Lancaster Compost Co-Ops

Lancaster Compost Co-Ops is a volunteer-led and run cooperative organization that aims to make composting and its benefits accessible to all residents in the City of Lancaster, Pennsylvania. Since the establishment of our first site during Earth Week 2021, we have launched several bins across the city, trained and welcomed hundreds of members, diverted thousands of pounds of food waste from a landfill, and built innumerable connections with the common purpose to improve humankind’s impact on the planet.

Our History

Residential compost pickup programs, whether municipal and for-profit, are becoming increasingly prevalent in cities across the United States. However, no options beyond using a private backyard were available to Lancaster residents. In 2018, determined to fill this need, Eve Bratman, Associate Professor of Environmental Studies at Franklin & Marshall College and former Chair of the City of Lancaster Planning Commission, started a grassroots campaign to gather input on composting solutions. She engaged a variety of community partners including the City of Lancaster, Regenerate Lancaster, and Urban Edge Farm / Susquehanna Sustainable Enterprises.

While the COVID-19 pandemic put the initiative on pause until 2021, a seed grant from the Center for Sustained Engagement with Lancaster, a partnership between Franklin & Marshall College and diverse constituencies in Lancaster County, funded the construction of the first bin. Since then, Lancaster Compost Co-Op has continued to use additional grant dollars to expand to more locations, grow our leadership team, and even deliver educational efforts through workshops and research.