We hope you had a wonderful weekend and didn’t get sunburned in the least!

As indicated in the announcements we’ve made over the past three days, if you are a subscriber to our Curbside Compost Pickup Service, you will be directly affected by some major policy and program changes we are making, which will be effective 6/1/22 (a Wednesday).

As stated previously, for the sake of not overwhelming you with too much information in any one announcement, we opted to divide our announcements into a series of announcements: One which was made three days ago, one which was made two days ago, one which was made yesterday (5/14), and, finally, this one today (with the announcements having become progressively more impactful with each day).

Again, we are making these changes to our policies and programs for several reasons:

1. To streamline/simplify our business
2. To aid our productivity/increase our efficiency
3. To maximize our profitability/ensure our survival as a business
4. To prepare for our near-term future, which will see our business split essentially evenly between our existing Curbside Compost Pickup Service and what will soon be our Compost Sales
5. To prepare for our longer-term future, which may see us partner with Municipalities (such as the City of Green Bay) on “food waste pilot programs,” potentially as soon as 2023

Today, we have a MAJOR announcement to make, which will affect all of our subscribers, both present and future, which is that, effective 6/1/22, our current Loyalty and Waste Reduction Rewards Program, which rewards our subscribers with (1) pound of finished compost for every (15) pounds of would-be organic waste they provide to us, will cease to exist, with a new Compost Discount Program taking its place.

Rather than reward subscribers based on how much would-be organic waste their households provide to us, as the Loyalty and Waste Reduction Rewards Program has done since its inception in late August 2021, our new Compost Discount Program will reward subscribers based on how “Clean”/contaminant-free (i.e.: lacking in Not Acceptable items/materials) the contents of their Greener Bay Compost buckets and extras bags of dry materials they provide to us are.

We are making the transition to this new rewards program for several reasons:

• First, our data suggests that the Loyalty and Waste Reduction Rewards Program, which was intended to reduce the amount of waste ending up in our local landfills, may have had the opposite effect, in that it may have encouraged/incentivized subscribers to produce more waste, not less.
• Second, as our subscriber base has continued to grow (by nearly 800%, since just about nine months ago), the administrative work necessary to facilitate the Loyalty and Waste Reduction Rewards Program has becoming increasingly burdensome, to the point where it is taking valuable time that we feel could be better spent on other activities, such as physical, compost-related work.
• Third, we have determined that we cannot continue to cannibalize our currently-very-limited compost supply by rewarding our subscribers with it, especially whereas many subscribers have expressed little to no interest in claiming said compost (despite having earned it), and still successfully transition into a company that not only provides Curbside Compost Pickup Services, but also sells compost (which is one of our major goals for this Spring)

Currently, our only revenue stream stems from our Curbside Compost Pickup Service. But in the very near future (as early as next month), our business model will evolve to include the sales of (1) Cubic Foot bags of our compost (for starters), to both our subscribers and the general public.

Accordingly, we must prepare to produce and package up enough compost for sale each year, moving forward, to meet the needs of a market in which compost is not only in great demand, but also extremely short supply (especially given the fertilizer shortages our country is currently suffering from).

This means we can no longer afford to give away our product for free, except for in very small amounts, or in very limited circumstances (such as per the terms of our Referral Rewards Program, which will continue to exist beyond 6/1/22, or for the sake of donating it to local organizations, such as the Northeastern Wisconsin Master Gardeners, local community gardens, etc., in exchange for promotion of our company).

Our new Compost Discount Program will work as follows, effective 6/1/22:

• We will sort through the contents of each individual Greener Bay Compost bucket and extra bag of dry materials we receive on or after 6/1/22, as we’ve always done, to identify and remove from our waste stream any items/materials we may find that fall into the Not Acceptable side of our list of Acceptable and Not Acceptable Materials, and document/photograph any such items/materials found.
• Should we find zero Not Acceptable items/material in a bucket or extra bag, we will designate the bucket as “Clean.”
• Should we find any Not Acceptable items/materials in a bucket or extra bag (regardless of whether this is one produce sticker, for example, or ten), we will designate the bucket as “Dirty.”
• Any subscriber who provides a “Dirty” bucket to us will receive a short email from us, with the subject line “Dirty Bucket Alert,” a link the subscriber can use to dispute our determination that their bucket was “Dirty” (if they so choose), and a photo of the Not Acceptable item(s)/material(s) we found in their bucket/extra bags.
• There will be no “educational” component to the “Dirty Bucket Alert” emails, which means we will not be using them to advise subscribers as to how to prevent future buckets from being considered “Dirty.” Our only “educational” efforts, from 6/1/22 on, will be conducted via our website and our social media accounts, and not targeted at any particular subscriber or subscribers (unless, of course, a subscriber contacts us privately for assistance, in which case we will, of course, assist them, in private).
• We will keep track of how many “Clean” and “Dirty” buckets each subscriber provides to us, as well as what percentage of their total buckets are “Clean.”
• Our subscribers “Clean Bucket Percentage” (or “Clean Bucket %”), as it will be known, will be used to determine the discount our subscribers receive on any compost they purchase from us in the future.
• The percentage discount subscribers will receive will be:
  • 5%, for any subscriber with a “Clean Bucket Percentage” of less than 80%
  • 10%, for any subscriber with a “Clean Bucket Percentage” of 80-89.99%
  • 15%, for any subscriber with a “Clean Bucket Percentage” of 90-94.99%
  • 20%, for any subscriber with a “Clean Bucket Percentage” of 95-100%

PLEASE NOTE: We intend to sell our (1) Cubic Foot bags (approximately 35-40 pounds) of compost to the general public for $39.99 per bag, plus tax (5.5%), and so the above discounts would apply to that price. Additionally, we intend to charge a delivery fee of $5.00, plus tax (5.5%) to subscribers and non-subscribers alike (which the Compost Discount would not apply to), that is, unless subscribers opt to meet us at the old Sears parking lot on Military Avenue in west Green Bay (or some other location in the middle of our service area, of our choosing) to pick up the compost, on a date and at a time agreed upon by all parties, in which case we will waive this fee for our subscribers.

Now, because we have learned that most subscribers make most of their mistakes, with regard to putting Not Acceptable items/materials in their buckets, over the course of their first two Bucket Swaps/Compost Pickups, we will be introducing what we call the New Subscriber Grace Period, which will guarantee new subscribers a “Clean” bucket designation on each of the first two buckets they provide to us, regardless of whether they’re actually “Clean.” After those first two buckets, however, such subscribers will be playing by the same rules as everyone else.

IMPORTANT TO NOTE: This New Subscriber Grace Period will only be afforded to actual new subscribers (that is, any subscribers who haven’t already received two Bucket Swaps/Compost Pickups from us by 6/1/22).

Having said that, it should be noted that all of our subscribers, regardless of when they originally signed up with us, or how long they’ve been with us, will start with a “clean slate” on 6/1/22, with regard to the number of “Clean” and “Dirty” buckets they’ve provided us to date. In other words, past “Dirty” buckets (from before 6/1/22) will not be held against anyone, and all subscribers will get a fresh start at the beginning of June.

In spite of this, now may be a good time to re-read our list of Acceptable and Not Acceptable Materials, especially whereas we just updated it a few weeks ago, just to be safe/best prepared.

Now, at this point, you’re probably wondering what we’re going to do with any/all the compost you may have earned, or will earn, through 5/31/22, per our current Loyalty and Waste Reduction Rewards Program, but have not yet claimed, or have been unable to claim to date, due to you perhaps having not been with us for long enough (six months) to have earned the right to claim said compost.

About that…

We have great news for everyone!

Because we are company that keeps its promises/is true to its word, we will continue to keep track of how much compost our subscribers earn, via our current Loyalty and Waste Reduction Rewards Program, through 5/31/22, and come 6/1/22, once we have a final number as to how much compost we still owe everyone, we will be waiving the requirement that subscribers be with us for six months to claim their earned compost and will endeavor, over the next several weeks, to deliver, on a date (or dates) of our choosing (hopefully before the end of June 2022), the compost we owe everyone.

This will be our way of “paying off our debt,” so to say, to our subscribers and putting an end to the Loyalty and Waste Reduction Rewards Program in what we believe is the right away–the Greener Bay Compost way–with integrity.

To that effect, shortly after 6/1/22, all subscribers should expect an email from us advising them of the final number of pounds of compost we owe them and what day (or days) we will plan to deliver it to them on. Please note that whatever day or days we choose will not be on a regularly-scheduled Bucket Swap/Compost Pickup day, but rather on some other day(s) of the week that work best for us.

It is our hope that this will give everyone a proper opportunity to experience the amazing benefits of our compost to all plants, whether it is a house plant, crops planted in a garden, or a lawn.

Now that that’s out of the way, you may also be wondering what is to become of the Greener Bay Compost Leaderboard as of 6/1/22, being that we will no longer need it to keep track of how much compost subscribers have earned, claimed, or donated, via the Loyalty and Waste Reduction Rewards Program, being that that program will no longer exist.

To that point, please note that we will simply be reconfiguring the Leaderboard to keep track of our new Compost Discount Program-related statistics, including each subscriber’s number of “Clean” and “Dirty” buckets, as well as their “Clean Bucket Percentages.” We expect this reconfiguration to be complete by no later than the end of the day on 6/4/22.

In conclusion, we recognize that the change detailed above is quite dramatic, and will take some getting used to, but we also believe it is for the best, not only for our company, but for our subscribers as well, who we are sure want to help us make our compost as clean and high-quality as possible.

We sincerely hope all of our subscribers will embrace this change and take full advantage of the great, new discounts they will soon be earning through the Compost Discount Program, and support us by buying compost from us, rather than online or from Big Box Stores, in the future.

If you have any questions or concerns, please don’t hesitate to reach out to us using any of the contact methods available at www.GBCompost.com/Contact. We are always here to help and look forward to continuing to serve you in the months (and hopefully years) ahead!