Quick Key Facts
- Roughly 40 percent of Earth’s land surface is covered by grasslands.
- Grasslands store about one-third of Earth’s terrestrial carbon and act as important carbon sinks.
- More than one million people take advantage of the ecosystem services provided by grasslands in the United States each year.
- Most of America’s prairies — more than 70 percent — have been destroyed.
- U.S. National Grasslands are home to the largest representation of endangered and threatened species in the country.
- Prairie grassland soil that is well-established can contain 10 tons of root material per acre, most of which is in the top two feet.
What Are ‘Grasslands’?
Grasslands — also known as savannas, prairies, steppes and pampas — are ecosystems found in parts of the world that do not get sufficient consistent rainfall to support forest growth, but get enough to avoid the landscape turning into desert. Often, grasslands are a transition ecosystem between deserts and forests.
Found on every continent other than Antarctica, grasslands are typically flat and open, making them more vulnerable to human development. Agriculture, overgrazing, drought, illegal hunting, invasive species and climate change are all threats to the health of grasslands and the wildlife who live in their abundant expanse.
Why Are Grasslands Important? Why Do They Matter?
Resilient and beneficial, grasslands and rangelands provide many essential ecosystem services such as acting as habitat for large mammals, burrowing animals, reptiles and pollinators; mitigating flooding and droughts; water filtration; and long-term carbon sequestration.
Even with all the benefits they provide, less than 10 percent of grasslands are protected globally.
Types of Grasslands
Grasslands go by many different names and are made up of two main types: tropical — also known as savannas — and temperate.
The two types appear similar, but have different kinds of soil and are inhabited by a variety of unique creatures depending on their location. As many as 25 large plant-eating species can be supported by the different types of abundant grasses in any given grassland habitat.
Tropical Savannas
African savannas are home to many iconic animal species, like elephants, lions, giraffes, gazelles, zebras, cheetahs and wildebeest.
The savannas of northern Australia, sub-Saharan Africa, Asia and South America are examples of tropical grasslands. The climate is warm with contrasting rainy and dry seasons. Savannas get most of their rainfall for the year in only a few months, which means trees are without water for long periods of time, inhibiting their growth.
The soil of savannas is not as rich as that of temperate grasslands. Rainfall can vary from year to year — 10 to 40 inches — and season to season. Temperatures are also highly variable, from below freezing to above 90 degrees Fahrenheit.
Vegetation height depends on the amount of rainfall a region gets. Some grasses can be less than a foot tall, while others may be up to seven feet high, with roots extending as deep as three to six feet. Two of the many types of grassland vegetation found in tropical savannas include Rhodes grass and red oat grass.
Because of their moderate rainfall and underground biomass, savanna soil tends to be extremely fertile and beneficial for crops.
Temperate Grasslands
Temperate prairies in the U.S. are lively with burrowing creatures such as prairie dogs and black footed ferrets, bison, deer, elk, pronghorns, coyotes, badgers and swift foxes, as well as bird species like larks, sparrows, raptors and blackbirds.
The rich soil of temperate grasslands means grasses are abundant and tall. Galleta and purple needlegrass — native to California — are two of the species found in the temperate grasslands of North America, Northern Mexico and Argentina.
Benefits of Grasslands
Provide Habitat for Many Plants and Animals, Including Endangered Species
Grassland habitats provide an abundant variety of grasses that wildlife use as a food source, for building burrows and nests and as camouflage from predators and prey.
Wildflowers like hyssop, yarrow and milkweed spring up and carpet grasslands during the rainy season, attracting pollinators that are important to crops and native vegetation. Grassland vegetation has adapted to the grazing, wildfires and drought that regularly occur in the ecosystem.
Mitigate Drought and Floods
The deep root systems of prairie grasses absorb the abundant water that comes with the rainy season, reducing runoff, flooding and erosion. Wells made by roots trap water and act as sponges that slowly release the water into the soil. This ecosystem service is becoming increasingly important as extreme rainfall becomes more common due to climate change.
The deep roots of grassland vegetation also boost drought resistance, as they retain water longer than plants with shallow roots.
Seed Dispersal
Though most seeds are deposited close to their parent, grassland plants use a variety of creative transport methods to spread their seeds far and wide through the process of seed dispersal. Whether they travel by wind, water or animal courrier, each seed has unique physical characteristics fit for the job.
Some seeds are contained inside fruits animals enjoy, and when they are ingested, the seeds travel with their host until they are deposited somewhere else.
Other plants, like violets, produce seed pods. When they are ripe, they pop open and eject the seeds away from the parent plant. Ants also bring violet seeds into their tunnels where they germinate.
The physiology of seeds like sandburs enables them to get caught on animals, who carry them to another location, sometimes a good distance away. Bison have historically been major seed carriers.
Wind is a common method of seed dispersal for prairie vegetation like milkweed, thistle, wild lettuce, goldenrod, aster and other plants that have little propellers or feathery or wing-like structures that catch the wind. Other seeds are so light and tiny that they are blown easily, like dust.
In moist prairies and wetlands, seeds that are able to float are dispersed by wind, rivers and streams.
Whatever the method, seed dispersal is an ingenious and efficient way for grassland plants to ensure at least some of their seeds have a chance of propagating.
Improve Water and Air Quality
Grasslands help filter and purify surface water, groundwater and air with their dense, deep roots, which trap rainwater, allowing it to trickle into the soil, where it is cleaned. This is especially important in agricultural areas where harmful chemicals are used. Some farmers plant buffers of grasses alongside ditches and streams to catch excess pesticides, phosphorus, nitrogen and sediment before it makes its way into freshwater sources.
Grassland vegetation cleans the air by removing carbon dioxide — turning it into energy and releasing oxygen as a byproduct through the process of photosynthesis. Plant roots also store carbon in the soil, rather than releasing it into the atmosphere.
In some areas, agricultural runoff contaminates soil, drinking water and groundwater with chemicals, polluted sediment, manure, bacteria and an overabundance of nitrites and nutrients.
Runoff also harms fish and other aquatic life. Grasslands’ carbon-rich soils and vegetation act as a natural filter of agricultural toxins, preventing them from entering waterways.
Roughly half a million tons of pesticides, four million tons of phosphorus and 12 million tons of nitrogen are applied each year to U.S. crops, pointing to the importance of intact grasslands to help maintain the country’s clean freshwater sources.
Generate, Preserve and Renew Soils
Temperate grasslands have dark soil rich in nutrients from their deep, many-branched roots. When vegetation rots, it binds soil together and provides food for living plants.
Savannas, on the other hand, have porous soil with a thin humus layer that drains water quickly.
In addition to the nutrients that come from decaying roots, the bulk of organic matter in grassland soils comes from animal manure. Only a small portion of the soil’s nutrients comes from plant matter.
The consistently rejuvenating process of growth, decay, nourishment and regrowth keeps grassland soils fresh and robust.
Prevent Erosion
Grasslands’ extensive, deep root systems help to prevent erosion by anchoring soil and holding it in place.
The ability of grassland vegetation to increase water permeation and stimulate soil microbes contributes to improved soil structure and healthier soil overall, which means better plant growth.
The root systems of grasslands are denser and more shallow than those of woodlands and grow laterally, providing the best erosion control.
Control Agricultural Pests
Grasslands provide a natural and sustainable form of “pest” control by providing food, breeding sites and shelter for species — like spiders and ground beetles — who consume them. These services are an alternative to the use of toxic chemicals on crops.
Pesticides meant to kill certain “pests” contaminate soil and water and can end up harming or killing pollinators, other insects and larger animals as well.
Expanding grasslands and other natural habitats like hedgerows and forests near agricultural lands — as well as establishing new ones — can help increase this regenerative form of “pest” management.
Act as Carbon Sinks
Not only do grasslands sequester a third of the planet’s carbon deep in their root systems and soil, the carbon is not released unless the ground is tilled or dug up. This means that — unlike trees that release their sequestered carbon when they die — undisturbed prairies and savannas are able to store carbon for thousands of years, even when their grasses are destroyed by wildfires.
Their remarkable ability to store carbon contributes to climate stability and helps fight climate change.
Grasslands and Wildfires
Wildfires can be beneficial to grassland ecosystems and play an important role in keeping grasslands healthy by helping to prevent woody shrubs, trees and invasive species from taking over the landscape. This helps increase wildflower diversity, which in turn supports pollinators.
Wildfires help maintain vegetation habitat for species that need open, sunny conditions to germinate, like wildflowers and oak trees. Fresh habitat is created after a fire, which sometimes attracts new species, but can also lead to a decline in others.
Native Americans help maintain grasslands for bison and other species by setting fires. The grazing animals enjoy the fresh grass regrowth in that area and graze on it more frequently.
Threats to Grasslands
Conversion to Croplands and Grazing Land
The rich soil of temperate grasslands have led to most in the U.S. being converted into farm or grazing land. The loss of so much grassland has destroyed wildlife habitat, affecting many species, including vital pollinators who depend on grassland wildflowers for food. This in turn affects crops and native flowers, which rely on the pollinators for propagation.
Along with agriculture comes increased sedimentation, soil erosion, pesticides, livestock manure and nutrient runoff, which leaches into groundwater, rivers and streams.
Drought
Drought can have a major impact on grasslands, reducing the productivity of vegetation and causing massive plant dieoff that can limit species’ geographical distribution.
Native grasslands have evolved to adapt to low levels of precipitation, but unusually severe and prolonged drought is a different story. It can reduce plant abundance and affect the amount of forage vegetation for grazing animals.
Drought and overgrazing during rapid growth periods of a plant’s life also lead to less growth the following year. And when drought and high temperatures cause the green leaf area of plants to be removed, or lack of soil moisture limits the production of carbohydrates, plant growth can be delayed or reduced.
The effects of severe drought are predicted to occur more frequently due to climate change. A 2024 study found that the loss of plant growth was 60 percent higher during extreme short-term droughts when compared with historically more common droughts that are less severe.
Overgrazing
Overgrazing is a main contributor to degradation of grasslands worldwide. It reduces vegetation cover and degrades topsoil, leading to soil compaction from trampling by wildlife. It also increases soil susceptibility to erosion and reduces infiltration rates.
One of the best ways to ensure grasslands do not become degraded is to support sustainable grazing. Grazing management works best when it takes into account the characteristics of the local environment, as well as factors like elevation, slope, water accessibility and climate.
Reducing the grassland ecosystem’s competitive nature through selective grazing can help thin out some plants while allowing others to become more dense.
Invasive Grasses
Invasive plant species can reduce grassland quality and displace native plants. These non-native grasses may not be able to withstand extreme weather such as wildfires and drought, leading to further loss of habitat.
Illegal Hunting
Illegal hunting has decimated many large animal populations, affecting entire ecosystems. Large animals like elephants crush and eat shrubs and trees, preventing them from overtaking grasses and turning savannas into forests.
Loss of grasses means less vegetation for grazing animals such as the endangered Grevy’s zebra.
Climate Change
As global heating affects Earth’s rainfall patterns, marginal grasslands can turn into deserts.
Additionally, increased carbon dioxide in the atmosphere affects the cycle of water, carbon and nitrogen, which controls the exchange of air and gasses in plants — particularly grassland vegetation. When carbon concentrations are higher, plant stomata get smaller in order to save water, reducing transpiration. When this happens, the flow from soil to roots and leaves is also reduced, potentially lowering nitrogen uptake and weakening plants’ ability to perform photosynthesis.
What Can We Do to Support Grasslands?
As a Society?
Education is essential to restoring and conserving grassland habitats for wildlife, essential carbon storage and the many other ecosystem services grasslands provide. Educating farmers and the public about how important grasslands are to the planet — as well as about methods to build and protect healthy, chemical-free soil — will help safeguard these vital ecosystems for the future.
Crop rotation is a key part of building and maintaining healthy soil, as greater plant diversity means more accumulation of organic matter and nutrients, which improves productivity. It can also disrupt the life cycles of “pests,” thereby acting as a natural substitute for toxic pesticides.
Not only do we need to protect and restore grasslands, but we need to safeguard wetlands — a crucial part of grassland ecology — at the same time.
Setting aside more of Earth’s terrestrial habitat for nature is one of the most important ways to help protect grasslands. The creation of nature reserves and state and national parks, the enforcing and expansion of endangered species protections and the repurposing of land and land restoration can all work together to preserve and restore natural ecosystems like grasslands. This serves to enhance biodiversity, conserve soils and vegetation and mitigate the impacts of climate change.
It is also important to increase investment in key conservation programs to keep grasslands healthy and intact. We must preserve old-growth grasslands through easements and acquisition.
Grasslands can be restored through the thinning of forested areas that were once open. In addition, controlled burning can stimulate vegetation growth while replenishing calcium stored in dried grasses to the soil.
Biodiversity research is essential to understand the complexity of grassland ecosystems so that we can better protect and restore them for future generations. Planning for the future by seedbanking ensures we continue to have the “right seed” when we need it to reestablish grasslands that are at risk of extinction.
In Our Own Lives?
One of the best ways to help preserve our grasslands is to volunteer with a restoration organization. Citizen science projects like vegetation and soil collection and wildlife monitoring can help researchers to better understand these important ecosystems.
You can support legislation that promotes the sustainable use of land, prevents deforestation and looks after biodiversity in your area.
Opting for sustainable methods of gardening, reducing personal consumption and choosing products from companies that use eco-friendly practices are all ways to support grasslands and the environment as a whole.
Supporting the rights and traditional knowledge of Indigenous Peoples whose stewardship of the land has been sustainable for thousands of years is another important aspect of grassland conservation.
Other ways to help grasslands are to participate in activities like local educational programs, habitat restoration and clean up efforts. Bring friends and family along with you!
Takeaway
Grasslands are vitally important for biodiversity, nature and climate. They are essential habitat for billions of animals — such as the African elephant, long-billed curlew and black-footed ferret — throughout the world. They store roughly a third of the Earth’s carbon while providing climate resilience against heat waves, drought and wildfires. They are crucial for the food security, energy and livelihoods of many communities throughout the planet.
Despite their importance, grasslands are remarkably unprotected. From 2016 to 2020, 10 million acres of Great Plains grasslands were destroyed — mostly for crop agriculture. The destruction of grassland habitats is one of the main contributors to the steep decline of grassland birds, more than 300 species of which call the ecosystem home.
Grasslands provide natural solutions for carbon sequestration while reducing climate change impacts. Restoring and protecting them not only bolsters habitat and improves landscape resilience, it supports wildlife, rural and Indigenous communities and the ecological balance of the planet as a whole.
The post Grasslands 101: Everything You Need to Know appeared first on EcoWatch.
https://www.ecowatch.com/grasslands-facts-ecowatch.html
Green Living
Best of Sustainability In Your Ear: SePRO’s Mark Heilman On Phosphorus, Waterways, And Invasive Species
Listen now and read a transcript of this episode. Introducing Sustainability In Your Ear transcripts.
Every summer, the same devastating story repeats across America: lakes that families have cherished for generations suddenly turn toxic green. Half a million people in Toledo lose their drinking water when Lake Erie blooms with poison algae. Or, Florida’s red tide costs the state billions in lost tourism. But some of the most damaged bodies of water in America are getting a cleanup. Meet Dr. Mark Heilman, Vice President of Environmental Restoration and Advocacy at SePRO, whose two decades of water restoration work have brought 1.4 million acres of polluted lakes and wetlands across North America back to life. Mark’s team achieved a 42% reduction in harmful phosphorus levels and protected $300 million in annual tourism revenue at Moses Lake, Washington.
When phosphorus from fertilizers and runoff enters our waters, it acts like Miracle-Gro for algae, creating massive blooms that choke aquatic life and produce toxins that cause liver damage, neurological problems, and even death. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency assessments show the number of overly productive lakes with poor water quality is increasing. Harmful algal blooms are becoming more frequent and intense. Perhaps most striking is Heilman’s noting that even benign-seeming weekend lawn care directly contributes to this crisis: a bushel of grass clippings that reach a waterway contains about a tenth of a pound of phosphorus, the same amount found in a box of Miracle-Grow fertilizer. When dumped into a waterway, those clippings can grow up to 50 pounds of algae. Heilman explains that treating a lake is like “performing surgery on an entire ecosystem,” a process that involves a comprehensive assessment of water quality, community engagement, and multi-year management programs. The climate crisis is intensifying these challenges as warming water temperatures favor cyanobacteria growth, while invasive species like hydrilla—what Heilman calls “disturbance specialists”—exploit changing environmental conditions to establish footholds and outcompete native species. Yet he remains optimistic about prevention: “It’s easier to prevent, takes less resources and investment to prevent them than to actually try to resolve them once these problems are in the environment.” You can learn more about SePRO’s restoration work at sepro.com.
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Editor’s Note: This episode originally aired on September 15, 2025.
The post Best of Sustainability In Your Ear: SePRO’s Mark Heilman On Phosphorus, Waterways, And Invasive Species appeared first on Earth911.
https://earth911.com/podcast/sustainability-in-your-ear-sepros-mark-heilman-on-phosphorus-waterways-and-invasive-species/
It’s seed-ordering season. As you browse this year’s catalog, plan to help butterflies, bees, and birds keep our food system running. Plan your garden to give a lift to pollinators, which are responsible for the reproduction of more than 87% of the world’s flowering plant species and contribute to roughly 35% of global crop production volume. But these essential workers are in serious trouble.
A 2025 assessment of North American pollinators, the most comprehensive study of its kind to date, found that at least one in five native North American pollinators face elevated extinction risk. Among native bee species, 34.7% are at risk, with climate change, habitat loss, and pesticide use identified as the primary threats. Globally, approximately 40% of invertebrate pollinators, including bees and butterflies, face extinction risk. The eastern monarch butterfly population has declined by roughly 80% over recent decades, while some bumble bee species have seen hive occupancy declines of 57% or more since 1998.
You can make a real difference in defense of pollinators. Research published in the Journal of Ecology found that residential gardens account for 85% of nectar sugar produced in urban areas, because gardens are both nectar-rich and cover roughly a quarter to a third of urban land. A 2024 follow-up study from the same research team found that gardens provide between 50% and 95% of total available nectar during months when farmland sources nearly disappear. Home gardens are a critical safety net for pollinators.
Here’s how to plant a pollinator garden based on where you live in the U.S.
This article contains affiliate links. If you purchase an item through one of these links, we receive a small commission that helps fund our work.
Start With Native Plants
Before choosing specific products, understand the single most important principle of pollinator gardening: plant native species.
Native plants have co-evolved with local pollinators over thousands of years. They provide not just nectar and pollen, but also larval host plants — the specific species that butterflies and moths need to lay their eggs and complete their life cycles. Non-native ornamentals may offer nectar, but they rarely support the full web of pollinator relationships.
The National Wildlife Federation’s Native Plant Finder lets you enter your ZIP Code to discover the best native plants for your specific area, based on research by Dr. Doug Tallamy of the University of Delaware. The Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation also publishes region-specific pollinator plant lists and habitat guides. These free tools will give you more targeted recommendations than any single seed pack can deliver.
Know Your Hardiness Zone
Select plants most likely to thrive in your climate by checking the USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map. The USDA released a significantly updated map in November 2023 — the first revision since 2012 — incorporating data from 13,412 weather stations and reflecting 30-year temperature averages through 2020.
Strikingly, about half the nation saw plant hardiness shifted by approximately half a zone warmer, meaning plants that wouldn’t have survived your winters a decade ago may now be viable choices. Enter your ZIP Code on the USDA site to confirm your current zone before shopping for plants.
Once you have selected the native plants to help pollinators in your region, follow these tips to turn your yard into a pollinator paradise.
- Plant flowers with a range of sizes, shapes, and colors.
- Avoid planting modern hybrids as they cannot produce nectar.
- Plant in drifts, which imitate natural areas by creating colonies of a single plant variety. This increases the visibility of the plants to the pollinators.
- Avoid landscape mulch and fabric.
- Leave dead wood for nesting.
Pollinators for Most of the U.S.
You can plant a summer pollinator garden in most of the U.S. — mainly in the Midwest, Northeast, and Northwest. The key is selecting native perennials suited to your hardiness zone.
Plants: The Summer Pollinator Pocket Garden from Nature Hills Nursery is a 12-pack of native perennials that work well in zones 3–7: Sweet Black-Eyed Susan (Rudbeckia subtomentosa), Purple Coneflower (Echinacea purpurea), Mountain Mint (Pycnanthemum virginianum), and Smooth Blue Aster (Aster laevis). You get three of each species, a smart selection because it provides spring-through-fall bloom succession and a mix of flower shapes that serve different pollinators.
Natural fertilizers: Use organic fertilizers like the Down to Earth Organic Rose & Flower Fertilizer Mix, a natural, OMRI-listed fertilizer suited for flowering plants. Avoid synthetic fertilizers and pesticides entirely — they can harm the very pollinators you’re trying to attract.
Once you have your native plants, follow these tips to turn your yard into a pollinator paradise:
Plant flowers with a range of sizes, shapes, and colors to serve different pollinator species.
Prioritize species-type and heirloom varieties over heavily hybridized cultivars, as some modern hybrids produce reduced nectar. Plant in groups of the same species to mimic natural areas and increase pollinator visibility. Avoid heavy landscape mulch and fabric, which prevent ground-nesting bees from accessing the soil (roughly 70% of native bee species nest underground). Leave dead wood and hollow stems for cavity-nesting bees and other beneficial insects.
Deep South Wildflower Garden
If you live in warmer regions like the Southwest, Texas, or Southeast, plant a different collection of wildflowers suited to drier climates. Getting the timing right is one of the most important factors for starting a wildflower garden in hot climates. In areas with intense summer heat, sow your wildflower seeds in early spring so plants can establish before peak temperatures arrive.
Plants: Look for native wildflower blends formulated for your specific state or region. Bluebell, Foxglove, Comfrey, Clover, Greater Knapweed, and Hellebore are proven bee-attractors, though not all are native to the southern U.S. Prioritize blends that emphasize regional natives — species like Blanket Flower(Gaillardia), Texas Bluebonnet (Lupinus texensis), Black-Eyed Susan (Rudbeckia hirta), and native Salvias will perform well in southern heat and serve local pollinator communities. Use the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center’s plant database to find species native to your specific state.
Natural fertilizer: Numerous organic and natural fertilizers are available to help your wildflower garden thrive. Down to Earth Organic Bat Guano Fertilizer is available in both 2-pound and larger sizes — the smaller box works well for container and window gardens.
To set your garden up for success, choose a site with full sun and prepare the soil for seeding. Scatter seeds following the coverage rate on the packaging. Compress seeds into the soil using a seed roller or by walking on a board placed over the seeded area. Water gently and keep the soil moist — not soaking wet — until plants establish.
If you enjoy birdsong in your yard, consider planting a bird garden alongside your pollinator plantings. Bird-friendly gardens provide natural, year-round food sources that are healthier than feeders and less vulnerable to squirrel raids.
Pacific Coast Bee Garden
Bees are essential to Pacific Coast ecosystems. Native bees pollinate native plants that introduced honeybees often can’t serve as effectively. A bee-friendly garden can support local bee populations, and the West Coast’s long growing season makes year-round bloom achievable.
This region faces a particularly urgent bee population decline. Research found that the western bumble bee (Bombus occidentalis), once common across western North America, has experienced a 57% declinein hive occupancy from 1998 to 2020, driven by rising temperatures, drought, and neonicotinoid pesticide exposure. A 2024 study in PLOS ONE found declining bee and butterfly species richness across western and southern North America, linked to climate change and land use.
Plants: Select native flowers that bloom across multiple seasons — not just spring or summer. California poppies (Eschscholzia californica), native Lupines, Seaside Daisy (Erigeron glaucus), California Fuchsia (Epilobium canum), and Coyote Mint (Monardella villosa) are excellent choices. Browse the Xerces Society’s Pacific Coast pollinator plant lists for comprehensive regional recommendations.
Natural fertilizers: You can easily ditch chemical-based fertilizers. Use Down to Earth Organic Bat Guano Fertilizer to supplement the garden bed when preparing soil for your flower seeds. For a window garden or container planting, the 2-pound box is sufficient.
Avoid Neonicotinoids: Know the Rules in Your State
Do not purchase plants treated with neonicotinoid pesticides (neonics). While they may accelerate plant growth, neonicotinoids are systemically absorbed into plant tissues, including pollen and nectar, and are highly toxic to bees, butterflies, and other pollinators. In 2022, the EPA concluded that neonicotinoids likely adversely affect the majority of federally listed endangered species.
The policy landscape has also shifted significantly since 2021. As of January 2025, California banned retail sales of neonicotinoid pesticides in nurseries and garden centers. Twelve states have now enacted various restrictions on neonicotinoid use: Nevada, New Jersey, and Maine have banned all outdoor non-agricultural uses; Colorado has prohibited homeowner use; New York banned neonic-treated seeds for corn, soybean, and wheat; and Connecticut, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Rhode Island, Vermont, and Washington have imposed additional residential restrictions. The EU has maintained a comprehensive outdoor ban since 2018.
When shopping for plants, ask your nursery whether their stock has been treated with neonicotinoids. Look for labels indicating neonic-free plants, and buy from nurseries that have committed to eliminating these pesticides. Go for natural pest management alternatives that create a safe, inviting environment for pollinators.
Five More Ways To Help Pollinators Thrive
Plan for year-round bloom. Pollinators need food from early spring through late fall. Most gardens produce abundant nectar in midsummer but leave pollinators hungry in March, April, October, and November. Plant early-blooming species like Crocus, native Willows, and Columbine alongside late-season bloomers like Asters, Goldenrod, and native Sedums to close the gaps.
Provide water. Pollinators need water just like any other animal. A shallow dish or saucer filled with pebbles and fresh water gives bees and butterflies a safe place to drink without drowning. Change the water regularly to prevent mosquito breeding.
Support ground-nesting bees. Roughly 70% of native bee species nest in the ground, not in hives. Leave patches of bare, undisturbed soil in sunny areas of your garden. Reduce tilling and avoid covering every inch with heavy mulch or landscape fabric.
Reduce mowing. Letting parts of your lawn grow longer allows clover, dandelions, and other flowering plants to bloom. These “weeds” are some of the most important early-season food sources for pollinators. Even mowing less frequently, such as every two to three weeks instead of weekly, can significantly increase the nectar available in your yard.
Think beyond your garden. Pollinator habitat works best as a connected network. Talk to neighbors about planting native species, advocate for pollinator-friendly practices in public parks and road verges and support local native plant societies. The National Wildlife Federation’s Certified Wildlife Habitat program can help you formalize your garden’s contribution.
Enjoy Your Garden, It Helps Nature Rebound
The continuing decline of pollinator populations is a major environmental threat with serious consequences for food security. But the scale of the crisis also means that individual action genuinely matters, and research have shown that the collective impact of millions of home gardens can sustain pollinator populations across entire landscapes.
By planting native species, avoiding pesticides, and providing the habitat features pollinators need, you’re doing more than beautifying your yard. You’re building a node in a living network that butterflies, bees, birds, and other pollinators depend on for survival.
Asters, Goldenrod, and native Sedums to close the gaps.
Provide water. Pollinators need water just like any other animal. A shallow dish or saucer filled with pebbles and fresh water gives bees and butterflies a safe place to drink without drowning. Change the water regularly to prevent mosquito breeding.
Support ground-nesting bees. Roughly 70% of native bee species nest in the ground, not in hives. Leave patches of bare, undisturbed soil in sunny areas of your garden. Reduce tilling and avoid covering every inch with heavy mulch or landscape fabric.
Reduce mowing. Letting parts of your lawn grow longer allows clover, dandelions, and other flowering plants to bloom. These “weeds” are some of the most important early-season food sources for pollinators. Even mowing less frequently — every two to three weeks instead of weekly — can significantly increase the nectar available in your yard.
Think beyond your garden. Pollinator habitat works best as a connected network. Talk to neighbors about planting native species, advocate for pollinator-friendly practices in public parks and road verges, and support local native plant societies. The National Wildlife Federation’s Certified Wildlife Habitat program can help you formalize your garden’s contribution.
Enjoy Your Garden
The continuing decline of pollinator populations is a major environmental threat with serious consequences for food security. Pollinators contribute more than $15 billion annually to North American agriculture alone. But the scale of the crisis also means that individual action genuinely matters — researchers have shown that the collective impact of millions of home gardens can sustain pollinator populations across entire landscapes.
By planting native species, avoiding pesticides, and providing the habitat features pollinators need, you’re doing more than beautifying your yard. You’re building a node in a living network that butterflies, bees, birds, and other pollinators depend on for survival.
Editor’s Note: This article originally appeared on April 5, 2021, and was substantially updated in February 2026.
The post Plant a Pollinator Garden To Support Butterflies, Bees, & Birds appeared first on Earth911.
https://earth911.com/home-garden/plant-a-pollinator-garden/
Green Living
Sustainability In Your Ear: CurbWaste’s Mike Marmo Is Building the Waste Logistics Layer of the Circular Economy
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Interview Transcript
Mitch Ratcliffe 0:00
Hello, good morning, good afternoon or good evening, wherever you are on this beautiful planet of ours. Welcome to Sustainability In Your Ear. This is the podcast conversation about accelerating the transition to a sustainable, carbon-neutral society, and I’m your host, Mitch Ratcliffe. Thank you for joining the conversation.
Today, we’re going to take another dive into the circular economy, this time about how we manage our waste collection and processing systems. The U.S. waste management industry moves more than 290 million tons of municipal solid waste a year. It’s a potential trillion-dollar market, yet much of it still runs on paper, tickets, clipboards, and spreadsheets. Roughly 10,000 independent haulers handle a significant share of American collection and materials transfer, and they work in a business where a single truck costs $300,000 and profitability depends on route efficiency. Yet most of these haulers lack access to the digital infrastructure that other logistics-centric industries adopted a decade ago.
Now that society recognizes the immense value in waste—that it’s not just something to dispose of as quickly and quietly as possible, to manage for profitable reuse in a growing circular economy—the waste management industry is in the midst of a vast upgrade.
And our guest today is Mike Marmo, the CEO and founder of CurbWaste, an end-to-end operating system built for independent waste haulers. Mike is a fourth-generation waste industry professional. His great-grandfather started in the business, and Mike started his career working at a family transfer station in New York. Then he built his own collection and disposal hauling company called Curbside, and when COVID shutdowns wiped out three months of construction-dependent revenue, he pivoted to focus on the software platform his hauling company had built. He sold that hauling business in 2021 and has spent the years since building CurbWaste into a platform that now serves more than 150 haulers across 40 states, from five-truck family operations to 200-vehicle regional fleets.
CurbWaste brings order management, real-time dispatch, route optimization, automated invoicing, driver apps, and e-commerce into a single cloud-based platform. Its CurbPOS point-of-sale system for transfer stations tracks inbound and outbound materials with scale integration, and uses weighted averages by material type to generate automated LEED diversion reports and Recycling Certification Institute certified documentation. In other words, it helps a hauler qualify for environmental incentives that gives contractors and developers defensible, third-party verifiable proof that their construction waste was actually diverted from a landfill. And that, too, creates another economic opportunity.
The per-load, per-material chain-of-custody data is what the emerging extended producer responsibility programs that we’ve discussed many times need, as seven states now require producers to fund and document the collection, sorting, and recycling of their packaging. So if you put this operating system under the circular economy, you start to track the value flow, and that means more value can be recognized and rewarded.
In October, CurbWaste closed a $28 million Series B round led by Socium Ventures—that’s the venture capital arm of Cox Enterprises—bringing its total funding to $50 million. The investment is fueling AI-powered business intelligence tools designed to give independent haulers the kind of data-driven decision making that larger competitors like Waste Management and Republic Services have built in their own proprietary systems.
We’ll talk with Mike about what it takes to digitize an industry that’s resisted technology adoption for decades, how CurbPOS’s materials tracking could extend from LEED compliance into EPR reporting and regional materials flow planning, and whether a network of independent haulers on a shared platform can become a connective tissue for an emerging circular economy supply chain. And finally, what is AI actually delivering for waste operations today compared to the hype we’re hearing?
You can learn more about CurbWaste at curbwaste.com—CurbWaste is all one word, no space, no dash.
So, can a software platform that modernizes independent hauling also help build the data infrastructure for the circular economy? Let’s find out right after this quick commercial break.
[COMMERCIAL BREAK]
Welcome to the show, Mike. How you doing today?
Mike Marmo 4:42
I’m doing well. How are you doing?
Mitch Ratcliffe 4:44
Doing well. It’s a beautiful day here in Southern Oregon, and I know in New York City you’re getting through the snow.
Mike Marmo 4:51
Yes, it’s really cold.
Mitch Ratcliffe 4:53
I want to start off with this question, and it goes back to the fact that your great-grandfather started this business, or started in this business. Walk us through the paper and digital processes that recycling operations have been using, and how CurbPOS changes their day-to-day work.
Mike Marmo 5:07
Yeah. So my family had grown up in this, you know, been in this business. I had grown up in this business. Actually, my first job, I was a scale operator starting at a transfer station. And when I was working there, everything was pen to paper. You know, we used a traditional scale ticket. We would put it through this, you know, the EXP printer.
And, you know, within that first year of really working there, I started to realize how difficult it was and how much manual work was happening. You know, a lot of the requests that we were getting at that facility—it was a C&D facility—a lot of the requests we were getting were for LEED, or for something that was related to a regulatory compliance effort, and to get all that information was fairly difficult. So we, you know, at that point, I really understood kind of where the waste industry was relative to the technology around me and my regular day-to-day life, and when I started a waste company, and then ultimately ended up starting a software company, I really saw it at scale, working with a lot of companies around the country that are starting pen to paper or operating off kind of archaic systems.
And so when we originally built CurbWaste and then the CurbPOS product, which is for the transfer stations and recycling centers, we really hyper-focused on automating tasks and making sure that everything was as digital as possible for aggregation of data. So I think we’re starting to see adoption along the way, and I think the waste industry is progressing, but ultimately, I think a digital experience is necessary. And I think it’s for the future of the industry and for the future of the way that we operate in our waste streams. I think it’s critical.
Mitch Ratcliffe 6:45
When you pivoted from moving trash to selling software, how did that change your view of the system that you’d been working in?
Mike Marmo 6:52
Yeah, so New York, obviously, is fairly unique. We were operating the five boroughs, and there are many limitations, regulatory compliance. It’s very difficult to navigate logistically—you know, so many people, and limited parking, limited space, very tight. So you know, when you’re operating in that bubble, you don’t have a lot of options on how you have to operate. You have to be really, really good and really, really pointed.
But then once we moved into the software space, and we started to see, you know, around the country, how people operate, the term I like to use always is “local,” because it really is. You know, we’re all fundamentally doing the same thing. We’re all picking up garbage. We’re all bringing it to facilities. They’re processing materials. But the way they do it, or the nuances around that workflow, are very different, depending on where you are.
And the example I’ll use is like, you know, you have New York City—again, that’s like a very tight space, limited space, lot of people. And then you’ll operate with a company down in Alabama or Mississippi that has a big urban sprawl, and they have different types of issues, different types of problems. And so everybody’s trying to do the best they can from a service perspective. But ultimately, it really is dependent on where you are regionally. And I think that’s where dynamic software and the ability to be dynamic really provides a lot of value overall.
Mitch Ratcliffe 8:04
The old approach to this business was you had a landfill and you had a certain number of years to fill it, and so you were managing filling a hole rather than extracting value from the waste stream. How have you seen that transition change the focus of the business that you’re trying to support with software?
Mike Marmo 8:21
So I think, I mean, maybe I can take a step back into the history a little bit. To your point, I think waste used to be volume-based. It was very much like, I charge a price per yard, I dump for price per yard. And there was a simplicity in that. But I think it also led to—kind of, the way that pricing was done was, again, very volume, and it was very simple.
When the industry moved into weight and it started to weigh materials—and obviously within that, the kind of correlation of commodities being pulled out and the value in the global supply chain—there was a shift in the industry where some of the waste haulers still were pricing or stuck in a volume-based framework, but the facilities were pricing off of tonnage.
And there was an evolution that happened over time. So what you end up seeing is like, if you order a dumpster, for example, and a dumpster has a certain amount of price and allowable tonnage, and then you’re pricing off a matrix format for additional tonnage—the industry shifted. There was a shift in the way that the industry actually started to work.
So now what ends up happening in that framework is, some landfills, you know, big facilities, certain markets have a lot of land and a lot of sprawl, and they have big holes with long lifespans. Whereas other markets don’t have any landfills, or have many landfills closing because they’re running out of space, and they’re moving to intermodal, or they’re moving to, again, like MRFs. There’s been more focus on bringing materials back into the supply chain. So I think we’re still seeing that shift happen. It’s still moving in that direction.
And I think, again, like I always say, waste is a utility that’s not measurable, and I think that’s the main problem. And in order to do this well, you need to have a unit of measurement, a single point of truth. And so that’s why I think software comes into play. It’s able to aggregate a bunch of data—operational data, but also data that’s related to the material and waste streams—and be able to measure what’s going on, and then be able to make better business decisions and better regulatory decisions on the long term.
Mitch Ratcliffe 10:23
CurbPOS tracks inbound and outbound materials at these transfer stations. When a truck dumps a load, what’s the data capture process, and how granular does it get in terms of the materials that you can classify and identify? And then what does that enable in terms of value extraction?
Mike Marmo 10:38
It all depends. It really depends on the market. Some, it hits the floor and then it just gets, you know, taken out to the next place. Other markets will obviously run it across a belt, pull out commodities. So there’s something measurable that’s happening.
I think, you know, the age of technology now, you can do things like material recognition—AI being able to do material recognition and get components of that. Obviously, the certification bodies like RCI and LEED that are helping to kind of audit and make sure that there’s an evaluation period of whatever they’re saying they did, or whatever they’re pulling out of the stream.
But the inbound-outbound correlation is really what matters. Because when you’re coming onto the scale and you’re getting weighed and you’re putting it on the floor, once it hits the belt, we can then take the outbounds and create that mapping of, okay, this material, amount of material came in that day, this load hit the floor, and then this is what was distributed out. And then we can show you what a recycling rate was. I still think there’s more to be done there. I do think that cameras and AI can measure that when it hits the ground, but I think the industry is moving in the right direction overall.
Mitch Ratcliffe 11:52
Let’s step back a little bit from the industry to, let’s say, a five-truck family operation that’s never used anything except maybe QuickBooks to do some invoicing. What is the actual on-ramp to CurbPOS look like for them? How does it change their business?
Mike Marmo 12:09
Yeah, so I think if you’re a hauler, you’re going to be on the CurbWaste product. If you’re transitioning to be on the CurbPOS product—but really, around implementation, I think that’s actually a natural point where people start thinking about software as a hauler. You know, you really want to be cost-efficient in the early days, and so sometimes software might be out of the price range. But I think as you start to grow, and you’re seeing that incremental growth, what most haulers are looking for at that point is efficiency and visibility.
So what software is able to do—operationally, it’s allowing you the ability to be efficient and to be able to see what’s working and what isn’t, and then it’s also giving you insights into what’s measurable, so that you can keep investing in the things that are working. That’s hard in the waste business overall, but it’s a good way to start.
When you go through change management, change is hard all the time. Like, if you have a process that’s working, and it’s, you know, the kind of old adage, “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.” You hit a certain point where you have to make a decision about what you want—what is the motivating factor of the business? So are you trying to grow, or are you just trying to maintain where you are? Most people that are entering business and entrepreneurship are trying to grow. So then it becomes about scale. It becomes about, I need to maximize and focus on the most important thing, and I can’t do everything. And eliminating manual tasks allows you to scale more efficiently.
So you go through the buying process and you find the right fit for the software that you need in the moment of which you need it. But you also need to consider what you can scale into as you grow. And then you go through a process of entering orders, getting training, training the drivers, training the staff, making sure everybody understands how the system works. But then there’s a transition period. We stick with them, we make sure that everything is going the way that we hoped it would go, what the project plan said, and you’re supporting them along the way. But at a certain point, the system is running for you, and then they’re off to the races and they continue to scale.
Mitch Ratcliffe 13:53
One of the major changes in the industry that’s driving this transition is the introduction of extended producer responsibility laws, which require, for instance, you’re measuring material type, the weight, its recyclability, and whether it’s recycled, and getting verification of that diversion from landfill. Was that in your head when you started thinking about developing CurbWaste, or is this an opportunity that’s just sort of emerged conveniently at the same time?
Mike Marmo 14:20
100%. When we got into this, the grander vision was the interconnectivity of the supply chain from a data perspective. So the way I kind of like to normalize it is, you have a generator, you have a collector—a hauler—you have a disposal site, and then ultimately end use, right? But it’s end of life. So does it go back into the supply chain through the circular economy? Does it end up in the hole? Whatever that is. There’s usually that period of time where the life cycle has ended.
So the way we thought about it was, well, where can we focus energy from a software perspective? I view the haulers and the transfer stations and the disposal centers as the core of the data set. So we really want to be hyper-focused on aggregating data and providing value in those areas. But ultimately, the idea was to interconnect the generation piece to the rest of it. So when we started, we really stayed focused on that part—the collector and the disposal. But now we’re starting to migrate into the generator piece, to really connect the data sets. And to your point, show where material is being generated, how it’s being generated, where it’s going, and ultimately where it ends up. That’s the measurement of the utility. That’s the waste meter. And that’s what we’re trying to achieve.
Mitch Ratcliffe 15:31
We’ve had a number of sorting and hauling folks on the show, as well as a lot of other thinkers on this topic of the circular economy. So building on this reality in which you’ve got verification that materials have been moved to a particular place and at a particular pace, do you imagine it’s possible to actually plan regional material flows, to really turn the circular economy on in its full flower?
Mike Marmo 15:55
Yes, I do. It’s a lofty goal. A lot has to happen. But I do believe that that’s possible. And the analogy I like to use is something like Amazon. Amazon was able to understand from a retail component, like, what buyer behavior was. They were able to leverage data around buyer behavior, and then they were able to integrate themselves into the supply chain—the freight forwarding, the warehousing, the ultimately last-mile delivery.
And they do it so well. The reason why you’re able to get something in the same day is because they were able to connect all those pieces and understand the output. I believe that the waste industry can achieve that. And so that was a core part of what we are trying to do. You have to walk before you run. You can’t do everything all at once. And again, this is a business, right? Like, if I sign up a hauler and I can’t run their business, then the workflows—you have to build a foundation before you build the house. But I think the long-term vision is the ability to do exactly what you just said.
Mitch Ratcliffe 17:03
Millions of people come to Earth911’s database to find out what to do with specific materials, and one of the things they’re interested in is getting the right material to the right place, so that it is actually recycled. And what you just described in the context of Amazon, for instance—should we not be thinking about putting everything in a single bin? But could we, in an economically viable way, actually have specialized collection that would produce a cleaner load?
Mike Marmo 17:33
Yeah. I mean, one of the things that I saw as a waste hauler that I struggled with was, we’re making decisions—whether regulatory or whether it’s, you know, just in general—like, if you’re trying to be a good actor and try to do the right things, but it’s not rooted in much data. And so what I tried to say was, well, if we can’t measure it, then how do you action it?
And I think the first step, the first thing that everybody should be paying attention to is, how do we measure this? Like, what are we actually looking at? What is the scope of the effort? I don’t think anybody could tell you that, but I think there are ways to do it. And I think, as you have—we like to refer to ourselves as a system of action. You have to have a single point of truth. And when you have a single point of truth, you can then make action against it. So data is the most important thing right now. Data aggregation is the most important thing.
To your point, you did say something that’s really important that I think gets missed as well, which is, it has to be economically viable. There has to be ROI associated. And so a lot of times, what ends up happening is you get a compliance or regulatory effort that doesn’t really take into account the business criteria, and then people are resistant to it, because the business still has to run—it’s a for-profit entity. We want to take the opposite approach. We want to provide value and find ROI in the haulers’ work. Work alongside them, work alongside the transfer stations, work alongside the landfills. Understand how they’re thinking about their business, and really get down into the KPIs of their ROI, and then funnel that back up to the generators and say, here’s how they make money, here’s what’s valuable to them. How can we work together to make that make sense?
I think there’s a way to do that, and it’s just about visibility. It’s transparency, it’s visibility, it’s getting people on the same page. And working together is really what we need to do.
Mitch Ratcliffe 19:05
So here’s a hypothetical. Let’s say you look to the one organization in the world right now that has the greatest visibility into what’s flowing into homes, and that’s Amazon, like we were just talking about. Could you partner with Amazon to say, we know you’re delivering this much cardboard, this much plastic waste, and so forth into this region, and then plan a hauling solution in response to that?
Mike Marmo 19:29
That’s right. That’s the end goal. That’s probably the last step, the last piece of the puzzle. But that’s exactly what you want to do. You know, waste is being created when it’s being manufactured, right? Like, ultimately, when it starts, at that point is when we know what the waste stream is going to look like. But again, if you have nowhere for it to funnel in, and you have nowhere to measure it, it’s disjointed. You have to have an integratable solution to be able to even do that. So yes, that is the goal. But ultimately, we have to start at the foundational level.
Mitch Ratcliffe 19:58
Yeah. We’re moving to a more planful economy, and there’s a lot to unpack in that idea. Let’s take a quick commercial break. We’re gonna come back to this fascinating conversation. Folks, stay tuned.
[COMMERCIAL BREAK]
Welcome back to Sustainability In Your Ear. Let’s return to my discussion with CurbWaste CEO Mike Marmo. He’s a fourth-generation waste industry veteran whose AI-augmented CurbPOS system automates recycling operations. So, Mike, until recently, the waste management industry has been resistant to digitization. Let’s just put it that way. And there’s a massive change ahead. What do you see in terms of a new generation of leadership and the way they think emerging as this industry grows?
Mike Marmo 20:43
Yeah, I think tech adoption in general runs through cycles, right? You have your early adopters, people that see the value. Usually, that’s someone that understands that they have to differentiate. That’s helping at the market. I was at that at one point—when you’re competing with 200 haulers in New York, you have to figure out a way, right? So tech, for me, was the way that I differentiated myself.
So you start with those, and what you’re really doing is you’re proving the ROI, you’re proving the case. You’re building case studies around, okay, this is providing value in this particular area, but you’re also identifying the meaningful pain points of what they’re experiencing. I think a lot of times, if you talk to a waste hauler, maybe generally they’ll say, like, things are working. But if you really get down into it, pull back the layers, there’s always a pain point. There’s always something they’re trying to solve for.
But when you see margin shrinking, you have to either try to drive net new revenue, or you have to be able to save in a certain area. So then what ends up happening naturally is that people start paying attention and they say, okay, this person is growing. They’re growing 30% year over year. What’s driving that growth? And eventually you get adoption. In that way, you get that mass adoption. But some people don’t want to take the risk. They want the other people to take it first and have that proof point. But then it kind of accelerates, and that’s when you start to get into that hyper-growth, hyper-adoption phase.
I think we are very, very close to that. I think what’s happening is people are paying attention to what’s going on. From a tech perspective, it is moving at hyper speed at this point, and so the world is evolving at such an incredibly fast rate that anybody that doesn’t adopt will ultimately fall behind at some point. So I think the waste industry historically has been a little behind, but I don’t anticipate that being the case for the long term.
Mitch Ratcliffe 22:23
When you raised your Series B, you said that you wanted patient capital that understands that this industry won’t transform overnight. And in the context of what you just said about everything changing at hyper speed, why patient? And how does that transformation happen in practice? And what do you see as the timeline?
Mike Marmo 22:41
It’s pretty simple. I think I alluded to this earlier. You have to build the foundation before you build the house. You can’t build the roof first, right? You have to build the foundation. And a lot of waste haulers—you have a varying degree of waste haulers around the country that are like two-to-three-truck operations all the way up to 30,000-truck fleets, right? So you have to meet them where they are. If you cannot run the business for them in a meaningful and impactful way, then you’ve already failed. There’s nothing that you can do that will really help them unless you pick a niche part of their business. And we have a lofty goal of being an operational management system. We want to be able to run the entire business on the platform.
So you have to start there. And when I say patient capital, there’s a lot of effort that goes into building those workflows, not just surface level, but adding depth, adding nuance and depth, to make sure the system is dynamic but rigid. You don’t want data to be wrong, and you don’t want it to get convoluted, but you want it to be dynamic enough to meet the need in the market. So that takes time. You have to learn. You have to listen. You have to pay attention to what’s going on. You have to be a really, really good partner to the waste hauler. They have to trust you and believe in you.
So that part of it is like the first step into the rest. But in conjunction with that, you have to be forward looking. You have to be looking at the things that they’re not paying attention to, the things that they don’t know, because they’re in the weeds dealing with the day-to-day. They’re dealing with servicing their customers, they’re dealing with the community, they’re dealing with building the business that they’re focused on. So it’s our job as a tech partner to be able to say, this is where the industry is moving, here’s what this is going to lead to, here’s the vision, and hopefully get people to sign up to that and believe in that.
So when we brought in a partner, we articulated that. I think a lot of times, when you bring on venture capital or any funding, they’re expecting this major hyper growth. But if you want to achieve what we’ve been speaking about thus far, you need to get things right, and you need to make sure that you’re building the foundation correctly.
Mitch Ratcliffe 24:40
You’re leaning into AI. Does that mean that you’re training models to become an expert in managing waste or hauler processes? Where’s the focus of your training?
Mike Marmo 24:51
It’s really in a couple different areas. I think what we really preach out there in the market is, AI for the sake of AI means nothing. Like, AI is cool. It’s great. It can provide you really meaningful value in certain areas of your life. And I think it’s going to be transformative, without a doubt. But in our industry, waste haulers don’t really care about necessarily putting something in because it’s flashy and nice and cool. They want it to provide value.
And so when we think about AI, we think about manual tasks. We think about repeatable tasks. We think about infinite-scale areas of their business that we’re solving an immediate pain point, or that they can scale with for the remainder of time, because that thing is going to happen all the time. So an example of that would be, how are we ingesting orders from multiple channels to create efficiencies? How are we setting up call centers? How are we transcribing phone calls for customer support and customer success?
And then I think what you’re referring to on the learning side is the gluing of traditional machine learning and algorithmic types of optimizations—for example, like route optimization—gluing it to historical behavior and being able to say, here’s the nuances, here’s when the person never puts their garbage out on time, here’s where this street is closed, but it doesn’t show you that in the map. Just certain things that dispatchers know, that tribal knowledge, that they understand their market, that an algorithm is not going to understand. And that’s where AI can layer in and learn behavior and then make better recommendations.
So it’s not an overnight thing. You have to have the data. It’s only as good as the data. So we’re really focused on the infrastructure architecture, making sure that we’re aggregating that data appropriately, and then learning on that data in order to make sure that we’re giving them the best option for success, or the best decision-making process, or the most optimal insight that we can provide.
Mitch Ratcliffe 26:42
So what’s an example of an AI-driven recommendation that one of your haulers has used to make a decision that they wouldn’t have otherwise?
Mike Marmo 26:50
Yeah, I think, like, operationally, or just anything that we can do that’s kind of AI-powered—
Mitch Ratcliffe 26:56
One that was a material difference for the hauler. What do you point to as an example when you’re talking to other haulers?
Mike Marmo 27:04
Yeah, let’s—I’ll probably say two. I think first, let’s just talk about—we’ve talked about change management. I think right now, internally, we’re really hyper-focused on making sure that we can create a really nice change management experience of adopting software. So we do a ton around AI data migrations, so that when we’re taking data out of a system, we’re able to map it in a quick and easy way that they can understand it, but also do structured cleanups of that data to make sure that they’re getting what they want into the new system. It seems like a small thing, but it’s a very challenging thing when you’re going through a long change management process. So that’s an immediate impact to the hauler, that they feel more comfortable in that change.
The second thing is, anything agentic that we build is going to provide value to the pain point that they’re trying to solve for. So whether that’s migrating data from one place into another—being able to take data out of a CRM or being able to put it into an ERP—meaningful value. You’ve just eliminated a manual task that they would have to do over and over and over again. That’s repetitive, that’s manual, and it applies. So it’s a really good method in providing ROI, because you can just say, that work is never going to be done again. That agent will work in that and do that for you with conviction.
But I think longer term, things like we talked about—service verification, material recognition, route optimization—those are efforts that we have to make meaningful investments in, that’ll be coming down the pike.
Mitch Ratcliffe 28:29
You know, as I listen to your description of this, and I think about the U.S. recycling system, which is, as you’ve pointed out, filled with small, private recyclers and haulers looking for ways to plug into, for instance, the growing extended producer responsibility infrastructure that’s emerging around us—I’m reminded of eBay. Is CurbWaste aiming to become a marketplace layer where those independent operators can begin to identify and plug into broader materials flows?
Mike Marmo 29:00
It’s on our radar. Like I said, I think a marketplace, to me, again, is really indicative of the behavior and the learning and understanding what’s going on. So right now, core focus is just visibility. I think we have to create the transparency layer first before anything else.
But yes, I would say, a marketplace, the ability to understand who’s best—like, RCI is a great example. I mean, RCI, when you’re partnering with LEED and you’re trying to find RCI facilities to establish those LEED points, that’s an area where we can help and say, this facility is in this area. Partner. We’re driving revenue for our customer base. We’re saying this RCI facility is on our platform. We can measure it. We can automate that process. We can get that LEED report to the right person in the right moment and give that level of visibility through dashboards or anything that we’re building at a customer-facing level.
Again, that’s work that doesn’t have to be done manually. That’s something that can happen in automation. That’s probably the first natural step. And we are doing some meaningful work with RCI and LEED. But long term, I think, yes, to your point, we want to get to a visibility layer, a waste meter layer, for anybody that wants it.
Mitch Ratcliffe 30:10
That transparency that you’re describing is going to be particularly important to producer responsibility organizations, the entities that are standing up to fulfill EPR requirements. Are you talking with them about how you can facilitate the management of their specific materials?
Mike Marmo 30:28
Yes, we are very much in discovery and in conversation with people that are obviously interested and incentivized to want to work with us and try to achieve this vision. So we do talk to people, and we do try to understand, what visibility do they want? What would they love to see? What is a utopian point of view? I mean, product is always something that we’re always forward looking on, right? What’s being built today is actionable. It’s already been validated. Now it’s about, what are we going to build in the future? We’re probably talking a few years down the road. I think we still have a lot to do on the workflow side. But yes, we are always keeping these teams informed and making sure that they’re aligned with where we’re going.
Mitch Ratcliffe 31:06
You’ve raised $50 million to date. Do you see a substantial amount of capital sitting out there waiting for this efflorescence of data visibility to take hold, so that they can begin to mine the material value in the economy?
Mike Marmo 31:21
Yes. I mean, our Series B was led by the venture arm of Cox Enterprises, and it was a very big part of their thesis. They saw the vision. They aligned with it. We were able to move quickly. But it really was rooted in the fact that they’ve been seeking this type of solution internally. They’ve been trying to figure out how to get more visibility into their own efforts as it relates to sustainability. So yes, I think we will continue to build. We have to fund the business in order to build the products and achieve the dream that we want to. We do believe that this can be a very big business, but ultimately, we are still aligning on that mission statement and that vision of giving the true visibility and measurement of the waste industry.
Mitch Ratcliffe 32:00
We’ve been looking kind of over the horizon without a clear timeframe. But let me ask you this: in 10 years, will we have an AI-enabled circular economy running, or will it still be in the process of being constructed?
Mike Marmo 32:12
I think it will be there. Yeah, in 10 years, I think it will be there. I think, you know what I know internally of where we are—we are not that far off. We have spent the last four years on the workflows. We are starting to see the data benefit of that. I think in the next 10 years we will 100% have it.
Mitch Ratcliffe 32:33
So how does that change the economy of the United States?
Mike Marmo 32:37
You know, that’s the part that I’m not 100% sure. I’ve been operating under the mission statement of this dream and this vision. I do think that it’s going to ultimately make us rethink how we think about waste.
You know, you have electricity, right? You can measure it. You can go onto your portal and see how much you’re consuming. You can measure water. You can measure all the things that you’re using on a day-to-day basis. The waste industry is a part, a core part, of our infrastructure. It’s a core part of our society. You can even look historically and say, when waste stops getting picked up, it can crumble a society. It can crumble a city. I mean, New York City went through that in the strike, and recently in Boston they went through it.
So there’s meaningful implications to the societal impact that waste has. And sometimes I think that gets taken for granted. And I think what we really want to focus on is showing that—getting all the waste haulers in our community, which I really think we’re building, is a really great community of waste haulers that are forward thinking, that want to be a part of that mission, and try to show people how critical this industry is, and also all the things and all the information and insights that can come out of it.
So yeah, it’s very mission-driven. It’s a very personal journey. It’s a very mission-driven journey. But ultimately, I think we have to break it down into its parts, phase out what the goals are, and then get to a point where we can show people how important it actually is.
Mitch Ratcliffe 34:05
This is a huge vision. How can our listeners keep track of your part of the story?
Mike Marmo 34:10
Well, I mean, obviously we post whatever we have to post on our website, so that’s a good place—at curbwaste.com—but also, anybody can reach out to us. I mean, we are very much trying to be an advocate of the industry, and we’re very much trying to be people that can be thought leaders and really speak about what we’re trying to achieve here. We’re very transparent, we’re very honest, we’re very true to who we are. So we love interacting with people in the space. We have people come to our office often. We have people talk to our team often. So for me, it’s reach out. Reach out on LinkedIn, reach out on the website. You can reach out by any means necessary.
Mitch Ratcliffe 34:48
Mike, thanks very much. It’s been a really interesting conversation.
Mike Marmo 34:52
Thank you. I really appreciate you having me.
[COMMERCIAL BREAK]
Mitch Ratcliffe 35:08
Welcome back to Sustainability In Your Ear. You’ve been listening to my conversation with Mike Marmo. He’s CEO and founder of CurbWaste, and a fourth-generation waste industry professional who’s building the CurbPOS system, an end-to-end operating system for independent waste haulers. You can learn more about the company and its work at curbwaste.com—CurbWaste is all one word, no space, no dash.
Mike said something during the conversation that I encourage you to sit with: waste is being created when it is being manufactured. Now, that’s a deceptively simple observation, and it reframes everything with regard to how we think about the leftovers of the take-make-waste economy. The moment a product rolls off the line, its waste stream is determined—its packaging, what you need to do with it, the end-of-use disposition of the product itself, and the materials that will need to be collected, sorted, and either returned to the supply chain or, unfortunately, sometimes buried in a hole. If you can accept that premise, then the waste management industry isn’t simply a downstream result of the current economy. It’s a mirror that we need to look into to see the potential value to be recovered next week, next month, next year, or decades from now, when materials can no longer serve their current purpose.
Mike also pointed to what happens when waste stops moving. In 1968, New York’s sanitation workers walked off the job for nine days—just nine days—and 100,000 tons of garbage piled up chest-high on sidewalks. Rats swarmed into the city’s best neighborhoods, and New York declared its first public health emergency since the 1931 polio epidemic. And just last summer, when Teamsters struck against Republic Services in the greater Boston area, trash went uncollected for more than two months across 14 communities. Dumpsters overflowed behind restaurants. The rodent population exploded, and schools faced the start of their school year buried by rotting waste. As Mike put it, when waste stops getting picked up, a society can crumble.
And that fragility reveals something profound about society’s relationship with the materials from which it is constructed. We’ve built a civilization on the assumption that waste must disappear—that it’s someone else’s problem, and that it is best put out of sight and kept out of mind. We’ve treated waste as dirty, shameful, and beneath notice. That cultural contempt has real economic consequences, because it means we’ve systematically underinvested in the infrastructure that manages the material afterlife of everything that we produce and consume.
Now just imagine what happens when waste is no longer something to dispose of, but something that it’s important to recover. When the 290 million tons of municipal solid waste moving through U.S. systems each year is finally understood not as a cost center, but as part of the supply chain—a feedstock stream worth tracking, optimizing, and monetizing with the same sophistication we bring to any other logistics challenge. That’s when the world CurbWaste wants to enable and its staggering economics will come into being.
Accenture research projected that the circular economy could generate $4.5 trillion in additional economic output by 2030 and as much as $25 trillion by 2050. The United Nations Development Program has endorsed that same $4.5 trillion figure, noting that the transition would simultaneously cut emissions, create stable jobs, and open new green markets all over the world. Market analysts are converging on figures that describe an enormous circular economy. King’s Research projects it will reach nearly $2.9 trillion by 2031, while a more conservative estimate from Next Move Strategy Consulting pinpoints $1.3 trillion in projected value by 2030—so that even the lowest projections represent a doubling or tripling of the current waste market’s value in just five years.
The point is that we’re dramatically underinvesting relative to the opportunity. CurbWaste’s CurbPOS is just getting started on the path to connecting waste generators to local haulers, closing the loop that Mike described, from the point a product is manufactured to the end of its life and, ideally, back into the supply chain.
Mike’s Amazon analogy is the right way to frame this. Amazon took the time to understand buyer behavior first, when they were just selling books, and then they connected warehousing, freight forwarding, and last-mile logistics based on the knowledge of the consumer’s needs. The waste industry can follow the same logic: identify what’s being generated, where it flows, and where it ends up, ready for collection. Then the challenge is plugging the myriad gaps in our collection infrastructure by connecting independent operators—new startups—to materials that they can monetize, using a shared digital infrastructure. Right there you can see the necessary transparency layer, the marketplace layer, that turns a fragmented collection system into the connective tissue for a circular supply chain.
And that’s the signal that can transform waste into value, and that will drive new revenue for state and local collection and processing companies under extended producer responsibility programs, and ultimately lead to planned regional materials flows that citizens don’t pay for, that companies exploit because it’s profitable.
So when waste stops being considered the dirty result of our consumption and starts being recognized as valuable—when society looks at what it throws away with the same interest it brings to what it buys—we will have a fundamentally different relationship with the material world. One that recognizes that the people who move and manage our waste are operating a utility as essential as electricity or water. And that’s the story that will help unfold and explore here on Sustainability In Your Ear.
So stay tuned. And folks, would you take a moment to check out our archive of more than 540 episodes of Sustainability In Your Ear? We’re in our sixth season, and I guarantee you there’s an interview that you’ll want to share with one of your friends. Writing a review on your favorite podcast platform will help your neighbors find us. Folks, you’re the amplifiers that can spread more ideas to create less waste. So please tell your friends, your family, and co-workers. They can find Sustainability In Your Ear on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, iHeartRadio, Audible, or whatever purveyor of podcast goodness they prefer.
Thank you for your support. I’m Mitch Ratcliffe. This is Sustainability In Your Ear, and we will be back with another innovator interview soon. In the meantime, folks, take care of yourself, take care of one another, and let’s all take care of this beautiful planet of ours. Have a green day.
The post Sustainability In Your Ear: CurbWaste’s Mike Marmo Is Building the Waste Logistics Layer of the Circular Economy appeared first on Earth911.
https://earth911.com/podcast/sustainability-in-your-ear-curbwastes-mike-marmo-is-building-the-waste-logistics-layer-of-the-circular-economy/
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