10-Ton Gift Dumped at Sepulveda Garden Center

Whole Foods Market and its recycling partner, Community Recycling & Resource Recovery Inc., donated 10 tons of compost to the Sepulveda Garden Center in Encino Thursday morning.

Whole Foods Marketing Supervisor Kevin Coogan and the center’s senior gardener, Vel Lauterio, watched as a truck from Community Recycling backed into an open lot and dumped the earthy donation onto the community garden’s grounds.

“This is an extension of our relationship with the garden that will continue with programs, possible future donations, etc.,” Coogan told Encino Patch.

Whole Foods Market to the Los Angeles Community Garden Council in May to benefit the community gardens.

Community Recycling, which is based in Sun Valley, takes Whole Foods Market’s unusable food, floral and food-soiled paper waste and turns it into nutrient-rich compost. Bill Brodfuehrer, the regional manager for Community Recycling, told Encino Patch that the company generates about 1,400 tons of compost daily from local supermarkets and restaurants.

“I hope this is enough,” said Eric Wilhite, vice president of Community Recycling’s Supermarket Division, as he stood in front of the mound of donated compost.

Lauterio said the 10-ton donation will last about a week at the Sepulveda Garden Center, which covers approximately 20 acres and contains more than 800 garden plots, about 10 by 20 feet in size. The center usually receives two shipments of organic compost per month from the zoo, Lauterio said.

Due to budget cuts, however, Lauterio said the garden has had less equipment and manpower to facilitate regular compost shipments. Now, most gardeners bring their own compost for their plots, she said.

But by the time Lauterio was back in her office after guiding the compost delivery truck, eager gardeners were already calling her to ask if the donation had arrived. 

Coogan said he hopes to arrange another compost donation in the fall, when Whole Foods Market launches its education program to teach local students the importance recycling, composting and gardening.