Etsy Employees Bike Away Office Compostables

Etsy employees horse around on the Etsy Wagon after dropping off office compostables at Red Hook Community Farm. Photo: Etsy

Since 2005, online “crafteteria” Etsy has found a way to help users turn upcycled goods and vintage clothing chic, thanks to its hoard of crafty users and equally quirky Brooklyn-based corporate staff.

Running a successful company often means collecting waste, but as with everything Etsy, the online retailer has found an original way to haul off their biodegradable waste – by bike. Not just any old bikes, either – Etsy wagons, which have been modified to include a front-end rickshaw for carrying large amounts of waste.

And it’s no easy feat. Each month, Etsy employees create about 600 pounds of organic waste, most of which is produced during the company’s biweekly “Eatsy,” a company-wide lunch eaten on compostable plates.

Check Out: The Simple Science of Composting

For local farmers at Red Hook Community Farm, that waste is a positive thing. The waste, which employees also bring from home, is composted at the farm, adding vital nutrients to the soil.

“Etsy’s composting program is one more step in our efforts to walk the walk,” the company writes on its blog. “We take our B Corporation certification seriously, and are always on the lookout for new ways to improve our collective carbon footprint. Many members of our community have long understood the power of business for good — using recycled packaging or promoting buying locally — and we can only hope to do them proud.”

A look at the whole process, from office to farm:

Composting at Etsy from Etsy Inc. on Vimeo.