This is a subscriber-only article. Join Entrepreneur+ today for access

Learn More

Already have an account?

Sign in
Entrepreneur Plus - Short White
For Subscribers

This Startup Turns Table Scraps Into Profit Detroit Dirt picks up organic waste from the area, composts it and then sells the dirt for growing produce within the city.

By Stephanie Schomer

This story appears in the October 2017 issue of Entrepreneur. Subscribe »

Anastasia McKendrick

Pashon Murray's father worked in waste disposal and management, and as she was growing up in Grand Rapids, she'd regularly visit landfills with him in the mornings before he dropped her off at school. Even as a kid, she found the system to be flawed. "I would just keep asking my dad, "How does this work? Why do people keep burying waste?'"

Why? Because that's how it had always been done. She became determined to find another way. That led her to launch a composting company called Detroit Dirt. It picks up organic waste from the Detroit area and composts it, and the resulting dirt is sold or used to grow produce within the city.

Related: Don't Just Start a Business, Solve A Problem