About Us

LET US INTRODUCE OURSELVES

Hi! We are Jill and Ryan, creators of 1 Thing Green and the Eco-Sorter. We believe that small individual actions can make a difference in tackling the climate crisis. 1 Thing Green a day, when done by many is impactful! It not only helps the planet in the short term, but it also sends a message to our legislators about what we, their constituents, value and find important for the long term. Thank you for visiting our site and considering the 1 Thing Green you can do today.

THE STORY OF THE ECO-SORTER

Several years ago, Ryan came home from school and asked, "Why don't we compost our kitchen scraps? We do it at school." (cue the feelings of mom guilt...).

Where we live, waste management provides a green bin that accepts all food waste, soiled paper items and more. But we were throwing away all of our compostable food items in the trash/landfill. And that was because 1: I didn't really know what the value was to composting our food scraps. 2: I REALLY didn't want a little pail of garbage sitting on my kitchen counter. 3: With two teenage boys in the house, I knew I would have to empty that little container OFTEN.

So Ryan and I did some research together and learned that compostable items in the trash/landfill create methane - a major contributor to global warming, but compostable items put in the compost bin are turned into nutrient rich soil that sequesters carbon and is used by area vineyards and farms to help grow crops.

We also realized that probably 50% or more of what we were putting into the trash could be composted. That is when we came up with the idea for the Eco-Sorter. If half of our garbage could be composted, why not just divide our garbage can in two and depending on what we were throwing away, it would simply go in one side or the other. We got creative and developed the Eco-Sorter, making it easy for our family (especially teenagers!) to compost because there is no extra step to collection. We just throw the trash (compost or landfill) in the correct side of the garbage can. It has worked great for our family - a simple solution to a messy, inconvenient problem.

The Eco-Sorter eliminates the need for a separate compost pail - taking the compost off the counter and putting it back where we think it belongs - in the garbage can.

And we can't forget Luna. Our "zero waste" dog. She has never wasted a bit of food in her life.