Our Mission

To make composting easy.

Nature already knows what to do with food scraps. Our job is to make it easier for people to be part of that process.

Our Story

Mother Compost was founded in 2018 by Gwenn Nolan, a local mom who was simply looking for a better way.

Like many families, Gwenn was frustrated by how much food waste her household generated. She knew composting made sense, but she also knew that for many people, finding the time, space, or energy to manage a backyard compost pile just wasn’t realistic. So she asked:

Gwenn started by asking ten friends if they would be willing to try a neighborhood compost collection service. Within weeks, it was clear there were many others looking for the same solution. Composting didn’t need to be reinvented – it just needed to be made easier.

Today, Mother Compost serves nearly 1,500 households and partners with schools, restaurants, businesses, municipalities, and institutions throughout the Greater Philadelphia region. Together, we’ve diverted millions of pounds of food waste from landfills and returned those valuable nutrients to local soils.

While we’ve grown, our mission hasn’t changed. We still believe the easiest choice should also be the most sustainable one. Every household, every organization, and every bucket collected brings us one step closer to a future where composting is simply part of everyday life.