Christi is founder and CEO of Scraps. Before ever imagining starting a small business, Christi spent seven years in Madagascar partnering with communities to create appropriate solutions to local sustainability challenges; then, in a pivot from international development she came to Colorado to pursue a masters in environmental journalism and connect with sustainability & climate issues through a different lens. Not satisfied with a communications and journalism career, and frustrated with the lack of action on what seemed like a solvable problem, Christi launched Scraps in 2017 as a means to pilot a simple, bike-based compost pickup service to Denver’s underserved downtown community. In the seven years since, Scraps has grown to serve nearly 5000 commercial & residential members throughout the Denver Metro, diverted more than 5 million pounds of material, and become one of the most recognized organics haulers on Colorado’s Front Range. Scraps remains devoted to increasing access to composting, raising awareness of its benefits and helping make composting the norm in Colorado. Christi lives on a small homestead in Arvada, CO with two dogs and 30+ rescue animals. If she’s not talking trash, she’s probably hiking, rafting, cooking for friends or running around with her goats.

Session Code: 3B

Track: Business

Session Name: Visions of Scale: A Panel Discussion of Three Compost Entrepreneurs

Session Time: Wednesday, February 7, 4:15 – 5:45 PM

Presentation Title: Visions of Scale: A Panel Discussion of Three Compost Entrepreneurs

Presentation Description: Hear firsthand experiences from three successful compost entrepreneurs on how they started their businesses from the ground up and learned how to expand and grow into large scale composting. Learn all about the trials and tribulations of growing a business. How did they access funding, work through permitting issues, hiring and training personnel, and developing a new business structure. Panelists Include: Christi Turner, Justin Senbeil, Michael Robinson