Welcome

We’ve been fighting on too many fronts.

Several of the software platforms we rely on to manage routes, billing, and customer communication have been degrading over the past few months — and it’s gotten significantly worse in recent weeks. At the same time, prices on these services have skyrocketed. We’re a small team. Most of our day is spent out on the trucks, not behind desks. When your messages are coming in from four different channels and the tools we use to respond are barely working, things fall through the cracks.

On top of that, we took a serious hit on the mechanical side. We had a great diesel mechanic — he retired. The next one we found doesn’t do diesels. We put off critical truck maintenance too long, and when we finally had the budget to catch up, I made a mistake. I’m dyslexic, and I mixed up two shops — went with the wrong one. That mechanic damaged our trucks badly. We’ve been digging out of that hole ever since. That’s the plain truth of it.

Same people. New structure. Everything improves.

Metro Compost & Grow isn’t just a new name — it’s a completely different kind of platform, and it’s bigger than Detroit. MCG is launching across multiple cities — Detroit, Toledo, Cleveland — with plans to expand nationwide. Your service is being transferred over. Same drivers, but now they’re being given their own regions. Each driver owns their territory and is directly accountable to the customers in it. Same commitment to keeping food waste out of landfills. But the infrastructure behind it is built to fix every problem you’ve experienced with Midtown.

And the pricing reflects what this service should actually cost: pickups starting at $5 a pickup for every-other-week service. That’s $10 a month. We’ve been fighting to get to this number for years, and this new structure finally makes it possible.

A direct line to your driver — and to us.

The MCG app is already live and launching in Detroit first — with Toledo, Cleveland, and other cities coming online as the platform grows. It connects you directly to the driver who owns your region and to the composting facilities handling your food waste. Missed pickup? Flag it the moment you notice — on the fly, in real time. Question about your service? Handled on the spot. No more messages lost across four platforms. No more waiting days for a response that should take minutes.

This becomes yours.

In a world where they own everything, charge you for everything, and sell your very thoughts and feelings to the highest bidder — we offer membership. Real membership. In your compost operation, in the platform, in the mission itself.

Metro Compost & Grow is being built as a co-op. As the cooperative matures, customers will become members of the farm cooperative — with a real voice in how it’s run. This is not just about compost anymore. This is Metro Compost and Grow.

We hear you. We’re coming to fix it.

Most of our customers are happy with the service, and we’re deeply grateful for that. But I know there are about 150 of you who aren’t — and you have every right to be frustrated. Missed pickups, poor communication, unresolved issues. I hear you.

The app is the first step. Direct driver communication is the second. Restructured routes are the third. And ultimately, giving you a real voice and real membership in what we’ve all built together is where this ends up.

The compost is yours. The mission is ours. And pretty soon, the whole thing will be open source.