Background and History

In October 2021, Desert Compost partnered with the Neighbors 4 Neighbors food bank access point program at St. Margaret’s church in Palm Desert, creating the first community composting partnership in the valley. Since the start of the operation, we have successfully diverted nearly 29,000 pounds of organics that would have otherwise ended up in the landfill. This was accomplished in very little time, minimal overhead, a small amount of space, and relatively small labor investments.

To put this in perspective: Each week, donated food that is not fit for human consumption (showing signs of spoilage) is set aside by food bank volunteers in 17 gallon totes. That inedible food is then composted by N4N and Desert Compost volunteers at the onsite composting area. The space is about 9 ft. by 30 ft., and  2-3 people work approximately 1.5 hours per week to process up to 1,000 lbs of food scraps.

Along with the environmental savings, the N4N program achieved fiscal savings by cutting the cost of the large dumpster and waste services they were previously relying on from their city waste hauling company. These savings were put into restoring and expanding the church’s small and neglected community food access garden, which was rebuilt in collaboration with the Palm Desert High School Environmental Club and a local Girl Scout Troop. The new boxes and containers were filled with soil made through food bank sourced composting, thereby creating a closed loop food system on the church property.

Latest News

For recent updates, contact info, and FAQs about this site, check out The Good Earth Project’s page on St. Margaret’s website.