Compost Crusader wants to work with convention
The Democratic National Convention is planning on implementing a “comprehensive waste minimization and diversion plan,” according to a spokesperson for the event.
If Melissa Tashjian gets her wish, her St. Francis-based composting company, Compost Crusader, will be part of that plan.
Tashjian, founder and president of Compost Crusader, has pitched a plan to the Democratic National Convention that would “entice a conversation about some long-lasting infrastructure” for composting in downtown Milwaukee.
The DNC, Tashjian said, could be a “catalyst” for developing a more wideranging compost program in the Milwaukee area.
She’s still waiting for an answer and is unsure if she’s even been talking to the right people at the DNC.
A DNC spokesperson said the waste plan will include composting, along with recycling and food recovery and donations, but did not indicate whether that will include a local company like Compost Crusader.
“The 2020 Democratic National Convention is committed to reducing the environmental impact of the convention and building a legacy of sustainability in the event venues, throughout the city of Milwaukee, and for conventions to come,” DNC spokesperson Ofirah Yheskel said via email.
Major events are nothing new to Compost Crusader. The company serves in a consulting role for Lollapalooza, an annual four-day music festival in Chicago.
At Farm Aid — a concert at Alpine Valley raising money for family farms in
September — the company composted more than six tons of food waste.
“(The DNC) would be like another walk in the park for us,” Tashjian said. “A big park, but it wouldn’t be anything we would freak out about or feel uncomfortable about.”
Philadelphia had 16 tons of trash from the 2016 Democratic National Convention, according to the Philadelphia Inquirer newspaper. About two tons of that went to Kitchen Harvest Inc., a composting company in nearby Drexel Hill, Pennsylvania.
Other alternatives for the DNC include Houston-based Waste Management, which already has facilities in Milwaukee.
While Compost Crusader has plenty of downtown customers, including the Wisconsin Center District, Tashjian doesn’t know whether her trucks will be allowed inside the DNC security perimeter.
It’s unclear whether businesses inside the convention’s security perimeter will be accessible for composting companies like Compost Crusader.
With the convention fewer than five months away, Tashjian needs answers soon. She said it would be difficult to execute a plan perfectly after March 30 considering the staffing demands and possible interest from other businesses during that time.
Regardless of whether the DNC chooses to work with Compost Crusader, Tashjian said she is excited for an event of this size to come to Milwaukee.
“The closer we get to the event, the more opportunities might present themselves...” Tashjian said.