About Us

Meet the Team

  • Viviana Ramírez Luna

    Viviana is a Colombian/Newfoundlander & Labradorian environmental scientist, mother, and social entrepreneur, living in St. John's. With the support of many individuals and organizations, she started her community composting journey in 2021 with Georgestown Composting, a program that allows 26 households to divert their organics from the landfill (about 3 tons a year!) and convert them into Black Gold. Learning the incredible benefits of this program, the ease of being replicated, and the urgent need to bring composting to every community through a small-scale model prompted her to start the process of the NL Composting Co-operative. The Co-op is bringing people together to support waste reduction, local food production, and take climate action through small-scale composting: The Seed that Feeds Many Birds!

  • Heidi Kolodniski

    Raised in Saskatchewan, a province with less than 20% of its natural grasslands remaining, Heidi gained an early impression of the impact humans can have on the environment. Her education in psychology focused on human development and behaviour, which she draws from as they relate to the capacity for human adaptation in the face of climate change. On an environmental stewardship platform, Heidi was elected to the Bauline Town Council in the Fall of 2021. From here, she led the development of a pollinator garden and a municipally operated composting service, the third one to exist in the province. Heidi is also chair on the board of directors at the Stewardship Association of Municipalities Inc., where she advocates for the inclusion of conservation and ecology in municipal planning. 

  • Allison Skanes

    Allison lives in Conception Bay South and has been with the Co-op since its incorporation. She is passionate about showing how easy and rewarding composting can be, especially through education in schools and communities. As a director, Allison loves helping people discover that turning food scraps into healthy soil is simple, rewarding, and good for everyone.

Our history

An informal NL Community Composting Network sprouted in March 2023 inspired by existing small-scale composting programs in NL and recognizing the urgency, need, and support to enhance and replicate this model.

For over a year, the Steering Committee, made up of people from across the province, focused their vision on empowering collective climate action through small-scale community composting. 

In January 2024, the Steering Committee was accepted to the Incubator Pilot Program by the Newfoundland and Labrador Federation of Co-operatives. The incubator was a robust six-month program involving training and workshops, mentoring teams, coworking and peer support opportunities, and access to funding for incorporation and start-up assistance.

We officially became a co-operative in August 2024, and we’re excited to start growing and adding to our network.

Rethink organics.
Revitalize communities.
Reclaim the future.

Become a member, shape composting in NL, and let’s build partnerships, grow stronger communities, and leave a lasting positive impact.

Let’s transform organics into wealth —join us today!

Join the movement

Land Acknowledgement

We respectfully acknowledge the land on which we gather as the ancestral homelands of the Beothuk, whose culture has now been erased forever. We also acknowledge the island of Ktaqmkuk (Newfoundland) as the unceded, traditional territory of the Beothuk and the Mi’kmaq. And we acknowledge Labrador as the traditional and ancestral homelands of the Innu of Nitassinan, the Inuit of Nunatsiavut, and the Inuit of NunatuKavut. 

We recognize all First Peoples who were here before us, those who live with us now, and the seven generations to come. As First Peoples have done since time immemorial, we strive to be responsible stewards of the land and to respect the cultures, ceremonies, and traditions of all who call it home. As we open our hearts and minds to the past, we commit ourselves to working in a spirit of truth and reconciliation to make a better future for all.

(Borrowed with gratitude from First Light)