![]() RBR has expanded its drop-off and pick-up services as far east as Cleveland Heights and as far west as Rocky River. Rust Belt Riders has grown during Covid, despite the downturn in business from struggling restaurants. “We’re committed to being an anti-racist organization,” he said. There’s a sense of responsibility and buy-in from creating this sort of horizontally-organized organization.”Īlthough the firm’s racial diversity does not yet reflect the community at large, Robinson wants to change that. “We don’t have bosses here, we really don’t,” said Rutz, who was hired in 2017. Nathan Rutz, director of soil with RBR and a new worker-owner, said the co-op model reflects how the company is already run. The co-op model also allows RBR to raise money from investors, Robinson said, who become Class B owners in the company. “We could pay minimum wage … but it’s just as important how you do the work as what you do,” Brown said. The company does not currently have a 401(k) or retirement program. RBR has a goal of increasing wages to as high as $35 per hour, and all employees receive health care benefits. “We were already walking like a co-op, talking like a co-op.”Īll employees are currently paid the same hourly wage, and they’ve been part of transparent financial decision-making for years, he said.īrown said the transition is partially about ensuring that workers are treated fairly and earn a living wage, points to which the company is committed. “We put a lot of effort into creating a culture of ownership,” he said. Michael Robinson, who co-founded RBR with Daniel Brown, said on the one hand, the recently-signed co-op agreement is the culmination of years of hard work, but in other ways it isn’t new at all. “That full cycle is what we’re super excited about.”ĭaniel Brown shows Rust Belt Riders’ service map for composting. “We’re excited that the veggies we get to sell at the store could be grown in compost that’s made from scraps we produce at the store,” Justham said. Heinen’s hopes that RBR can sell that Tilth Soil to some of its small farmers, including Amish farmers in Northeast Ohio, with whom the grocery chain already works. Now, with the help of Heinen’s food scraps, RBR will be able to create more soil. ![]() ![]() Hence the “circular” in “circular economy.” Those farmers turn the soil into more vegetables. Rust Belt Riders composts food scraps into its own unique soil brand, Tilth Soil, which it sells to home gardeners and small farmers. What you can do: In addition to Rust Belt Riders, learn about backyard composting at /composting_and_yard_waste Read The Land’s profile of Rust Belt Ridersīenjamin Justham, manager of facilities for Heinen’s, said the partnership with RBR allows the company to not only keep food scraps out of the landfill, but also to fuel the growth of the circular economy here in Cleveland. With restaurants closing, we needed to meet people where they were, which was at home, cooking.” “Covid pushed us to offer more services for residents. ![]() “It’s been a wild ride,” said co-founder Daniel Brown, who started RBR as a bicycle-driven composting service in 2014. The firm also expanded its residential food scrap pick-up and drop-off services during the pandemic to serve a growing market of people cooking at home. This summer, Rust Belt Riders started composting food scraps at 19 Heinen’s grocery store locations in Cleveland. Benjamin Justham, manager of facilities for Heinen’s We have to get rid of the waste, so why not do it in the right way? ” It’s the drive to not fill our landfills. “Composting is an expense, but it’s a conscious decision Heinen’s has made. Now, it’s converting to a worker-owned cooperative to give its employees a stronger voice and a share of the profits. It now houses 917,000 and for this reason it is said that there are now 80,000 abandoned buildings within the city.The composting and soil company Rust Belt Riders recently added Heinen’s grocery as a customer, adding to its growth during the pandemic. Known as the world's automotive center Detroit was once the home of 1.85 million people in the 1950's. These modern-day ruins were created by wave after wave of lay-offs and corporate collapses of the Detroit auto industry. Abandoned homes near the Packard plant - once called Motor City Industrial Park is five minutes from downtown Detroit.
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