bluebirds and chickens love them, and they have more calcium than mealworms.” That makes them ideal for chicken feeding, as chickens need calcium for their eggshells. While the soldier fly larvae are a newer product in the Black Earth lineup, the Essex County Co-Op has them for sale!

While Black Earth Compost is not currently certified as organic, it will be at the end of 2021! Bay State Organic certifiers have changed the regulations surrounding organic certification, allowing for Black Earth to add an organic certification to their compost. This will allow consumers to use an organic, locally sourced, and made product in their gardens!

The Essex County Co-Op is proud to support a local, environmentally conscious business.