It all began with a tiny house

Or rather, the ethos behind building one

During a stint living in San Francisco I got accustomed to the ease of municipal compost service.  We had a small bin in our kitchen and a big bin outside and once a week the contents of the big bin disappeared off to the compost facility.  When I moved to Bozeman in 2014 I assumed I would be able to participate in a similar system, but I was disappointed to find that nothing of the sort existed. 

I began an in depth search into composting in the area and found out that many towns and cities have zero options.  "Landfills are cheap" said with a shrug of the shoulders was the general response from municipal leaders when I questioned them about when this sort of compost service would be offered.  A bit disheartened, I spent the next few years educating myself about composting in the area and hoping that something would fall into place. 

In the spring of 2018 that thing fell, or better yet, wiggled into place.  Worms!  I knew that there was a market for food scrap collection in the area based upon some companies staring up in that sector, but I wasn't convinced that traditional compost was the right product for my business.  However, by using composting worms, the end product is true "black gold" and is something that I know I can feel great about providing to my customers.  From that belief in the product, YES Compost LLC was born.  Now the task remains to continue educating people about the power of worm castings as an organic fertilizer and convince our nation to not only keep food wastes out of the landfill but also turn back to natural fertilizers and away from the chemicals that are so destructive to our soils.  I look forward to starting in our Bozeman community and showing the state and country how closing the nutrient cycle as locally as possible benefits everyone.  I hope you join me on this adventure!

- Karl Johnson, Owner