At Imperfect, we’re committed to building a kinder, less wasteful food system. We’ve spent years working with farmers and producers to find a home for foods that used to get thrown away, left behind, or undervalued. Yet we’ve long known that reducing waste is bigger than just changing how we source food; we have to think holistically about what happens to our leftovers as a business, too. That’s why we compost at every single Imperfect facility. 

Our composting programs have long been an integral part of our commitment to reduce the amount of waste that we send to landfill as a company. Not only is sending food to landfills a huge waste of our precious natural resources, it also creates a tremendous amount of preventable methane emissions, making climate change worse. That’s why we believe food and food scraps have no place in the trash, and we are determined to do our part to keep food out of landfills however we can. Whenever we have food at one of our facilities that isn’t fit for a customer’s box, one of our local food banks, or nonprofit partners, we have a way to turn these leftovers into food for healthy soil through the magic of composting.

Meet some of our compost partners 

• In D.C., Maryland, and Virginia, we’re proud to work with Veteran’s Compost. They’re a company founded by veterans and dedicated to creating healthy soil and employment opportunities for other veterans.

• In Northern California, we partner with Recology, an employee-owned pioneer of curbside composting on the West Coast. 

• Did you know that according to the EPA’s Food Recovery Hierarchy, using food scraps to feed animals is preferable to using them to feed the soil? In San Antonio, in addition to composting we’re proud to work with Wildlife Rescue & Rehabilitation, who use our food scraps to feed their animals, ranging from primates to iguanas. Our donations help WRR save money on food and provide their animals with some extra nutrition and sweet treats. 

Want to start composting at your home or business? 

We hope this inspires you to start composting if you haven’t yet. Whether you want to start your own pile or find someone else to pick up your food scraps, we’re here to support you with these helpful resources for getting started. 

Home Composting: Composting 101, 6 Different Ways to Compost, No Matter Where You Live 

Chicago: Healthy Soil Compost, The Urban Canopy, Waste Not Compost

DC, MD, VA: Compost Crew

Los Angeles: CompostableLA, Litterless, Conscious Cleanup

NYC: Common Ground Compost, Bkrot

San Antonio: Compost Queens 

Here’s to investing in healthy people, a healthy food system, and healthy soil!