Image Credit: CFJC Today

By Adam Donnelly

SUSTAINABILITY

Friendly Compost: a sustainable solution to food waste in Kamloops

Jul 12, 2022 | 5:18 PM

KAMLOOPS — Composting is an important step to reduce the organic waste that goes into our landfills. That was one of the foremost reasons why Katie Forsyth and her business partner, Claire McLoughlin, decided to start a business that collects and composts household organic waste back in 2020.

Up at the Friendly Composting headquarters, co-founder and CEO of the company, Katie Forsyth, is preparing for another pick-up day.

“Tuesday’s we pick up for about 375 homes, Wednesday is close to 200, and then Thursday is our commercial route, so we do all of our local businesses on Thursdays,” Forsyth explains.

Friendly Composting started back in 2020 as a solution to a problem Katie and her business partner encountered while sharing an apartment.

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“My roommate Claire and I were looking for a solution to our food waste, and we didn’t have a backyard to compost in, we were living in an apartment at the time. We actually drove our food waste out to Cinnamon Ridge, where we found out they only do yard waste disposal, so we started asking all those questions. We reached out to the city to see what their plan was, and it hadn’t fallen on anyone’s desk, yet. It was still three to four years out, at that point.”

From there, they added some value to the compost pick-up service by delivering local produce to the residential customers every time they pick up.

“Early on, when we founded, we also added the food delivery program,” Forsyth explains. “We figured we were visiting so many homes every week, why not double down?”

Demand for the service exceeded the pair’s plan pretty quickly, jumping to around 500 clients in the first year alone. The volume of compost Friendly was taking in necessitated a switch from the initial-DIY approach to Spa Hills Compost Farm, a commercial-grade composting facility.

“When we first started we were taking all of the waste out to Home Wood Farm and we were turning it all ourselves – super backyard-style,” Forsyth explains. “We had to limit what we could take. So our program now is completely commercial grade. We accept meat, bones, dairy, compostable plastics, bioplastics, soil-paper products, and greasy cardboard boxes. We can take all of that now. It’s completely changed the dynamic of our program and has allowed us to grow.”

The Mount Paul Community Food Centre signed on with Friendly Composting early on. For Christina Garrett, Food Access Coordinator with the Centre, it was an easy decision.

“It just made sense,” Garrett tells CFJC Today. “It was just a great fit. Anything – including our compostable plates and cutlery, if we use them – we can compost them commercially, which we can’t do anywhere else.”

Two years later, the Food Centre remains a loyal client, largely because of a shared approach to staying sustainable.

“We work well because we’re really friendly too,” Garrett says. “It’s friendly all around. When they come and pick me up on a Thursday, it’s our community meal, so we make sure to try and give them lunch, as well. I know it’s helping Kamloops be a more sustainable city.”

With the city working on a curbside organic waste collection program, Friendly Composting has shifted its focus to help reduce the organic waste created by commercial clients, including restaurants, bars, and multi-family residences.

“Not only because it’s a good strategic move, business-wise, but because it’s essential,” Forsyth says. “The volume of food waste in that industry is massive, so if we can divert even a fraction of it, it’s going to have a huge impact.”

With over 600 residential clients and a list of commercial clients, that’s getting longer by the week, the team at Friendly Composting has grown. Forsyth is still a little bit in awe of the success the business has experienced.

“Everything that’s happened since then has grown really organically through word of mouth,” she says. “We definitely didn’t anticipate the community we’ve built today. It’s definitely so special.”