Joe Rauktys, owner of Naples Compost, dumping residential bins in the compost pile.

THE UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF Agriculture reports that 40% of all food produced in the country is wasted. In addition to impacting people’s wallets, this wasted food also impacts the planet, as food in a landfill never returns to the soil and instead produces methane gas.

Some communities have addressed this by enacting mandatory composting.

“In Seattle, it’s illegal if you get caught not composing,” says Erin Dougherty, who lived and composted in Oregon for several years before moving back to Naples, where she continues to compost with her husband and two young sons. The family appreciates the opportunity to help the planet. “Composting is one of the top ways to reduce your carbon footprint,” Ms. Dougherty says.

Jeanne Keckler, who moved to Naples from Seattle, grew up in a family that composted. “I think it’s the right thing to do,” she says. “It’s never been okay to put our food waste in landfills because it releases carbon and can’t decompose.”

Mother’s Day flowers in residential compost buckets ready to be made into healthy soil. COURTESY PHOTOS

Both Ms. Dougherty and Ms. Keckler wanted to continue composting but without work involved in maintaining a compost pile in their backyard. They were happy to find Naples Composting, a private firm that picks up raw compost materials and returns the finished composting material that gardeners love and refer to as “black gold.”

Ms. Keckler lives in a community where residents cannot compost outdoors. “When I came here, I had a hard time putting my food waste in the garbage because I hadn’t done that in so many years,” she says. “I was thrilled to find Naples Compost.”

Hannah Rinaldi started Naples Compost four years ago but sold the business last spring to her friends Amanda and Joe Rauktys, who also have a web-based business selling compostable sponges, straws and other eco-friendly home products.

“Our two businesses really intertwined,” says Ms. Rauktys, adding that the family was also actively composting. “It was our lifestyle already. I’d rather be in the soil and gardening than probably doing much of anything else.”

Collier County Master Gardeners Leslie Landert and Maureen McFarland using compost tumblers. CONTRIBUTED PHOTO

Naples Compost provides bins ranging from 5 gallons to 96 gallons for residential and commercial customers to fill with approved compostable materials. They pick up weekly or biweekly in Collier, Lee and Hendry counties from a high of 150 customers in season.

The compost is spread in several piles that sit toward the back of their lot in northern Golden Gate Estates. They buy black soldier flies that help break down the materials quickly.

Bears, raccoons and other wildlife are not attracted to what some people consider “garbage.”

“It doesn’t really smell,” says Ms. Rauktys. “We do a lot of education with people who have their own backyard composting system. If you can smell it, you don’t have enough carbon.”

Composting requires the right mix of “green” materials, “brown” materials, water, and heat. Browns, which should be two-thirds of a compost pile, include materials such as dead leaves, branches, pine needles and twigs. Greens are primarily fruits, vegetables, and other food items such as coffee grounds.

Naples Compost customer Christina Restrepo keeps her scraps in the freezer until she can transfer them to a compost bin. CHRISTINA RESTREPO / COURTESY PHOTO

A service like Naples Compost can use more materials than a home composter. These include bones, meat, dairy, egg shells, tea with staples removed, nut shells, rice, pasta, bread and other grains, hair, fur, fireplace ashes, houseplants, wax paper, newspapers, unbleached coffee filters, paper towel rolls, toilet paper rolls, dryer lint, wood items such as chopsticks and bamboo, sea sponges, and 100% cotton fabrics. They even get spent grain from Ankrolab Brewing.

Storing all of these items for residential pickup every two weeks can be simple.

“I keep all of my scraps in the freezer,” says Christina Restrepo, a Naples Compost customer since April. “The night before, I take everything out, defrost it, shove it in the bin and close the lid.”

Previously, Ms. Restrepo had a 35-gallon rotating composter in her yard, but it took a lot of time and attracted too many bugs.

Ms. Restrepo’s herb garden flourishes thanks to using finished compost CHRISTINA RESTREPO / COURTESY PHOTO

“If you don’t have the real space, dedication, or time to get everything just right, Naples Compost is the easiest and best way,” she says. “You’re still doing your part and you can’t get it wrong.”

Ms. Restrepo likes having the completed compost for her vegetable and herb gardens, fruit trees, and hibiscus plants. “Everything grows exponentially better with the compost,” she says.

Ms. Dougherty and her husband, Conrad Williams, involve their sons — Logan, age 11, and Sawyer, age 8 — in the composting. “We talk a lot within our family about conservation from different angles, and food waste is something we like them to be conscious of,” Ms. Dougherty says.

The boys scrape their plates into the compost bin, peel stickers off fruits and vegetables because they can’t be composted, and take out the compost bin as part of their chores. They also look forward to delivery several times of year of the finished soil that gets spread in the family’s gardens.

Spent grain from Ankrolab Brewing Company. COURTESY PHOTOS

“I like completing the circle as a way to talk about this with the children,” Ms. Dougherty says.

Despite the ease of using Naples Compost, many people prefer to have their own composting practice.

Thomas Becker, residential horticulture agent with UF/IFAS Extension Collier County, teaches composting as part of the Master Gardeners program. He is offering a free public presentation on June 8 to address backyard composting.

“It’s a sustainable and an environmentally natural process,” Mr. Becker says. “It’s managing our plant-based ecosystem and making sure there’s adequate oxygen, water, and decomposers to create a usable byproduct that our soils desperately need if we’re gardening in southwest Florida.”

Mr. Becker will talk about the various types of compost bins that can be purchased or built, the best materials — “Oak leaves are a great carbon source,” he says— how often to turn a bin, and what temperature compost needs to reach to break down and create a material that is disease- and weed-free. He will even touch on trench composting and worm composting, which he says can be done on a lanai, under a sink, or in a garage.

Logan Williams, 11, scraping his plate into the compost bin. COURTESY PHOTOS

Regardless of the process, the result is great for gardeners. “You can grow just about anything in compost,” he says.

Ms. Rauktys and her husband look forward to growing their business and adding clients that produce a lot of food scraps, such as schools, restaurants, and health care facilities.

“I just want people to realize there are other options,” she says. “We don’t need to be sending all of our waste and resources to the landfill.” ¦

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