It is time to publicly (and shamefully) admit that I am not a recycler. After years of filling tubs in my hometown, just to see the collector drive around the corner and dump it in a mainstream dumpster, I was disheartened and ended up reverting back to bad habits. “Why am I spending time sorting and why am I paying to fund an unethical business model, solely for the sake of being able to say I am doing the right thing,” I asked? The answer was clear…”most of the time we are over-capacity and unable to handle the volume of recyclables we collect.” Needless to say, that left a bad taste in my mouth and I went from GREEN to a very light shade of sea foam rather quickly. What is sea foam, you ask? Throwing plastic water bottles in recycle bins when available. We all have our flaws, so I ask that you accept my honesty and commend me in that I have called to re-up my membership in the “Circular Arrows Curbside Pick-up Society,” effective this week.

Walker Lunn, CEO of EnviRelation LLC; however, is to be commended for developing a company that has diverted approximately 20,000 tons of food waste from landfills by encouraging restaurants like those at the Ritz-Carlton Tysons Corner in Virginia to focus on organic separation, composting and recovery. Some restaurants that have embraced this same philosophy have cancelled their garbage pick-up completely by generating NO WASTE what-so-ever. Truly amazing!

What is driving this behavior? Two things. Cost savings and environmental stewardship; the latter of which is the primary driver. But let’s be honest…saving a few bucks doesn’t hurt either!

What really impresses me is the power of composting. Composting jenerously keeps trash out of landfills and helps soil retain natural fertilizers, thereby reducing nitrogen runoff into our beautiful US waterways. What does nitrogen do in our water, you ask? It provides a food source to algae, which grows quickly and cuts off the natural oxygen supply in our water, ultimately resulting in stagnant water and death to aquatic life. Quite simply…composting = life.

EnviRelations, the food-only composting company which fuses the words “Environment” and “Relationship,” services Washington D.C., parts of Maryland and is planning expansion into Delaware, New Jersey and Pennsylvania within the next year. While it began servicing hotels, it has expanded to include restaurants, grocery stores and healthcare facilities.

Why I do I love what Walker Lunn has produced, other than the fact that what he is doing by composting is transparent and value-added? He has created a new model of Jenerosity in a category that will shape the environmental future of our world. I have the feeling that this is the type of business model that will grow rapidly, market-by-market, throughout the US as other like-minded entrepreneurs recognize the opportunity that this creates – a true Win/Win for all parties involved, even the consumer. Lunn is helping to develop this industry’s infrastructure and regulatory framework as well.

Thank you EnviRelations for all that you are doing. You have inspired me to be a little Greener. As Kermit said, “It’s not easy being green.” But…companies like yours make it is a little easier than it used to be.