CERO Cooperative, Inc. - Blog by Casey Lynch

CERO COOPERATIVE CAPABILITIES STATEMENT 2020

Fri, 23 Apr 2021 10:50:16 -0500

CERO COOPERATIVE FEATURED IN GAIA'S INTERNATIONAL ZERO WASTE CASE STUDIES

Fri, 23 Apr 2021 10:33:00 -0500

Originally written and published by Global Alliance For Incinerator Alternatives (GAIA)

The word “cero” in spanish means “zero,” and that’s the focus of this composting cooperative in Boston: moving the city towards zero food waste, and building stronger, more equitable communities in the process. The seeds of CERO were first planted at a meeting where local community members gathered to discuss how to improve recycling rates and create good jobs for marginalized communities. At the time Boston had an abysmal recycling and waste diversion rate of under 25%, and according to a 2015 study by the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston, white households had a median wealth of $247,500, and Dominicans and U.S. blacks had a median wealth of close to zero. CERO sought to combat that economic injustice head on by creating a diverse, bi-lingual worker co-op connected with Boston’s working class and communities of color.

As worker-owner Josefina Luna says, “We started to think[] about green economy. The media talk[ed] all the time about green economy but we didn’t see any green jobs in our community… The first idea [was to] create jobs for the community, create better social development for the minority people, for the people who didn’t have the opportunities.” When the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection enacted a ban in 2014 that prohibits over 1,700 food businesses in the state from disposing of organic material with their trash, CERO was there to provide the solution.

The beauty of CERO is that it creates local “closed loop” systems for food, so that instead of disposing of food waste in dirty landfills that people have to live next to, they ensure that food is recycled back into soil that grows nourishing food for the community. And the model is working. So far the cooperative has prevented 11,867,122 lbs of food waste from going to landfills, and saved their customers $407,570 in trash hauling expenses!

A day in the life of a CERO worker-owner starts early. At 7am, Jonny Santos pulls up to his first customer. Jonny is originally from the Dominican Republic and primarily speaks Spanish. Of his work with CERO, Jonny explains, “It’s been 1 year and 5 months since I’ve been with CERO and since I joined the company my life—both personally and economically— has changed. At CERO I feel important and useful."

The first stop for Santos is Mei Mei, a stylish Chinese-American restaurant that uses fresh local ingredients and is dedicated to being a good employer for the Boston community, and preventing as much food waste as possible. Mei Mei is a family business. Meaning “Little Sister,” in Chinese, it is now run by the youngest in the family, Irene Li. From the beginning, the restaurant was on a mission. “For me, I figured that if we were going to be in this tough challenging industry, it would have to be because we were trying to make a difference,” said Li. “We didn’t want to be another average restaurant. A lot of them contribute to a lot of social problems. Can we instead use restaurants as an engine for change?”

In order to live up to those values, Mei Mei serves farm-to-table food at a reasonable cost, provides employee education and empowerment trainings, and thanks to their partnership with CERO, they are doubling-down on food waste. “When I got my first restaurant job I was pretty horrified by what I saw on a more commercial scale– recycling wasn’t happening, composting definitely wasn’t happening.” So at Mei Mei they make sure to repurpose food scraps (kale stems too tough for salad become a pesto or a perogi filling), donate what they can’t use, provide free or cheap food to employees through a wholesale program, and then whatever is left over goes into CERO’s compost bin.

Mei Mei and CERO’s partnership represents a perfect food loop– Mei Mei sources some of its produce directly from the very same local farms that use compost from its food waste. CERO makes sure that all those onion peels, carrot tops and apple cores that Mei Mei puts in the bin don’t go to waste, but turn into a rich compost to help grow the next crop of local fresh food that land on Mei Mei customers’ plates. Mei Mei’s partnership with CERO not only helps grow a local food economy, but it’s helped them keep their costs down. “Not only is that good from a financial perspective, helps us show that you can buy ingredients selectively and still have manageable costs,” says Li. Not only does it make sense financially, it just feels right. It makes Mei Mei a place where people are proud to work,” says Li. “The world makes it very hard to live in alignment with our values, so if we can offer that in any small number of ways to our team that’s providing them some kind of harmony in their lives.”

After picking up food scraps at Mei Mei it’s time to head to Green City Growers. Founded in 2008, Green City Growers is an edible landscaping and urban farming company converting unused spaces to places where food is grown, revitalizing city landscapes and inspiring self-sufficiency. They install gardens in people’s homes, at restaurants, corporate offices, and grocery stores, and other–sometimes unexpected–urban spaces, like the top of Fenway Park! The company was founded by Jessie Banhazl.

Banhazl wasn’t always an urban farming extraordinaire– before she founded Green City Growers she worked in reality TV, working behind-the-scenes of shows like “Wife Swap”, “Throwdown with Bobby Flay”, and “The Hills.” But Banhazl wanted a more meaningful career, and she realized that to have a sustainable and resilient cities, they need to, quite literally, go green. As Banhazl puts it, “[Green City Growers] creat[es] opportunities to see food growing in spaces where there wasn’t. It’s proven that it’s important for human beings to be around nature, and cities have moved away from that as a priority. We want to get that back into how cities are developed and built.” Green City Growers has a goal to create a regenerative, local food system throughout the country, and their partnership with CERO is an essential part of that system. Not only does CERO collect plant waste from over 100 Green City Growers locations, it also delivers the compost made from that waste for Green City Growers to enrich their soil with. Through its partnership with CERO, GCG has been able to compost 50,000 pounds of plant waste per year.

Green City Growers has a bit of an unusual service model. Banhazl calls it “edible landscaping.” GCG takes care of the maintenance, and their clients get to use the fruit of that labor however they like, whether for their cafeteria, restaurant, or corporate donations. Banhazl estimates that 5,000 pounds of produce a year is donated to food banks. They also provide education programs for both students and seniors, exposing city dwellers of all walks of life to the joys of growing your own food. As Banhazl states, “The intention [of Green City Growers] is to build a business model around sustainable and regenerative agriculture.” They want to change the business culture in the region, so that sustainability “is a priority for how business takes place.”

Next stop is the Daily Table, a non-for-profit grocery store aimed to provide affordable food options to underserved communities in Boston. According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the U.S. wastes 30-40% of its food supply, and 31% of that food waste comes from retailers and consumers, who cumulatively waste a whopping 133 billion pounds of food per year (as of most recent data from 2010).

This wastefulness is all the more shocking when paired with the fact that The Daily Table is out to solve the problem of food waste and food insecurity in the Boston area in one elegant solution– collect donated food from growers, manufacturers and retailers, and offer them at discounted prices to lower income communities. However, Daily Table is sometimes not able to distribute all the fresh food before it goes bad. That’s where CERO comes in. CERO collects the leftover food and composts it so that nothing goes to waste.

Waste-conscious businesses like Mei Mei, Green City Growers, and Daily Table show the promise of local, sustainable food systems rooted in social justice and equity. CERO’s role is to connect these efforts together in a loop that prevents waste while creating green jobs, healthy soil, and more vibrant communities. As the city of Boston unveils its Zero Waste Plan– to get the city to 80 percent diversion by 2035 and 90 percent diversion by 2050 from recycling and composting– organizations like CERO are the key not only to reaching these ambitious goals, but transforming Boston into a place where its workers and all its residents can thrive.

CERO COMPOSTING AT DEMOCRACY BREWING: A CONVERSATION WITH FOUNDER AND WORKER-OWNER JAMES RASZA

Tue, 20 Apr 2021 11:24:39 -0500

A cornerstone of CERO’s identity, besides closing the food loop by recycling food waste at local farms, is our status as a worker-owned cooperative business. Worker-owned cooperatives differ from traditional businesses in that they are owned by the people who work at them, rather than by one or a few wealthy individuals or many shareholders. CERO believes that worker-owned cooperatives are an important part of building greater equity in our economic system. In this model, workers are able to share in any profits a company generates, as well as democratize the decision-making that impacts their daily work. When a business incorporates as a cooperative, its workers also agree to uphold values related to cooperation, mutual aid, and community care. Worker-owned cooperatives strive to support one another in order to build up the cooperative ecosystem in a region, enabling more workers to democratically control their workplaces and participate in profit sharing.

Democracy Brewing is one of the Boston-based, worker-owned cooperatives that, like CERO, has decided that worker-ownership and composting are very important, and thus CERO helped to institute a composting program at the brewery and restaurant since it opened. James Rasza and Jason Taggart founded the brewery in 2018, with the goals of making great beer and empowering the Boston community economically. The Democracy Brewing team passionately believes that ownership should be attainable to all workers. Democracy Brewing strives “to re-create the traditional public house, brew the best beer in Boston, pair it with tasty food, and serve it to you in combination with two great American ideals: democracy, and owning your own business.” CERO had the opportunity to sit down recently with James Rasza, co-founder and worker-owner at Democracy Brewing to discuss the impact of composting with CERO on Democracy Brewing’s operations.

In your own words, what does your business do?
Democracy Brewing makes great beer and pairs it with tasty food in our large beer hall in downtown Boston. We have beers to go, live music and lots of fundraisers for community organizations.

How does your business generate most of its organic waste? How many pounds of waste per week?
The brewery is where we generate most of our waste. We generate about 3000 lbs of recyclable organic material per week. Most of this organic material comes from spent grain or malt. We process this grain and malt to get the sugars out and ferment it to make beer. That’s where the majority of our waste comes from.

What were you doing with this organic matter before CERO?
We have always been composting with CERO.

How did you hear about CERO?
Not sure - somewhere in the worker co-op world. Democracy Brewing is also a worker-owned cooperative, meaning that workers have the opportunity to own part of the business and share in the profits the business generates. Worker-owned cooperatives also typically operate with a value system based in cooperation and community care that diverges from traditional business.

How has working with CERO impacted your operations?
We put the barrels out. CERO picks them up and cleans them out. We receive them fresh and ready to go for another day. Then we do it all again. It is simple.

Have there been challenges with working with CERO?
No. When challenges arise -- like our street is blocked off, for example -- CERO is always willing to work with us to make pick-up happen. Sometimes this means getting creative. They are always willing to partner with us when unexpected things come up.

What do you think would be valuable for other breweries to know about composting?
Composting is an important way that breweries and restaurants can offset their impact on the environment.

Will you give a one-sentence review of CERO’s service?
Working with CERO has been fantastically easy. They are professional and always willing to be flexible and work with us when any inconveniences pop up. It feels great to work with a company that, like us, aims to be true to their mission and accomplish great things for the community.

FOOD WASTE RECYCLING AT A LARGE-SCALE FOOD MANUFACTURER: A CONVERSATION WITH ARROW FARMS DISILVA FRUIT

Tue, 20 Apr 2021 11:18:25 -0500

The US economy is set to change drastically as dialogue and activism around climate justice and the ecological health of our planet enter the mainstream. Massachusetts has already begun important transitional work in multiple ways, notably through its Commercial Food Waste Disposal Ban. The Food Waste Ban, issued in 2014, initially required large-scale food enterprises that produce more than one ton of food waste per week to recycle this waste. It has since been expanded to affect businesses producing one half-ton or more per week. The policy helps our planet and communities by diverting waste from landfills and re-earthing nutrient-rich organic material. CERO recently sat down with Nelly Czajkowski, of DiSilva Fruit, to discuss composting at a large-scale food enterprise.

Nelly serves as the Organic Sales Manager and Quality Assurance Coordinator at DiSilva Fruit in Chelsea, MA. DiSilva Fruit sells organic and conventional fruit on the wholesale market and also re-packages fruit for customers throughout the Northeast. DiSilva is the largest citrus distributor and re-packer in New England. Nelly connected with CERO shortly after the Mass Waste Ban went into effect in 2014. “When the waste ban came out, we thought it was going to be more work,” Nelly said, “But it’s actually not. With the composting set-up from CERO, we don’t really have to reach out. It just goes.”

Large-scale food enterprises like DiSilva Fruit contribute substantially to the accessibility of fresh produce in Massachusetts, and as a byproduct, also produce organic waste. The Massachusetts Food Waste Ban focuses on such enterprises with a goal of diverting at least 35% of the state’s food waste from incineration and landfill disposal over ten years, resulting in more than 350,000 tons of annual waste diversion. In addition to food processors like DiSilva, many food manufacturers, universities, corporate cafeterias, and breweries are affected by the policy. Fortunately, as the state’s priority for composting has become clear, infrastructure continues to scale around it to support food enterprises looking to make this sustainable transition. CERO Co-operative has played a substantial role, with others, in building this infrastructure in the Greater Boston area.

A worker-owned cooperative, CERO began servicing organic waste generators in 2014, as the Food Waste Ban went into effect. From experience, CERO recognizes the needs of food enterprises in various industries and works to create a composting plan that suits the needs of each client. Nelly describes CERO’s impact on DiSilva’s operations as “a positive improvement.” She says, “I think that the customer service has been key to us and to the growth of our composting program because CERO has always been very responsive and very flexible in working with us.”

CERO prides itself on providing a clean, convenient service that is responsive to our customers’ evolving needs. We work out of 64-gallon toters, which our team picks up and returns to our customers’ sites clean and lined with biobags. The waste from CERO’s customers is re-earthed at local farms that produce food for the Greater Boston community and beyond. Nelly describes how CERO’s program can help a large-scale fruit and vegetable processor: “CERO provides those big green toters. We really like these because they’re mobile and small enough that we can wheel them around the facility to where we need them. As a result, this helps keep the facility very clean.”

Large-scale food enterprises like DiSilva are also reaping economic benefits from composting. Businesses in Massachusetts pay some of the highest fees for commercial trash hauling in the nation and composting typically decreases trash volume by 30% to 60%. Moreover, some businesses are able to decrease their purchasing costs by implementing composting. Nelly says of cost savings, “CERO is equivalent to our cost to throw away trash. Our goal was to be able to comply with the Waste Ban, but to have the costs stay on-par with our trash removal costs. Working with the toters and having to clean less, it is possible that we’ve come out a little bit ahead because of the labor cost of cleaning.” Indeed many of CERO’s customers see between 5% and 20% cost savings on waste hauling after implementing composting.

As the 2010-2020 Solid Waste Master Plan -- out of which came the Waste Ban -- draws to a close, CERO anticipates that the organic waste recycling industry in Massachusetts will continue to grow rapidly. As of 2015, it is estimated that only 10% of Massachusetts food waste was being diverted from disposal, meaning that there are still many large-scale food enterprises that stand to benefit from food waste recycling. To see whether your business is affected by the Waste Ban and to receive a free quote, waste assessment, or cost savings analysis for food waste recycling services, please visit CERO’s website. We are confident that large-scale food enterprises like DiSilva Fruit will continue to implement transformational composting programs, building on citizens’ increasingly urgent call for a transition to a regenerative, equitable economy.