Guest blog by Megan Masterson

Welcome to Fort Wayne! My name is Megan, I moved here five years ago from NYC. Yes … it’s worth it!

Here in the Midwest, I’ve found my passion and mission entwined—advocating sustainability.

As a believer that self-care and earth care are both important, I just couldn’t imagine food wastes becoming smelly landfill sludges, animals like turtles with straws stuck in their noses because of improper waste disposal, and smog.

An average person produces 220 pounds of food waste per year. Left unmanaged, can you just imagine its impact to the environment?

Ultimately, I found the answer to these issues in composting, the breaking down of organic materials like food into dirt. It is like a spa mask to the ground, a way for us to replenish top soil.

Soil loves compost! Compost soaks up water and allows the soil to better serve plants. We’re particularly fond of the healthy plant growth (yum) and the reduced runoff in our water ways. 

This is why I launched Ground Down in January 2020. Our mission? To promote composting as a way to sustain Indiana, nourish your food with healthy soil, reduce carbon emissions, and provide toxin-free solutions that beautify your garden and lawn.

We started composting in our own backyard. We soon found out many individuals, and even businesses shared the same advocacy. With so many sign-ups, we gratefully ran out of space! Now, we’re operating on a larger scale.

How exactly do we do it? We aggregate organics from homes and businesses to make local community compost. 

Easy

  • We provide your bin + cheat sheet
  • Organics picked up right from your home

Fresh

  • Each swap made with a clean bin

Cool

  • The weight you divert is tracked for you to see your carbon offset
  • Get compost back or donate it

Since our launch, we have diverted 57,500 pounds of organic materials—equivalent to five elephants!

Do you want to take the sustainability journey with Ground Down? Add composting to your routine and upgrade your sustainability lifestyle.

If you’re ready, so are we! We are excited to have you in the community, and would love to turn your scraps into compost.

Sign up or check out more information here.

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Megan Masterson started Ground Down as a call to action for both environmental issues, and her own gut health. 

She believes in having healthy food and a healthy planet. Those two things are not mutually exclusive. Recycling food waste generates nutrient rich soil amendment. 

Her sustainability journey with Ground Down has just began!

Cheers to you, and the microbes in your guts and soil!