Yesterday’s leftovers are too often discarded without a second thought. Christopher Hallett, farm manager at Growing Hope in Ypsilanti, is rewriting the script. Under his leadership, a modest composting effort has grown into a thriving operation. Its purpose: to create a healthier environment and a stronger community, one bucket of scraps at a time.
Hallett’s dedication to composting recently earned him the Master Composter Leadership Award from the Washtenaw County Water Resources Commissioner’s Office. This recognition celebrates the innovative changes he spearheaded to expand Growing Hope’s composting program. It transforms what some see as waste into a resource that nourishes gardens, farms and the community.
Growing Hope’s mission
Growing Hope is a nonprofit dedicated to fostering sustainable food systems and empowering local residents. The organization works to ensure equitable access to healthy food through urban farming initiatives, educational programs and farmers markets. Growing Hope builds community connections and supports local agriculture, creating meaningful opportunities for change. Hallett’s composting initiative is a shining example.
From piles to production
“When I had taken on the project our resources for community involvement were spread over the farm through different farm tasks,” Hallett explains.
Now, the program has a clear focus: volunteers dedicate their efforts to maintaining and building compost piles. Under his leadership, the operation grew from three large piles to 15-20 smaller piles, completing decomposition in 45 days versus over a year. This shift has significantly boosted efficiency and output.
This transformation wasn’t just about improving efficiency; it represented a shift in how the community engages with composting and sustainability. By turning what was once a small side project into a vital program, Hallett has helped Growing Hope create hands-on learning opportunities while reducing waste.
A fateful email
One of the program’s key milestones came from an unexpected source — a concerned email from SOS Community Services, a local food pantry. They reached out about the large amount of food waste they were discarding and wondered if Growing Hope could take it, given Ypsilanti’s lack of a compost pick-up system. Hallett recalls, “That sparked a ‘why not’ thought in me and it has taken off since then.”
This partnership expanded the program to include food scraps from businesses and the public, making composting more inclusive and impactful.
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The Bucket Exchange Program
The program became even more accessible with the introduction of a 5-gallon bucket exchange at the Ypsilanti Farmers Market. Residents and businesses can drop off their scraps which will be transformed into nourishing compost for local gardens and farms. Hallett shares that this strategy “helps create a circular culture by showing that what we might think of as waste can actually give back to the earth.”
This initiative also lowers barriers for those who don’t have the time or space to compost at home, reinforcing Growing Hope’s mission of accessibility and education.
Challenges and rewards
Hallett admits the project hasn’t been without its challenges. “Labor, consistency, and getting the scraps from point A to B would be the biggest obstacles I can think of,” he said.
The workload quickly grew from a manageable task for one person to a more demanding process requiring regular attention. Hallett credits the program’s success to the dedicated volunteers and interns who now help turn the piles. They lighten the load while gaining hands-on education about composting, witnessing “the miracle of watching it decompose over time.”
Among the rewarding moments, one personal experience stands out for Hallett. While building new compost piles, he opened a bucket from the farmers market collection and discovered a watermelon rind from his own stall. “I was flat-out overcome with emotion and disbelief,” he says. “In that moment it felt like everything had come full circle, like the system was working, that a more just local food system was actually possible.”
What’s next?
Looking ahead, Hallett envisions even more innovation for Growing Hope’s composting program.
“I would like to have more businesses take part in our program, and more specific educational work days around composting,” he said. “A dream of mine is to be able to capture the heat from the piles for heating a hoop house in the winter. The hoop house heating is probably a ways off but I can still dream.”
Hallett’s award-winning composting program reflects Growing Hope’s larger mission: turning small, everyday actions into meaningful change. With Hallett’s vision and the organization’s leadership, the future for a more sustainable Ypsilanti is bright.