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John Janes | Landscaping Marketing Manager
As business owners know, it’s important to stay agile and be financially savvy in order to run a successful operation. One way to do that? Diversify your offerings. And for landscapers, compost might be the perfect solution.
“We have many members who started out as landscapers but began a composting facility when they realized that they a) could use the material they were sending to the landfill for their own commercial uses, b) there was a revenue stream left on the table, or c) they wanted to be part of a movement to build healthy soil,” said Linda Norris Waldt of the U.S. Composting Council.
For many landscapers, composting makes sense given that their landscaping job sites already provide the raw materials for composting. Things like trees, leaves, and grass clippings can be broken down and serve as the basis for compost instead of being sent to a landfill. Offering composting as a service with your landscape business can help you bring in additional revenue that you would otherwise be missing out on.
Another benefit of composting is that it can help your landscape business be more sustainable. If you want to fertilize the soil on your landscape job sites, you have two options: either spend money at the chemical supply store; or, use compost that you’ve made yourself. Compost actually helps improve the health of the soil and encourages plant growth by giving plants added nutrients. Using your own compost also helps cut down on unnecessary costs, especially if you’re able to monetize the composting portion of your business.
If you’re looking to get started with composting, you can often work with equipment you already have in order to do so. Smaller operations can use a skid steer loader with a mulcher to grind raw material into the small pieces needed to begin composting, then switch to a light material bucket to move this matter to the composting pile. For medium to large composting operations, compact, small, and medium wheel loaders are often used in the composting process.
However, make sure you get the proper training before you add composting to your business mix.
“Many landscapers realize they don’t quite know the right recipe in order to avoid odor issues,” said Linda. The USCC offers composting training courses as well as resources for how to look up your state’s composting regulations.
Visit https://www.cat.com/landscaping for more information to help your landscaping business.
Landscaping Marketing Manager
John Janes has been bringing his diversified expertise to sales and marketing initiatives at Caterpillar for more than a decade. Not only does he hold an LIC certification from the National Association of Landscape Professionals (NALP), CSP and ASM certifications from the Snow & Ice Management Association (SIMA), but Janes also serves as an American Concrete Institute (ACI)-certified concrete flatwork technician.
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