The fabled Experience Music Project (EMP) is known as a funky Seattle landmark known best for its exquisite, one-of-a-kind musical collections, exhibits, programs and performances. Flying lower on the radar is the EMP’s amazing food composting program at the facility
The Loop
We’re excited about the work that we do. We divert supposed "waste" that would otherwise be mixed in with trash and shipped to landfills and transform it into clean, nutrient-rich products.
The best part is that when communities buy and use Cedar Grove products, everyone contributes to completing a local recycling loop and supporting a sustainable, local economy. This translates to cleaner water, improved soil, harnessed energy and more fresh air. All good things if you ask us.
"When one tugs at a single thing in nature, he finds it attached to the rest of the world."—John Muir
Did you know?
With cities working under mandates to reduce the waste entering landfills by as much as 70%, composting is the practical, earth friendly and cost effective way to meet those goals.
Waste Reduction
Waste is a nationwide issue. Organic decay in landfills releases methane that warms the earth’s atmosphere. Landfills are overflowing, and the old model of just "throwing it away" cannot be sustained.
At Cedar Grove, we’re proud to be a part of the solution. Composting is a fundamentally aerobic process that does not produce any methane. We offer an ecological alternative to landfilling organic waste that eliminates methane production, and has a substantial impact on greenhouse gas reduction. We’re leading the way with real results.
Renewable Products & Energy
Cedar Grove compost is everywhere you look—in yards, corporate campuses, schools, cites, even on the sides of our freeways. We’re proud to produce a range of sustainable and renewable products for homeowners, landscapers, developers, engineers, architects and large-scale municipal and transportation projects.
Product Line
Our line of compost-based products is developed entirely from organic waste materials—clean yard trimmings, food scraps and wood waste—collected from surrounding communities.
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Perfect for limited space gardening, Garden Soxx™ are used residentially and commercially. They’re simple to plant and easy to maintain.
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Made from a variety of plant materials, our bio-plastics look and feel just like regular plastics, but they’re 100% biodegradable and compostable.
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We’re in the process of permitting an anaerobic digester for our Snohomish County facility. We’ll be producing green energy (biogas) by 2013 to create electricity to fuel our facilities entirely from organic waste.
Did you know?
Our business model is to continue to make quality products from materials that are otherwise destined for the landfill and sell them back into our local market.
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Soil Health
We’ve been composting organic waste for more than three decades, and we’re still amazed by all the obvious and hidden environmental benefits it provides. When done correctly, organic "waste" can be composted and returned to the earth as a nonchemical fertilizer with no methane by-product. At Cedar Grove we help organic waste come full circle, and bring vital nutrients back to the soil.
"When apple cores, stale bread and last week’s leftovers go to landfills, they do not return the nutrients they pulled from the soil while growing. What is more, when sealed in landfills without oxygen, organic materials release methane, a potent heat-trapping gas, as they decompose. If composted, however, the food can be broken down and returned to the earth as a nonchemical, nutritious soil amendment with no methane by-product." —Leslie Kaufman, New York Times
The Loop Articles
Phenomenal Music Museum, Show Stopping Music Venue and Glowing Example of Sustainable Composting
Friday, Apr 5, 2013
E3 Washington Winter Evening at McKinstry Innovation Center
Friday, Feb 1, 2013
On January 24, Cedar Grove was honored to attend and support the E3 Washington Winter Evening at the McKinstry Innovation Center in Seattle with renowned Author and Speaker Peter Senge. The Tahoma School District, which is doing very progressive work
President and CEO of Cedar Grove, Steve Banchero, is inducted into “Haul of Fame” by WRRA
Thursday, Dec 20, 2012
On December 1, 2012, Steve Banchero, president and CEO of Cedar Grove Composting and its affiliates (Emerald Services, inc.), received special industry honors from the Washington Refuse and Recycling Association (WRRA) as this year’s “Haul of Fame” inductee. Every year,
Stewardship in Action: Investing in and Giving Back to the Maple Valley Community
Friday, Dec 14, 2012
On December 10, a few of our Maple Valley facility employees made a special delivery of food, diapers, footballs, basketballs, board games and other toys to the Maple Valley Food Bank which serves residents living within the Tahoma School District
Cedar Grove Composting’s Michele Riggs to Present at Washington Organics Recycling Council’s Annual Conference
Monday, Nov 26, 2012
On Wednesday, December 5, Cedar Grove’s Michele Riggs, biodegradable technical specialist, will present a seminar on compostable plastics at the Washington Organics Recycling Council’s (WORC) annual conference. Riggs also serves on the board of WORC. The conference, focusing on “Managing
When a Compost Truck, School Bus, Fire Truck, Garbage Truck, Front Loader, Backhoe Get Together, What Do You Get? Trick or Trucks!
Thursday, Nov 1, 2012
Cedar Grove employees were delighted to take part in the Greater Maple Valley Community Center’s Trick or Trucks event for the second year on October 31. This community event gets more popular each year with children enjoying trick or treating
Candy and Compost: Cedar Grove Giving out Treats at Maple Valley’s Annual Trick or Trucks Event October 31
Tuesday, Oct 30, 2012
Our employees are looking forward to participating in the Greater Maple Valley Community Center’s Annual Trick or Trucks event again this year. This event is a community favorite; kids come and trick or treat from truck to truck and get
Football and Food Waste – Teammates at Seattle’s CenturyLink Field
Monday, Oct 29, 2012
Solar panels, a recycling center, compostable materials, water conservation measures are just a few of the plays in CenturyLink Field’s sustainability playbook. The end game for the venue is to defend their turf and, around the stadium, fans are frequently
How Can We Bring Organics Recycling to Our Child’s School?
Thursday, Sep 20, 2012
In the Puget Sound region, we have a population of avid recyclers. It’s become part of our culture and the fabric of our lives. For some, they’ve been doing it “since before it was trendy” and for others, they are
The Game is Officially Changed: The Green Sports Alliance Summit Makes its Mark on Seattle and the Entire Sports Industry
Monday, Sep 10, 2012
During the first week of September, Cedar Grove participated in the Green Sports Alliance’s second annual Summit which took place in Seattle, Wash. During the Summit, the National Resource Defense Council (NRDC), released a phenomenal report on the state