After a year of reevaluating the program, the Isla Vista Compost Collective (IVCC) has restarted the doorstep food scrap collection service.

In August 2022 the service paused when IVCC program manager Carly Marto recognized current operations were not sustainable in the long term.

After aligning collection food scrap volume with composting capacity and improving our composting system in partnership with Agriturf, a local company, the doorstep food scrap collection is able to start up again.

Since 2017, IVCC has championed waste-to-resource transformation through composting, education, and community involvement.

IVCC plans to continue to support long-term sustainability and growth of the program through selling premium compost to the community and local businesses.

This model promotes a closed-loop system where collection demand matches composting capacity and provides for local gardens in the community and in residents’ homes. 

“I’ve loved the passion that this program has inspired, and am proud of IVCSD for going back to the drawing board when certain aspects needed tweaking,” said Carrie Topliffe, IVCSD Board vice president.

“I hope our transient residents will carry these program ideas into the wide world as we all strive for a sustainable future,” Topliffe said.

“The relaunch marks a significant milestone in our journey towards ecological regeneration, emphasizing economic sustainability, a waste-to-resource paradigm shift, and a closed-loop system for the benefit of our local community,” said Marto.

“I’m eagerly looking forward to these sustainable ideas taking root and making a meaningful impact within our community, with a strong emphasis on measuring results rather than just efforts,” Marto said.