Rust Belt Riders: Nathan Rutz on Cooperatives and Scaling up

Today, I’m thrilled to share my conversation with Nathan. He’s the Director of Soil and a long-time force behind Rust Belt Riders, a cooperative composting operation that’s grown from bicycles and buckets to launching a mid-scale compost facility. Their story is truly inspiring—not just because of the growth, but because of how intentionally they’ve done it. We talk about the early days, what it’s been like to scale, and the importance of their unique cooperative business structure—which sets them apart in the composting world. And toward the end of the conversation, Nathan shares his beautiful vision of a compost-centric utopian future. It’s heartfelt, imaginative, and honestly, something we could all use a bit more of. Check out Rust Belt Riders (👊) at https://www.rustbeltriders.com/ Nathan mentioned Farmers of Forty Centuries; Or, Permanent Agriculture in China, Korea and Japan, a book by Franklin Hiram King that anyone interested in Compost should check out! Thank you to our Show sponsors: Green Mountain Technologies: visit Compostingtechnology.com and mention The Composter podcast for a free consultation Agrilab Technologies at www.agrilabtech.com/podcast And Viably: https://thinkviably.com/ Merch: https://www.earthcarefarm.com/store/c3/Clothing.html Contact: Composter Host, Jayne Merner can be reached at info@earthcarefarm.com or through https://www.instagram.com/composterpodcast/