Worms Waste Not is the name of Rachel Frick-Cardelle’s new business. We met at Starbucks on the SUNY Oneonta campus to chat about her new endeavor and her transition to Oneonta, which she describes as “both wonderful and difficult.”
Difficult because she left her position at a community college in Worcester, Massachusetts, as vice president of lifelong learning and workforce development to be with her husband when he was selected to be SUNY Oneonta’s president in 2021. In addition, she spent much of her first year traveling back to Worcester so she could care for her aging parents.
Wonderful, she said, “Because this area is quite distinct. People here have a lot of ambition for the area — ambition about how healthy they want the economy to be,” as well as its quality of life and visual appearances. “People really show up and there is a level of pleasantness and kindness to other people that I have not experienced before.”
Once settled in, Frick-Cardelle — realizing that 58% of the methane gas released from landfills comes from the organic waste and grass trimmings we throw in the trash with few local alternatives — sensed a need. Composting is not practical for many living in a city as it can be smelly and attract unwanted animals. Worms Waste Not provides an alternative with an attractive countertop waste container, a bucket for weekly home pick-up (which will be returned to the user, clean), and the option of receiving ready-to-use compost in return. Food waste will be delivered to a local small farm where it will be processed into nutrient-rich compost. “I am trying to make it easy for people to do this,” she said. “The only options now are to compost in your own backyard or take it over to the transfer station. This is one issue which does not need to be political. I feel as though this is something that this community can come together on.”
Frick-Cardelle has, admittedly, had help. With no prior business experience, she enrolled in the Binghamton University Otsego County Small Business Development course — taught by local certified business advisor Michelle Catan — which she describes as “incredibly helpful and really inspiring.” The 18 entrepreneurial students in the class included everything from a barber to a spice manufacturer to a bio-engineer. She also received guidance and encouragement from her three daughters, one of whom is pursuing a master’s degree in environmental data science.
The Cardelle family were customers to a composting service when they lived in Massachusetts. “My daughters got me into that,” she explained, “They sat me down and lectured me about the problems with food waste. I learn things from them.” She then laughed and said, “I wouldn’t have to grow so much if I didn’t have my daughters in my life.” I found myself thinking back to the lyrics in Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young’s “Teach Your Children”: “And you of tender years … teach your parents well … and feed them on your dreams … and know they love you.” In 1970, those lyrics made little sense to me. Nearly 55 years later, they now seem clear as a bell.
Rachel wants to make it easy for us to “nourish the earth.” She can come to clients for weekly, bi-weekly or on demand pick-up at a home or business, or clients can drop off buckets at her table at the Oneonta Farmers’ Market on dates which are listed on www.wormswastenot.com. Those interested can sign up on the website, in person at the Farmers’ Market, or email Frick-Cardelle directly at wormswastenot@gmail.com. She just purchased the first — hopefully of many — trucks in her fleet, a hybrid Ford Maverick. Those who sign up now will likely see her behind the wheel of her new truck coming to haul away food waste.
For years, my wife, Connie, and I have felt guilty about not composting. Worms Waste Not provides a way for us to do what is right — nourish the earth instead of producing methane gas. We have signed up as customers. I suspect that ours is not the only local household that sees Worms Waste Not as a service that provides something we have been missing. I look forward to seeing our Worms Waste Not container sitting proudly on our kitchen countertop.