Michelle Horneff-Cohen
The environmental movement has never lacked good ideas. Every year, new products promise to reduce waste, improve recycling, replace plastics, or make our lives more sustainable. New technologies emerge, new regulations are introduced, and new labels appear on store shelves.
Innovation matters. However, after spending more than 25 years working with residential communities, and the past several years immersed in organics diversion, I have become convinced that innovation alone doesn’t solve environmental problems—systems do.
One of the biggest lessons I’ve learned is that even the best products can fail if the system around them isn’t ready to support them. That’s not a criticism. It’s a reality.
In the August and September issue of 91TV Advantage, I discussed why diverting organic waste matters and why the word compostable doesn’t always mean a product will actually become compost. Those conversations lead to an even more important question:
How Do We Design Composting Systems that Actually Do Work?
The answer isn’t found in any single product, regulation, or technology. It’s found in how all of them work together.
Success Begins Long Before Collection Day
People often think composting starts when the collection truck arrives. I don’t. Composting begins in:
- Kitchens
- Restaurants
- School cafeterias
- Office break rooms
- Apartment buildings
Every successful organics program starts with one simple decision: “Where should these food scraps go?” If answering that question feels confusing, unpleasant, or inconvenient, participation drops. If the answer feels obvious, people participate. Human behavior has not changed. Our systems must.
Every Community Is Different
One mistake we sometimes make is assuming every city should use exactly the same approach. But communities are different. Some have access to advanced commercial composting facilities. Others are still expanding their organics infrastructure. Some serve dense urban neighborhoods. Others serve rural communities with completely different collection models.
What works well in one location may not work somewhere else. That doesn’t mean one community is succeeding while another is failing. It simply means successful systems should reflect local realities. Good environmental policy recognizes those differences rather than ignoring them.
Convenience Is Environmental Infrastructure
When people hear the word infrastructure, they often think about trucks, transfer stations, processing facilities, or compost sites. Those are essential. But there is another kind of infrastructure that receives far less attention. Convenience. It determines whether:
- Someone separates food scraps after dinner
- Contamination increases or decreases
- Participation becomes a habit or remains an occasional effort
For years, we’ve expected people to work around inconvenient systems. Perhaps we should be designing systems that work around people instead. That shift changes everything.
The Best Solutions Remove Friction
One lesson I carried with me from decades in property management is that successful systems remove unnecessary barriers. People shouldn’t need complicated instructions to do something beneficial. They shouldn’t need to study local regulations every time they dispose of something. Nor should they feel frustrated because one community accepts an item while another doesn’t.
The simpler the experience becomes, the more consistently people participate. That’s true in waste diversion, public policy, in almost every area of life. The most effective systems often feel invisible because they make the right decision the easiest one.
Collaboration Matters More Than Ever
No single organization can build the future of composting alone. Manufacturers, municipalities, property managers, haulers, compost facility operators, residents, policy makers—each plays an important role.
When these groups communicate early and understand each other’s challenges, better solutions emerge. Products are designed with real processing capabilities in mind. Programs reflect operational realities. Residents receive clearer guidance. Facilities receive cleaner organic material. Everyone benefits.
Progress happens faster when we stop working in separate conversations and begin working toward the same outcome.
Looking Forward
I remain optimistic. Not because every challenge has already been solved. But because more communities, businesses, and industry professionals are asking better questions. Instead of simply asking, “How do we divert more organic waste?” We’re beginning to ask, “How do we create systems that people can and will actually use?”
That is a far more important conversation. Because sustainability isn’t measured by how many environmentally friendly products exist. It’s measured by how many people can successfully participate in the systems we create.
When good design, practical infrastructure, and everyday human behavior work together, composting becomes something larger than waste management. It becomes part of everyday life. And that’s where lasting change begins.
Michelle Horneff-Cohen is the Founder of Clean Composting Company and Creator of The Compost Collector®. With a passion for sustainable living and more than 25 years of experience in residential property management, Michelle saw, first-hand, the need to tackle inefficiencies in organic waste management. Driven by her vision for a cleaner, greener future, she leads the company in developing innovative, sustainable solutions that empower communities to compost with ease and confidence. For more information or bulk pricing options, contact Michelle at (415) 269-8803 or e-mail [email protected]. To order The Compost Collector®, visit .
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