CERO Cooperative, Inc. - Blog , Partners

GOT FOOD SCRAPS? WIDESPREAD COMPOSTING SPROUTS AT NORTHEASTERN

Mon, 03 May 2021 07:42:17 -0500

Article by Hilary Chabot, originally appearing in News@Northeastern

Maya Gaul’s fond memories of Northeastern’s Boston campus stretch all the way back to childhood. She recalls playing tennis at Carter Field, grabbing snacks at the Curry Student Center, and meeting up with her mother who worked at the nearby Carter School.

Now Gaul is happy to be back on the 67-acre campus in another role, working with a neighborhood-focused composting company recently tasked with expanding Northeastern’s earth-friendly food waste program.

Maya Gaul, sales team leader at CERO Cooperative, poses for a portrait outside International Village. Photos by Matthew Modoono/Northeastern University

“I was already familiar with the campus, and so it really is an amazing full circle,” says Gaul, a sales manager at CERO.

The company’s name stands for Cooperative Energy, Recycling, and Organics, and Gaul said the eight-person team aims to incorporate composting into all aspects of campus life.

“We want it to become second nature and a part of the campus culture,” says Gaul. She is working on plans to set up an information table where students not only learn about the benefits of composting, but see the food grown and energy saved as a result of their work.

The company isn’t new to Northeastern. CERO has picked up some of the university’s composting since 2015. But its new two-year contract is part of a recent push to expand Northeastern’s broad sustainability action plan, which has included composting bins at all four dining halls since 2010.

Jack Malone, senior director of facilities services, says CERO’s Roxbury location and local employee base gave it a leg up against other companies vying for the composting contract.

“Whenever we can take advantage of a local company, we want to do that,” says Malone.

“We want to make sure the university has good, strong competitive pricing and successful partnerships with local companies,” he says.

Josefina Luna, a Dorchester resident, helped start CERO with her neighbors nearly a decade ago. On a recent Tuesday morning she, Gaul and another CERO employee arrived outside International Village residence hall before sunrise to help pick up waste. Luna quickly eyed the material that had been disposed of in each bin, wiped the bins down after they were emptied, and replaced the compostable bag inside.

Josefina Luna, one of CERO Cooperative founders, collects food waste outside International Village. Photo by Matthew Modoono/Northeastern University

Knowing what’s acceptable for compost collection is a skill that takes practice. Anytime CERO begins collecting compost at a new location, Luna and others at CERO train the employees at that location to ensure they throw only compostable materials into the bins.

“Some places take a long time to train, some places take a short time,” says Luna, adding that Northeastern’s employees did “pretty good.”

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.

CERO COMPOSTING AT SPAULDING HOSPITAL

Tue, 20 Apr 2021 10:56:03 -0500

CERO started with a mission to provide a high-quality composting service to the local community and to be part of an equitable employee-owned business that cares deeply for its clients. We are proud to say we now have over 70 customers that are dedicated to helping the planet and their business by being sustainable with their food waste. CERO was founded on a simple mission that adhered to this triple bottom line: people, planet and profit. We are lucky to have influential companies partnering with us and joining us in the movement for a sustainable world and economy.

One of the companies that CERO is lucky to work with is Spaulding Hospital in Cambridge. Spaulding Hospital offers the “unique ability to meet the complex needs of you, our patients, through medical and rehabilitative care”. With their rehabilitation program, they are committed to giving people hope and care throughout their individual journey. As can be imagined, hospitals tend to generate a large portion of food waste which has traditionally been mixed in with the rest of the trash for incineration. Spaulding Hospital has been

composting for a few years now and decided to work with CERO to not only meet their composting needs but also continue giving the community at large hope through environmental stewardship. We wanted to see how their experience with CERO has been, so we decided to interview Thomas Cappuccio, Senior Director of Support Services at Spaulding Hospital in Cambridge.

How did you hear about CERO?
CERO was not a partner’s approved vendor at first but we were contacted by Maya Gaul, the sales team leader at CERO. One on one marketing from Maya made the deal happen.
Also, freshly cleaned bins were a plus. Maya met with us in January 2017 and the first bins went out shortly after to implement the program.

How were you disposing of food waste before you started working with CERO?Spaulding Cambridge Hospital had been composting for a while. They had already composted for 5 years but had a different system set up. We worked with Save That Stuff for a few years, but more in the summertime. On a number of occasions with composting at STS, sanitation issues became an issue (pests, odor, food being left out, etc.). We think CERO is more sanitary and hands-on [for prevention] which provides a better service. They are great when it comes to cleaning, washing bins and other services they commit to. Maya has been great training the staff to compost. I think it’s a good partnership.

*CERO provides free, multilingual employee training for your whole team, so things run smoothly from Day 1.*ow much food waste does the hospital generate per week? Where does it come from - cafeteria, shops, etc?
HFood waste is cafeteria food waste such as scraps, leftovers, etc. There is a 50/50 percentage between patient food and cafeteria food. On average, it is 3,000 pounds a month. The patient’s food needs to fit into their particular diet but at the end of the day it all goes to the same place: compost at local farms.

Food waste is cafeteria food waste such as scraps, leftovers, etc. There is a 50/50 percentage between patient food and cafeteria food. On average, it is 3,000 pounds a month. The patient’s food needs to fit into their particular diet but at the end of the day it all goes to the same place: compost at local farms.

Has working with CERO positively impacted your budget? Why?
Spaulding hospital does single-stream recycling throughout the hospital. Cans, bottles, cardboard, paper, grease, batteries, ink cartridges are all included. We are proud to have eliminated styrofoam from the cafeteria for the past year now. Also, we have a partnership with MassRIDES to promote more biking and commuting options.

Have you made other efforts to increase sustainable practices in your business?
Spaulding hospital does single-stream recycling throughout the hospital. Cans, bottles, cardboard, paper, grease, batteries, ink cartridges are all included. We are proud to have eliminated styrofoam from the cafeteria for the past year now. Also, we have a partnership with MassRIDES to promote more biking and commuting options.

What areas have you found it difficult to be environmentally sustainable?

It’s an older building, so systems aren’t as efficient but sustainable appliances have been worked on such as lighting and heating/cooling modifications.

What do you like most about working with CERO? What do you wish could be different?

The service is pretty standard and I’m happy with it.I haven’t had an issue at all. There is never any surprises that comes across my desk or that my employees bring up to me. In that way, it’s great. It’s pretty seamless. Maya’s been great to work with. I haven’t had any kind of issue with CERO not showing up.

One initial issue was the Spaulding staff was overfilling the totes too much, and Maya asked if they could fill it up ¾ of the way. Quick communication helped to solve that problem and it never happened again.

Has working with CERO caused any changes at the hospital that you wouldn't have expected?
Not at all, but not in a bad way. Again, it’s pretty seamless.

Introduction and editing by: Karen Urdaneta
Interview by: Olivia Hart

CERO COMPOSTING AT MEI MEI RESTAURANT

Tue, 20 Apr 2021 10:55:23 -0500

ENVIRONMENTAL LEADERSHIP THROUGH COMPOSTING

CERO has the privilege of working with many great businesses in the Boston area; one of those businesses being Mei Mei. Mei Mei is both a hip restaurant and food truck catering business serving Chinese- American cuisine made with locally and sustainably sourced produce. Mei Mei, which means little sister in Chinese, is inspired by the business’ sibling story: a big brother and two little sisters decided to start a business together that allowed them to share their love of food with the world! I had the honor of meeting and interviewing one of the sisters, Irene Li, to learn about Mei Mei’s composting experience with CERO.

When entering the restaurant on Park Drive, guests are greeted by the contemporary design, kind staff, and relaxed aura. This is definitely a place to enjoy lunch with some friends— the morning sunlight was shining through the windows and reflected beautifully on the yellow seats, high ceilings, wooden floors and tables, exposed brick wall, fun chalkboard drawings and cute succulent plants. All the small details really contributed to the space’s bright atmosphere.

Already an impressive environment, Irene, one of the owners, is delightful to meet. She is energetic and enthusiastic about Mei Mei’s composting experience. She truly had very thoughtful things to say about CERO’s service; here is what she had to share!

How much food waste do you estimate that your business produces each month?

We have one plastic tote that gets picked up once per week, it is 60 gallons, so 200-300 gallons each month!

What made you consider using a composting program?

Well, we definitely knew we wanted to compost. I have some background with living on a farm, and know that composting is really important for maintaining a healthy ecosystem. We wanted to make sure our food scraps were going towards a good cause. We started using Save that Stuff, but we weren't too fond of using their service. They are a little more corporate, and it seemed that a smaller local business would be more within our values. I met with Jon to see how we could make the pricing work for us, and they were willing to reduce the pick-up pricing in order to help us make the switch.

What were any hurdles that you faced while instituting a composting program and how did you overcome them?

We have composted since the beginning, so it wasn’t really an issue off implementing. I guess one hurdle would be affording and finding compostable products like utensils. When people get take out, they typically bring it home and the products end up in the trash. However, we think that it is the right thing to do no matter what. Biodegradable plastic is technically compostable and biodegradable, but it is not beneficial to the soil, so we switched from compostable cups to recyclable cups, because the biodegradable plastic cups were not helpful to the farmers that CERO works with.

What were you excited or surprised to learn was compostable?

I guess I already knew a lot about composting as a farm nerd, but hair and any kind of paper kind of struck me as interesting. However, we don’t compost all of the paper as the farmers CERO works with already have enough carbon based products.

How did you hear about CERO? What do you like about the CERO service?

I first heard about CERO when they were in the start up phase, we met at a business pitch event, so we met about five or six years ago. Someone at a local cafe also mentioned how much they enjoyed working with CERO. I really like the level of customer service and I think that has a lot to do with their being a cooperative. Also, they use a plastic biodegradable bag in their totes, and I think that its great that they keep the totes clean, as if they weren't kept clean they could get really gross!

What does CERO’s cooperative business format mean to you as a customer of CERO’s services?

To me, it means that I know that their staff care about the success and the quality of their work in a way that employees of other companies don’t. I think the format of the workers being able to profit and be a part of the local economy is really great. Our company has an open-book financial model, essentially we show all of our financial information to our staff and we try to include our staff in our decision making, so in this way our business is very similar to a cooperative and reflects a lot of the same values as CERO.

INTERVIEWER: AURORA GOODLAND

EDITED BY: SERGIO SANCHEZ AND KAREN URDANETA

MARTHA STEWART FEATURES CERO COOP

Fri, 16 Apr 2021 08:39:51 -0500

GETTING SCRAPPY: A NEW LIFE FOR FOOD WASTE AT THIS BOSTON COMPANY THEY JUST LOVE TO TALK TRASH -- COMPOSTING THAT IS!
BY ALEXANDRA LIM-CHUA WEE

At CERO Cooperative, trash is never really trash. The Massachusetts-based business -- which was recently awarded the Green America’s People & Planet Award -- collects food scraps from local food businesses and turns them into compost. The compost is then delivered to local farms where it can be used to grow fresh produce to be sold and cooked again.

In Boston, local businesses pay some of the highest rates just to get their trash picked up every day and carried off to landfills. Moreover, for the area’s food businesses, about 65 percent of daily trash collection is compostable. “At the landfills, decomposing food produces the harmful gas, methane, which is then permanently in our air,” says CERO team member, Maya Gaul. “And when you look at food waste as an issue, it is the third largest emitter of greenhouse gases in the world.”

When they work with CERO, local businesses receive easy-to-use, industrial-grade compost carts that can be placed in kitchens or storerooms for easy food scrap disposal. At the end of each day, these carts are picked up and replaced with clean carts. Not only does this save businesses the higher cost of normal trash pick-ups -- or hefty fines under the state’s 2014 food waste ban -- but it makes for a greener environment. It’s a win-win-win!

Another win-win is that CERO is a cooperative. The workers equally own and govern the business, and directly profit from their labor. “It’s important to approach sustainability from all perspectives, from the people to the business, to the planet,” Gaul says. “Not only are we helping to reduce methane emissions, but we’re able to provide local green jobs to the community.”

Reposted from www.marthastewart.com June 27, 2017 <http://www.marthastewart.com/1517631/company-food-scraps-compost-farms >

GREEN AMERICA PEOPLE PLANET BUSINESS AWARD

Fri, 16 Apr 2021 08:33:59 -0500

CERO is a finalist for Green America's People & Planet Award. Click here to cast your vote for our cooperative!

CERO Cooperative turns trash into treasure in Boston. Every week we collect tons of food scraps from local

grocery stores and restaurants and, instead of that stuff turning to toxic methane gas in landfills, we make sure it’s turned into rich compost. Then we deliver it back to the community where it is re-earthed to grow more food in gardens and farms. Last season’s food “waste” comes back to our tables as this year’s local crops.

Last summer we had a big party right in the bustling urban center of Boston’s Dudley Square. Folks walked and bike-toured less than a mile to see how CERO Co-op collects material and gets the composted soil over to the Haley House Thornton Street Farm. Then everybody helped harvest eggplant, peppers, and basil and brought the veggies back to Dudley Dough, where we had a giant pizza party with toppings courtesy of the farm. Of course there wasn’t any waste because all of the leftover scraps went right into CERO’s compost bins. This full food loop is the greenest part of growing a robust economy in the heart of the city.

Imagine a cooperative urban economy where we don’t export waste and we don’t import food. Not only are we doing the right thing for the environment and the planet, we’re showing that it’s possible to create a new circular economy based on closing the food loop. We’re creating good jobs and a cooperative composting community with a business owned by the workers, right where we live.

The whole community got into this movement to grow local food and jobs by putting their money with their values to invest in the CERO start up. Friends and neighbors helped worker-owners raise the cash to finance their cooperative social venture and now they share in the pride as they see us retrieving compostables and delivering soil in the neighborhood. Together we’re learning that we really can make a profit when we put people and the planet first.
In our urban neighborhoods most folks can’t set up to compost in their own backyards. When you vote for CERO to win the Green People and Planet Business Award we will use the prize money to set up community compost drop off sites at local farmers’ markets. When we make it easy for families to compost their household food scraps we take another step toward helping all Boston residents make the culture shift to be a super-green zero waste city.