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The Consequence of Waste: Buncombe's Discarded Problem is Piling Up: March 23, 2015: Week in, week out, our trash is bagged, tied, dragged to the street, left behind in cavernous dumpsters and promptly forgotten. The cycle is hypnotically simple: take it out, toss it in and worry about it no more. But this isn’t magic — it’s a convenient illusion that prevents us from seeing the true costs of what we so casually throw away. And the cycle of waste often comes with unseen but enormous societal, economic and environmental tolls.

Danny Keaton stands above his composting operationDanny's Dumpster Turns 40 Tons of Food Waste into Profits Per Week -- Dec. 9, 2014, Asheville Citizen-Times: Food waste by the ton comes with a not-so-subtle smell — think thousands of mothers' clean-plate requests ignored. But Danny Keaton picks up a different scent as he stands near piles of the uncured compost that has become his livelihood. "Smells like money," Keaton said.


Waste Not in Asheville -- April 2013, Biocycle: What happens to spent malting grains from the craft breweries, coffee grounds from cafés, leftovers in the award-winning kitchens, and the old frying oils from food trucks and diners?


















































































              Asheville High Rolls Out Composting -- Feb. 18, 2014: Asheville High becomes one of the first public high                   schools in North Carolina to make the switch to 100% commercial composting. The school joins six local                   schools in the Lunchroom Composting Program: Hall Fletcher, Isaac Dickson, Vance, Claxton, Ira B Jones                 and Evergreen Charter School.   

Composting Another Step for Green Restaurants in Asheville -- April 20, 2012, Asheville Citizen-Times: Danny Keaton's composting collection business is piling up. Keaton, the owner of Danny's Dumpster, started five years ago as a residential garbage collection route in Madison County. But as Keaton looked around at his much larger competitors, he realized he needed a niche. He found it in composting food waste.





                                                            
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Kid Composting -- April 17, 2012, Mountain Xpress: A steady stream of kids come to the trash can with lots of uneaten food on their trays, from chili-macaroni leftovers to peaches. Danny Keaton — owner of Danny’s Dumpster, a local recycling/trash-hauling company — gives them encouragement and advice on where to put what. "Pringles cans," Keaton says, "are kind of compostable, if you tear them apart. But who does that?"

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Working it -- Aug. 23, 2011, Mountain Xpress: Danny Keaton, owner of Danny's Dumpster, cites employee morale as a key factor in deciding to join the program and pay higher wages than his competitors. The company hauls the compost and recyclable materials of about 65 restaurants in Hendersonville and Asheville, including The Green Sage, Posana Cafe and the Lexington Avenue Brewery.




Asheville Small Business Leader of the Year -- June 30, 2011, Asheville Chamber of Commerce: Danny    Keaton, owner of Danny’s Dumpster, received the award for Small Business Leader of the Year in the category,                                                      “15 or Fewer Employees.” Keaton’s company started in 2007 out of the back of his Toyota van, hauling                                                                      recyclables in Madison County. Today, he has expanded and refined his operations into a compost, recycle                                                            and trash hauling business that reduces waste for local commercial  businesses.

Recycling: An Emerging Economic Sector -- June 30, 2011, Carolina Public Press: As the recyclable goods market expands, related green businesses are growing. A 2010 Employment Trends in North Carolina's Recycling Industry report from the N.C. Dept.of Environment and Natural Resources said the state had about 15,200 recycling-related jobs in private sector businesses. Danny Keaton owns one such business — Danny’s Dumpster in Buncombe County.

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Outstanding Business Partner of the Year -- May 2011, Green Opportunities: Danny Keaton receives the 2011 GO Outstanding Business Partner of the Year Award. Green Opportunities (GO) is an Asheville-based, community-based, development organization dedicated to improving lives, communities and the health of the planet through innovative green collar job training and placement programs.

 
Trash hauler begins taking compostable waste -- Sept. 2009, WLOS-13 News: A new service allows restaurant   owners to help the environment and save money. Danny's Dumpster takes every day table scraps and other       compostable material and turns it into rich topsoil. One restaurant owner tells us he's saving $75 a month         because he needs the garbage dumpster less and less.

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