Hello Compost Community And Friends,

We Humbly Come To You For Help

Over the past 8 years, we have bootstrapped and built Java’s Compost from scratch. Our basement in West Orange was home to our business for the first 5 years. It was our HQ for everything from washing buckets in our slop sink, to cleaning food laden rags in our washing machine (I realized years later how gross this was!), to outfitting our walls with floor to ceiling shelving to hold our inventory. We parked our vehicles in our driveway, starting with one lone pickup truck.

The Journey

It has been a rewarding and challenging journey, one which we had not expected coming from years as an educator (Java) and social worker then SAHM to our three sons (Michelle). The learning curve has been steep and we are still climbing it daily. But 8 years in, things look quite different now then when we started:

We rent a warehouse in Orange
We maintain a fleet of 7 vehicles including one EV
We rent a parking lot
We employ 9 people

This success is a celebration of hard work but most importantly, it is a celebration of you! For without you, our loyal and dedicated compost family, none of this would be possible. Our sincerest thank you goes out to each one of you.

The Challenge

Between the pandemic, supply chain issues, the increase in pricing of goods and good ole’ inflation, we have managed to withstand some tenuous economic times. Despite these cost increases, we have only raised our prices once since 2020.

It’s always our goal to not increase our prices but we are facing a new financial reality. Moving our headquarters from our home in West Orange to our warehouse in Orange has nearly doubled our insurance premiums despite being less than a mile and half away. This increase only occurred recently as a result of our carrier rectifying an oversight on their end. As a small business, this is a major blow and one we did not expect or plan for.

Ways You Can Help

We are asking our community for a one time donation of any amount $10,$15, $20 or whatever you feel comfortable to contribute to help buy us some time and increase our runway while we find a new insurance provider.

From the bottom of our hearts, we thank you for whatever contribution you can make. And if you can’t make a financial one, you can support us in these other ways:

Other Ways To Support Us:

Switch from CC payment to ACH transfer to eliminate CC transaction fees

Use your referral link on your portal to tell a friend or neighbor about our services
Tell your favorite restaurant, coffee shop, bakery or flower shop about us
Help bring composting to your child’s school by connecting us with the PTA, PTO or administration
Work at a corporate office? Bring us in for a Lunch and Learn about composting or check to see if they're interested in a commercial pickup or employee drop off
Post a review on Google or Facebook

We are hopeful that, with your help, we can clear this hurdle and continue to provide you the highest quality service to our community.

Thank you!

Michelle + Java

Java's Compost Fundraiser