WASTE TO REVENUE. Earthbound Environmental Solutions arrived to Eau Claire in 2016, as founders Jamie and Zach Pappas sought to bring accessible and education-driven organic waste disposal to their city. Now, a decade later, the business has grown 20% year over year and now serves dozens of commercial businesses, the entire Eau Claire Area School District and hundreds of residential homes.

“Understanding our footprint in this world is invaluable, yet it’s often a struggle, with the constant barrage of ‘what’s new’ and that lingering feeling that perpetual consumerism has become a conditioned response,” Jamie and Zach Pappas wrote for Volume One in 2017.

Just one year after the Pappas’ introduced their waste management and composting business – Earthbound Environmental Solutions – to Eau Claire, the duo reflected on the trajectory of zero waste choices' impact on not only this community, but the world at-large.

Now, a decade later, those foundational realities – the hard-won triumphs, failures to begin and the tireless pursuit of local engagement in waste – still resonate as Earthbound marks 10 years of working alongside its community.

“What I will say after 10 years of experience is that a lot of really, really bad ideas create really significant outcomes within the community,” Zach remarked. “That’s the really great thing behind terrible ideas. People don’t come up with terrible ideas because it’s the easy thing to do.

“People come up with terrible ideas because it’s what the world needs. It’s what a community needs,” Zach continued.

While such phrasing may sound harsh, Jamie explained these “terrible ideas” actually represent the unforeseen hurdles and personal drive to bring the practice of composting out of their early-twenties apartment and into the broader Eau Claire area.

“If there wasn’t a need, the program would not have made it 10 years. When we talk about the re-imagination of waste management … what you see at your curb is just a tiny percentage of the work we actually do.” –Zach Pappas, co-owner of Earthbound Environmental Solutions.

Today, their venture serves dozens of local residents, commercial restaurants, businesses and the entire Eau Claire Area School District (ECASD).

“Our participants within the program, whether it be curbside, whether it be in the schools – the restaurants – they have a vested interest in seeing the program be successful,” the duo shared. “Not only because they believe in the sustainability focus of what Earthbound represents, but also because we give them the material (waste) that they are generating back as compost.”

With Earthbound, users have the choice to separate their organic material from garbage and recycling, while maintaining one service provider for pick up. Its composting services and diversion of organic material from landfills is possible because of Earthbound’s licensed compost facility. 

Jamie (left) and Zach (right) Pappas, co-owners of Earthbound Environmental Solutions, pictured above.

“The material Earthbound collects goes to our compost facility, which is in the Town of Washington in Eau Claire County. That is where I like to say the ‘magic’ happens,” Jamie said. “We have our facility staff that manage the operations for doing the mixing … that’s where it essentially goes through the final screening process so that we get that super fine, beautiful ‘black gold,’ if you will.”

Subscriber growth for Earthbound’s services has grown 20% year over year, the duo remarked. From its general subscriber base in 2025, 465,000 pounds of organic material were diverted from the landfill.

Today, 22 total schools participate in its organic recycling services; in the 2025-2026 school year, 319,000 pounds of organic waste were diverted from the landfill. Five school gardens across the ECASD were nourished with over 75 cubic feet of compost donated by Earthbound.

Beyond the mere (yet substantial) data, Zach and Jamie remain focused on what lies ahead: the education of Eau Claire’s youth on the transformative potential of waste-to-revenue initiatives.

This initiative began during the 2024-2025 school year, with just one school participating. Today, it has grown to involve students at Flynn, Putnam and Manz Elementary Schools – raising over $2,100 from their collective compost fundraising efforts.

Zach and Jamie plan to add another three schools for the 2026-2027 school year, they said. 

Subscriber growth for Earthbound Environmental Solutions services has grown 20% year over year. From its general subscriber base in 2025, 465,000 pounds of organic material were diverted from the landfill in Eau Claire County.

“Each school utilized their funds to support sustainability efforts such as garden sheds, garden tools, seeds and other sustainability initiatives,” the duo said. “(Students) were able to see that the value of the material they were diverting is well beyond just a ‘do good, feel good’ pat on the back. 

“This is actually an economic winner for the schools. As Earthbound continues to mature, we just continue to roll out dynamic initiatives that are really changing the way kids look at the world,” they added.

As Eau Claire City Council and waste haulers continue to engage in dialogue regarding the application of composting and organic waste management, it’s Earthbound’s continued momentum – fueled by the community’s “cheerleaders” – that demonstrates the success of programs already in motion throughout local neighborhoods.

“Really, the whole movement behind Earthbound is that the community wants to see progress and all we are is an instrument for progress,” Zach said. “If there wasn’t a need, the program would not have made it 10 years.”

“When we talk about the re-imagination of waste management … what you see at your curb is just a tiny percentage of the work we actually do,” he continued.

Visit earthboundenviro.com or call 715-952-5608 to learn more about Earthbound Environmental Solutions’ services across residential and commercial in Eau Claire County.