5 ms·

I think there just arent a lot of big businesses built around it. I'm actually planning on starting a compost business next summer. I've been planning out the p

I think there just arent a lot of big businesses built around it. I'm actually planning on starting a compost business next summer. I've been planning out the process for the past 6-8 months and my go to market plan for it.

maxerickson 6y ago
How will you sterilize it? Bad to remove the bacteria. Good to not spread invasive species like worms and such.
- ldiracdelta 6y ago
  In USA the ship has sailed on European earthworms a loooong time ago. Combating that is like hitting a river with a stick.
  - pfdietz 6y ago
    Well, we could import that giant leech that eats earthworms. :)
    - AareyBaba 6y ago
      Then we could need cane toads to eat the leeches!
      - ethanwillis 6y ago
        I think I've read this book.. eventually a lady will have to eat an elephant
  - maxerickson 6y ago
    I didn't say "European earthworms", I said "worms and such". It's probably an okay idea to just slow the spread of various earthworms from Asia. There's lots of things that live in soil. We don't have to help them spread.
- tomjakubowski 6y ago
  Sorry for the off topic tangent but your juxtaposition makes me wonder, are there species of bacteria that have been considered "invasive" on geographic scales? Like, one inadvertently brought by humans from one place to another, where they are now endemic and have disrupted the local ecosystem.
  - jaggederest 6y ago
    The classic example is old world / new world diseases. I believe syphilis is largely a new world disease, and athlete's foot was largely an old-world disease, along with of course smallpox, typhus, measles, etc. https://www.kellogg.northwestern.edu/faculty/qian/resources/NunnQianJEP.pdf https://www.kellogg.northwestern.edu/faculty/qian/resources/...
- ethanwillis 6y ago
  That's a really good question that I don't have a solid answer to at the moment. The specific type of composting I'm doing is two phase. First I'm doing an anaerobic phase and then taking the output of that, pH balancing it if necessary, then feeding it to composting worms I've been breeding. Then I take the worm castings from them and bag that up. The initial source is really the problem. I'm taking local yard waste so it should be fine to redistribute locally, but sending it out further to other areas of the country could pose a problem. Ideally the anaerobic phase of the composting process should kill any invasive species in the compost, but maybe it won't. I know typically people go for an aerobic composting process and bank on the heat killing any pathogens in the compost.
- foxhop 6y ago
  The easy answer is to only sell locally, in this way you don't need to sterilize and it doesn't cost as much to transport fertility which can be made on site, around the globe!
ldiracdelta 6y ago
I think there are quite a few such businesses, but maybe not in your area. I grew up going to such places with my Dad way back to the 80s. There is prior art before you take the plunge :-)

maxerickson 6y ago

How will you sterilize it? Bad to remove the bacteria. Good to not spread invasive species like worms and such.

ldiracdelta 6y ago
In USA the ship has sailed on European earthworms a loooong time ago. Combating that is like hitting a river with a stick.
- pfdietz 6y ago
  Well, we could import that giant leech that eats earthworms. :)
  - AareyBaba 6y ago
    Then we could need cane toads to eat the leeches!
    - ethanwillis 6y ago
      I think I've read this book.. eventually a lady will have to eat an elephant
- maxerickson 6y ago
  I didn't say "European earthworms", I said "worms and such". It's probably an okay idea to just slow the spread of various earthworms from Asia. There's lots of things that live in soil. We don't have to help them spread.
tomjakubowski 6y ago
Sorry for the off topic tangent but your juxtaposition makes me wonder, are there species of bacteria that have been considered "invasive" on geographic scales? Like, one inadvertently brought by humans from one place to another, where they are now endemic and have disrupted the local ecosystem.
- jaggederest 6y ago
  The classic example is old world / new world diseases. I believe syphilis is largely a new world disease, and athlete's foot was largely an old-world disease, along with of course smallpox, typhus, measles, etc. https://www.kellogg.northwestern.edu/faculty/qian/resources/NunnQianJEP.pdf https://www.kellogg.northwestern.edu/faculty/qian/resources/...
ethanwillis 6y ago
That's a really good question that I don't have a solid answer to at the moment. The specific type of composting I'm doing is two phase. First I'm doing an anaerobic phase and then taking the output of that, pH balancing it if necessary, then feeding it to composting worms I've been breeding. Then I take the worm castings from them and bag that up. The initial source is really the problem. I'm taking local yard waste so it should be fine to redistribute locally, but sending it out further to other areas of the country could pose a problem. Ideally the anaerobic phase of the composting process should kill any invasive species in the compost, but maybe it won't. I know typically people go for an aerobic composting process and bank on the heat killing any pathogens in the compost.
foxhop 6y ago
The easy answer is to only sell locally, in this way you don't need to sterilize and it doesn't cost as much to transport fertility which can be made on site, around the globe!

ldiracdelta 6y ago

I think there are quite a few such businesses, but maybe not in your area. I grew up going to such places with my Dad way back to the 80s. There is prior art before you take the plunge :-)