“I realized that there was this bottleneck that other people were facing. There is trash and recycling pickup but why was there no composting pickup? Especially when it is so much better than putting all of these things in your trash.”
In the United States, only a small percentage of people actively engage in composting. Composting helps reduce individual waste significantly and provides ecological benefits such as promoting sustainability, producing fertilizer, and minimizing waste. This practice is what Jude Joerger, from Hastings-on-Hudson, New York, has dedicated most of his childhood to with his company, Hudson Compost Services LLC.
Jude, a senior at UW-Madison studying entrepreneurship and finance and became aware of composting and its practices when taking an AP Environmental Science class in high school with his twin brother. Partnering with his best friend and a peer three grades older, they initiated beta tests by attaching a hitch to his friend’s mom’s car to offer a compost service pickup in their neighborhood. What started as a neighborhood project between friends and family quickly grew to 300 houses within three months.
In their town, a free drop-off site allowed residents to dispose of their own trash and compost. However, the challenge that many faced was the time and effort required for scheduled compost drop-offs. Jude witnessed this bottleneck firsthand when people either forgot or found it inconvenient. Passionate about making a difference, Jude emphasizes: “At the end of the day, we didn’t see it as a money thing. It was more of, “How can we make an impact? The end goal was, if houses can reduce their trash and help the environment, then that’s what should be happening. Why don’t we be the step in between.” While they do not produce the compost themselves, a plant upstate in New York does that work for them. Their focus was filling a crucial step in providing a pickup service that was easy and accessible to the residents. Recognizing this gap, Jude and his team seized the opportunity to establish their own compost pickup company, Hudson Services LLC.
Beyond their pickup service, Jude and his team undertake a personal mission to educate the community about compositing benefits through their involvement in their local farmers market and events. Jude highlights, “I think people need to understand that it really does help in so many ways and it’s not that difficult. I think that for us, the challenge of education is what we really encounter.” Their team is not only a great informative resource about composting, but offers every new customer of theirs a five gallon bin that is designed to be totally smell proof, animal proof, and compost friendly that individuals can keep in their homes or outside next to their regular recycling and trash bins.
Despite their success, Jude acknowledges the challenges of marketing to a niche customer segment, existing and non-existing composters- turning people who had never thought about composting before. However, his entrepreneurship course with Professor Jon Eckhardt has aided in this hurdle. As the company expands to other villages in New York, Jude emphasizes the importance of research and communication in entrepreneurship saying: “”We started at the exact right time. Discussing potential ideas with others is integral since you can find solutions and avoid potential conflicts that could have been detrimental. Feedback is everything…”
Jude’s passion for composting has the potential to address New York’s trash waste issue and contribution to a more sustainable planet. His story serves as an inspiration, showcasing how a singular idea can evolve into a solution that makes a significant difference.
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