Lauren Lastimosa grew up knowing the value of growing your own food. But she also knows the problems that come with dumping her leftovers in landfills.
Brick resident Rustimosa said sending food waste to landfills releases methane, a greenhouse gas more powerful than carbon dioxide, and removes heat, contributing to global warming and climate change. rice field.
“It was a straw that broke the camel’s back and made the final decision for me to go ahead with the business,” Rustimosa said. “I realized it wasn’t going to be easy until I had that information. Not because I wanted to do this, but because I needed to do this. I just felt obligated.”
That business is Un-Waste, which she started in July 2018. For a fee that varies depending on her size, she can drive a van to her customer’s home and collect the organic waste and bring it to her Renewables in Trenton where it can be recycled. For premium compost, organic fertilizer and renewable electricity.
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“When people sign up for our service, they receive a 10-gallon bucket with a paper bag liner,” says Lastimosa. “After we fill the buckets with garbage, we call a truck every week or every other week to pick up the garbage and replace it with clean buckets free of charge.
“It works just like any garbage or recycling collection service, so it’s very easy,” says Lastimosa. “The food scraps are then taken to our partner facility in Trenton for transport, broken down and composted. Any remaining methane from this process is turned into renewable energy, and the cycle repeats over and over.”
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“Gardening is Therapy”
Rustimosa started gardening at an early age.
“I owe most of my professional guidance in gardening to my grandmother, who played a key role in raising me,” Rustimosa said. “She showed me how to garden and was very hands-on about how to garden the right way. Stirred up. Not just on the technical side, you’re growing and creating a spirit of positive energy.”
Lastimosa started out as an amateur gardener and earned a bachelor’s degree in biomedical engineering while doing landscaping work at Rutgers University between semesters.
“It was kind of like landscaping going to people’s homes, except focusing solely on gardening purposes,” Rustimosa said. “Where we worked was primarily in retirement communities. The inspiration for this idea wasn’t originally mine, but it was here that I came up with the idea for my own business. Having a grandmother from Italy I had a friend, she was practicing this gardening idea in her country, and when I went out with my friend, his grandmother taught me this method, and I thought it was neat. I thought it was interesting, so I adopted the idea and implemented it.
“At the same time, I got into environmentalist ideas and social media grew and got bigger,” Rustimosa said. “We saw a lot of videos on social media about pollution and the state of the planet in general. It wasn’t until I started spreading the business idea that I realized there was.”
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business growth
In July 2018, Lastimosa started business in Asbury Park with just two customers and toured in a Chevrolet Cobalt.
“We are primarily along the Jersey Shore and have operations in Monmouth and Ocean counties,” she said. , we have been mainly residential areas. ”
Lastimosa plans to bring more people into the business.
“I want it to become as common as having a trash can in your home,” Rustimosa said. “That’s the goal for housing. We also want to be able to serve commercial customers in the form of a large business. The more business we take on, the less methane we put into the atmosphere.” increase.”
Eliminate waste
Owner: Lauren Rustimosa
start: July 2018
phone: 929-324-6689
Website:www.unwastemovement.world
time: Weekdays 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.