Featured Subscriber of the Month: Cigdem Ozkan

This month, we are pleased to highlight a residential subscriber, Cigdem Ozkan. Cigdem is representing Lake Baldwin on our Friday route, which recently expanded to over 100 household stops in one day! Cigdem has been a subscriber with O-Town Compost since September of 2021, and has already diverted 250 pounds from the Orange County landfill! Also, she’s been a big part of our green events team, acting as a waste ambassador at the Orlando Pride Festival and Cows & Cabs. Lastly, she’s spearheaded an Office Composting Program at her job with The Balmoral Group in Winter Park, showcasing her commitment to composting, and earning that referral bonus.

Originally from Turkiye (formally known as “Turkey”), Cigdem moved to the US in 2016 for graduate school at UCF, and is now a civil engineer. She used to save her food scraps in her freezer and give them to a neighbor who had a compost pile in their backyard. She then moved to an apartment complex and searched for another way to compost. After finding O-Town Compost online, she asked Charlie if she could drop off her food scraps, and he introduced her to our front-door valet composting service.

Although she doesn’t think that the individuals reading this newsletter need her to “rave about the environmental benefits of composting,” she wanted to share a story about why composting was important in her household:

“I started to live an environmentally conscious life out of pure laziness! I hated taking the trash out. I had to drive to the dumpster every other day if I didn’t want my apartment to smell like garbage. It was the chore I dreaded the most. So I started looking into ways to reduce my overall waste….I still had a lot of food scraps in the trash that smelled bad when combined with inorganic waste. Then I knew it was time to start composting. It was an essential part of my low-waste journey…Composting gave us a way to ‘offset’ some of our carbon footprint…”

In her spare time, Cigdem enjoys bowling, working out, spending time in nature, and gardening – and her plants “love the black gold.” She likes the fact that she has the option to receive finished compost, and alternates between donating it and requesting it for her household. When she does receive it, she uses it to grow herbs and vegetables.

O-Town Subscribers! Each month we want to highlight subscribers, like you, that are standing out as waste warriors in your community. If you are interested in being featured, send us a direct message or e-mail us at info@o-towncompost.com.

Get Involved in The Community…

**Parramore District Trash Clean-Up! - 12/3**

This community trash clean-up event is hosted by Parramore District, Wells Fargo, and the local environmental nonprofit, IDEAS For Us!

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**Sign Up to be a “Feed The Need” volunteer!**

**Feed the Need Florida** launched in 2020 as a response to increased food insecurity caused by the COVID-19 Global Pandemic and continues to respond to the dynamic food needs of our community.
Volunteers are an important part of the 4Roots family and key to the success of our mission.

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Composting Advocacy Opportunities

To achieve the goal of a Zero Waste Central Florida, it’s going to take political advocacy and action at the community grassroots level. Going forward, we want to bring together our subscribers, who are willing to write, call, and canvass for political change in support of food waste recycling.

Our subscribers are already doing a lot, diverting their household’s food scraps from the landfill, and deserve all the praise. Although, to live in a zero waste society, we need to unify our voice.

Click on the link below, and send us an email letting us know you’re interested in joining the Composting Advocacy Group, and we’ll be in touch shortly with more information about our efforts. Members of The Compost Advocacy Group will be subject to discounts, and promo codes.

I'm interested in being more active in further composting in Central Florida. CLICK HERE .