Spurt Cares
Although our composting operations directly address climate change and regeneration, which is all great for the environment, our primary focus of social responsibility is the community. Helping other Michiganders is an opportunity for us to grow as individuals, as a business and to improve the lives of future generations.
Making a difference in the lives of others and putting good into the world are missions that are very close to our hearts. Every opportunity to help our community is a chance to grow both personally and professionally.
As a small business, we believe in community, purpose and helping those in need to make a positive difference in our world. Here are some of the ways we share our blessings and give back to our fellow Michiganders.
Wixom Schools
- Wixom Elementary School:
- Mulch donation for the Spring cleanup in 2022.
- Presents for the holidays: Starting 2023, Spurt supports some of the Wixom Elementary School families that need help to provide gifts for their children for the holidays.
- Therapy dog: In 2024, Spurt contributed to the purchase of a therapy dog for the school to improve socio-emotional development.
- Sarah Banks Middle School: Free yard waste and brush disposal and recycling every year.
Other schools in our surrounding communities
Commerce Elementary School
In 2023, we started a partnership with Commerce Elementary Garden and through compost donation we support their fantastic efforts to educate kids on soil health, gardening, and growing and eating the rainbow.
Greenhills Schools Ann Arbor
In 2022, we hosted a site tour for students that wanted to learn what happens to all the food waste once it’s collected from school. Educated them on our composting method, feedstocks, finished compost properties and use.
For the State
Great Michigan Compost Tour
Every year, we participate in the Great Michigan Compost Tour (organized by the Michigan Recycling Coalition) and teach about our site operations, benefits of compost for the State, the environment and the community and share our efforts to increase organics diversion and compost use in Michigan.
Michigan Organics Council Strategic Planning Session
In 2023, Spurt hosted the Michigan Organics Council Strategic Planning Session to define priorities to bring together organic generators, processors, and end users to network, share best practices and promote diversion of organics and compost application.
Site Tours
As part of our commitment to growing the compost industry in Michigan, we provide site tours at our 14-acre facility in Wixom. We invite students, academic institutions, industry leaders and sustainability professionals who are interested in learning about composting, food waste recycling, soil health, plant resilience, and climate change.
If you are interested in learning about how your yard waste and food waste are transformed into a valuable soil amendment that has a variety of benefits or want to explore the many ways you and your business can be more sustainable, contact us.
Yad Ezra Compost donation
We believe in increasing local resilience, building strong soils, and protecting the environment that we all share.
As part of our efforts to improve the quality of life of Michiganders, in 2020 we started a compost donation program with Yad Ezra, an organization in Berkley that provides free, healthy food to insecure families living in SE Michigan.
Every year we donate some of our STA Certified Compost to Giving Gardens, a place for people to learn about gardening, farming, food sustainability and hunger issues. It is rewarding to see that our actions influence the lives of those in need.
In Michigan, over 1.3 million people are struggling with hunger and, of them, over 300 thousand are children. In 2020, COVID-19 impacted financially many families across the State, and we feel so lucky be a part of this initiative where Michiganders help each other.
Farm City Detroit Collaboration
In 2020 we had the opportunity to start an amazing collaboration with Farm City Detroit, an organization that promotes positive community engagement embracing the importance of allocating resources for self-sufficiency and increasing access to fresh and healthy food to the neighborhood.
We donate STA Certified Compost and Spurt Dirt to the farm every spring and fall, and all harvests are for donation to those in need.
When we dream about the future of Spurt, we always see opportunities like this one, where we feel that all the hard work is worth it and is definitely changing the lives of Michiganders.
Southwest Detroit Environmental Vision (SDEV) sponsorship
Spurt is a proud sponsor of Cadillac Urban Gardens from Southwest Detroit Environmental Vision (SDVE). We provide free compost for this 1-acre urban garden in Mexicantown, Detroit. This initiative helps create a system of equitable access and availability of culturally relevant food across SW Detroit.
This urban garden is a space for community members to come together to grow fresh fruits and vegetables, promote food sovereignty, and beautify their neighborhood through place-based intergenerational learning. In turn, the garden provides food security for residents with little access to fresh produce and has become a model for sustainable gardening practices.
Bieniek Park Garden compost donation
Bieniek Park was a Decommissioned City of Detroit Park. Back in 2014, the non-profit Bridging Communities and local residents adopted the Park as "Friends of Bieniek Park”. This year, we had the opportunity to donate STA Certified Compost for the 14 raised planter beds, as well as fruit trees on site. Everything the volunteers harvest goes to neighbors and those in need.
The importance of using high quality compost is huge, as the food they harvest is completely natural, free of chemicals and full of nutrients.
West Detroit Farm
In today’s world, there are numerous needs, and it’s gratifying for us to have the opportunity to improve society through compost donation to West Detroit Farm, where all the food harvested is donated to residents in needs.
As many Detroit residents struggle with access to fresh fruits and vegetables and continue to face food insecurity, this community garden helps families through access to nutrient-dense food.
Wixom community projects
As a community focused business, we are actively looking for ways to make a real, lasting difference to improve our lives and the lives of those around us. Some of the projects we support are:
- Compost donation to City of Wixom projects:
- Gunnar Mettala Park maintenance project 2020: 30 yards of compost.
- New Columbarium project at Wixom Cemetery 2021: 16 yards of compost.
- Adopt a box Program for Wixom residents: Yard waste picked up is dumped for free at our facility and turned into nutrient-rich compost.
- We sponsor Wixom Firefighters Foundation Breakfast with Santa event every year.
- Free yard waste and brush disposal and recycling from Sarah Banks Middle School.