Many are starting to notice that the town of Asheville, NC is quickly becoming a hub for composting as several of its waste-diverting businesses continue to grow.

Fresh food waste at Danny’s Dumpster. Picture taken by Katie Bailey/bkbailey@citizen-times.com

So who are the companies behind this shift towards eco commerce? Since 2009, Danny’s Dumpster has been offering composting services for grocery stores, restaurants, and schools. They take in thousands of pounds of trash per week and sort through all of it to process what is compostable and recyclable.

Bins used by residential customers to fill with food scraps.
Then there’s not one, but TWO residential composting services for food waste. Both CompostNow! and CompostAVL are green businesses based in Asheville that will actually travel door to door, collecting binned food scraps on a weekly or biweekly basis to then be composted.
Pet waste and compostable dog waste bags being mixed within invessel container.
Although these types of businesses can be seen popping up in other towns, what really sets Asheville apart is an innovative business, Pet Poo Skiddoo – a pet waste composting company. You read that right, now it’s not just fruit and vegetable scraps that can be diverted from the landfill, but your pet’s poop as well!
One of only a handful in the entire country, Pet Poo Skiddoo’s eco-friendly pet waste operation offers both residential yard scooping and bin pickup services so that the dogs and cats of Asheville can greatly lower their carbon pawprint.

Dog & cat waste, along with compostable dog waste bags & cat litter are all thrown into their in-vessel containers where, through a slightly different process than usual, the contents are cooked at a high temperature over time, making a nutritious fertilizer that they call Critter Dirt.
Pet Poo Skiddoo has even ventured into apartment complexes. When you visit Skyland Apartments on Long Shoals Road, you’ll see signs on the property that say “Keep it clean, let’s go green!”. The stations are filled with compostable rolls so tenants can feel good knowing all their bagged waste is routinely taken away to be composted.
Stephanie Chow, owner of Pet Poo Skiddoo poses with an apartment sign and fertilizer.
If you are a current resident of Asheville, NC, paying a monthly subscription to all or any of these companies, you can significantly lower your weekly trash output and help the community work towards a waste-free Western North Carolina!
Asheville is Quickly Becoming a Hub for Composting