Carter’s Compost has been keeping food scraps out of the landfill and nourishing Traverse City’s soil since 2012. Originally started by a young boy named Carter as a neighborhood project, the business has since grown and found new life under the ownership of Megan Alexander. When Megan saw Carter’s for sale, she felt a strong pull to return to her hometown and carry forward its mission.
Today, Megan and her team bike around town pulling wagons of compost buckets, collecting food scraps from over 100 customers and counting. They’ve also partnered with the City of Traverse City and set up a welcoming hub in the Children’s Garden at the Traverse Area District Library. Carter’s Compost is a truly local, grassroots effort to close the food loop and build healthy soil, one bucket at a time.
With help from a Microloan through Oryana and Crosshatch Center for Arts and Ecology, Megan was able to replace her worn-out pickle buckets with new, easier-to-use buckets and lids. The old buckets will still be put to use — nothing goes to waste at Carter’s — but the upgrade has already made the process faster and more efficient.
Megan reminds us that one of the biggest ways to help her team (and your compost pile) is by keeping plastic out of the mix. Things like produce stickers, bread ties, and plastic bags don’t belong in the pile and slow the process.
Carter’s Compost is proof that a small, dedicated team can make a big impact. By supporting this bike-powered, people-powered business, you’re helping keep good food out of the landfill and feeding the soil that sustains us all.
Learn more or sign up for their services at carterscompost.com.
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- Compost reaches extreme heat as it breaks down (the Thermometer read 110 F on this day)
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- Megan Alexander of Carters Compost checking her compost bins
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- The new buckets (on the right) versus the old buckets (on the left)
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- Megan and her team at Carters do all their composting and deliveries by bike.
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- Megan and her new beautiful buckets.
