Our Story

Born out of the desire to have a positive impact on the environment and the realization that composting is one of the most important things we can do, this past winter we started a business. Black Earth Hauler cuts waste removal costs for businesses by collecting organic material derived from anything that was alive (food, paper, hair, etc.) and transports them to farms for conversion to rich compost for farmers, gardeners and landscapers, rather than have it incinerated or buried in landfills. This provides an environmentally beneficial way to incorporate these valuable nutrients back into the growth cycle.

Over the first nine months, we established a program with restaurants, schools, food distributers, residents, caterers, grocery stores, a retreat center, a pet groomer, and more. Most have reported that it saved money or found it is a cost neutral activity. All of them derive satisfaction from the fact that the food they have to throw out is put to good use. 

As you can see, the star of the movie was our hydraulic lift we call the Praying Mantis, which we built from scratch last spring. The Praying Mantis is at the heart of our story because not only does it make this all possible, it symbolizes the bootstrapping, ingenuity, persevering nature that has led us to succeed thus far.

If you'd like to hear more about our story, read this article.

The Impact

More and more people are becoming aware of the precarious environmental state of our world: food prices are going up; farmers are being asked to grow more food on less land, use less water, confront harsh weather conditions and use less fertilizer to meet the rising demand. At the same time, artificial fertilizers derived from natural gas have caused massive nitrogen run-off problems by creating dead zones in our water systems. Rivaling global warming as a threat, the world is rapidly losing top-soil.

One of the most important things we can do is convert our food waste into rich composted material that will create a very nutritious soil amendment. Restaurants have found this is very easy to implement. It is working and we are growing. Every person and business concerned about our environment can make a big difference in getting this movement going. 

What We Need & What You Get

We bought the truck and built the Praying Mantis on our savings. As you can tell from the video, we don't spend our money perfecting things, we get stuff done efficiently and we do it ourselves to be frugal. But the start-up costs have been high and we need a second truck before we go into next spring because we expect to haul twice the amount we are now, or we will be in the vulnerable position of having many clients serviced by an old, ailing truck. We're not looking for the $100,000 truck every garbage company uses; a $10,000 truck will suffice. If we don't hit our goal, the money will still go towards a second truck. Composting is important. We're making a difference. We'd really appreciate your help in making a bigger difference! 

Other Ways You Can Help