About us
Making composting accessible and adoptable for all of us.
Composting with a mission
Before Scraps, Denver’s options for composting in apartments and condos were non-existent – and our founder wanted to change that. With a bit of ingenuity, creativity and a few bikes & trikes, in 2017 Scraps was born. Scraps began as a (scrappy) low-impact, right-sized compost collection service specifically for folks living in multi-family buildings, designed to show that organics diversion in apartments & condos was an important issue worth solving, and that out-of-the-box solutions could drive real change.
Now in its 9th year, Scraps has grown into the region’s largest independently-owned compost collection & zero waste services company. Scraps haulse compost for multi-family buildings, restaurants, office buildings, schools, campuses, venues, and more across the Front Range, as well as providing zero waste event services for hundreds of events each year. Scraps members & customers have kept more than 10 MILLION pounds of organic waste out of landfills. In 2025, Scraps began making its own finished compost, closing the loop on this valuable resource and getting it back into our soils.
Through all its growth & change, Scraps’ vision has remained the same: make composting the norm, not the exception, throughout our community. We’re proud to be part of this important paradigm shift in our region & our state.
Meet our Scrappy team
Christi Turner
Christi Turner
Founder/CEO
Christi is founder and CEO of Scraps. Long before starting a business, Christi spent nearly a decade in international development, primarily in Madagascar, partnering with communities to create appropriate solutions to local sustainability challenges. In a pivot from sustainable development, she came to Colorado to pursue a masters in environmental journalism and approach sustainability & climate issues through a reporter’s lens; working as a journalist, however, felt removed from community-level problem solving. Christi found herself opening to the potential for responsible business to create positive impact, and at the time, Denver’s food waste issue was in need of innovative, scalable solutions. She launched Scraps in 2017 as a simple, bike-based compost pickup service for Denver’s underserved downtown community. In the nine years since, Scraps has grown to reach thousands of commercial & residential members throughout the Denver Metro, diverted more than 10 million pounds of material, and become one of the most recognized organics haulers on Colorado’s Front Range. Through its zero-waste programming, Scraps has worked with hundreds of events to minimize waste. Since 2024, Scraps has applied its proven waste diversion strategies in partnership with the city’s largest economic driver and most complex environment, the Denver International Airport, in the groundbreaking Zero Waste Valet program. Scraps remains devoted to increasing access to composting, raising awareness of its benefits and helping make composting the norm in Colorado. Christi lives on a small homestead in Arvada, CO with two dogs, two cats & a herd of other rescue animals.
Tom Dodd
Tom Dodd
Director of Sustainable Operations
Tom grew up in Scranton, Pennsylvania. Before moving to Denver in 2017, he graduated from Temple University with a degree in Environmental Studies. He loves to snowboard in the winter, hang by the river in the summer, and play music all year round. Tom is super passionate about waste diversion and sustainability and believes composting is a great way for anyone to start their sustainability journey.
Randi Zimmermann
Randi Zimmermann
Zero Waste Programs Director
Randi’s background is in sports management and leadership. Having been a gymnast nearly 13 years, she found her way into coaching during her undergraduate studies at the University of Texas at Austin. While working with kids, she began to think more about the future that was in store for herself and her athletes – and given the impact of climate change, the future seemed bleak. After 9 years managing operations and facility expansion at a local gym in Austin, she shifted into small business consulting focused on helping business owners scale their operations. When the COVID-19 pandemic hit, she took the opportunity to attend graduate school at Colorado State University’s Impact MBA program where she discovered a passion for waste diversion and education. Her newfound passion led her to working at and managing Scraps’ event program where she honed her skills in waste diversion communication. She has helped hundreds of event attendees and organizers understand the importance of proper composting and recycling for both the climate and local ecosystem. In the spring of 2024, she took the lead as director of Scraps’ newest endeavor, Denver International Airport’s Zero Waste Valet project. Here, she combines her small business acumen and entrepreneurial background with her knowledge of behavior change and waste diversion. When she’s not at Scraps, she practices yoga and hangs out with her cat, Odie.
Christopher Buckingham
Christopher Buckingham
Route Associate (Driver)
With a strong background in landfill operations and a passion for composting and animal care, Chris is an inspiring example of how one person can make a difference in the fight against waste. He is excited to join forces with the like-minded individuals at Scraps and work towards a common goal.
Chris Newton
Chris Newton
Route Associate (Driver)
Chris is thrilled to be a part of the hardworking and purpose-driven Scraps team, and take on a “pretty darn cool” eco-friendly spin on his professional driving career. Born & raised in our beautiful state and inspired by the natural environment, being at Scraps gives Chris a sense of creating positive impact for our earth in his everyday work. Chris is passionate about animals, enjoys all the typical Colorado hobbies, and prides himself on his strong belief system.
Baraka Mboka
Baraka Mboka
Zero Waste Valet Associate
Growing up in Kenya, Baraka found his passion for environmental health at a very young age. At the age of 18, he started collecting trash, recycling and compost in his hometown of Dandora, Nairobi. He received a certification for educating the public on drug and substance abuse as well as environmental health matters. Baraka moved to the United States in 2023 and continued to fuel his passion for sustainability through his work and personal life. He joined the Zero Waste Valet team in February 2025 and is eager to be a part of the project’s growth and impact throughout the airport. In his free time, he enjoys creating African designs, listening to reggae music and watching professional soccer.
Johnathan McDermott
Johnathan McDermott
Zero Waste Valet Associate
John is originally from Rural Nebraska where he obtained his degree in education. He moved to the Denver area in 2014 where he spent years teaching in classroom and online environments.
John pivoted to the waste management field, working with hazardous materials and most other facility waste streams. John has helped develop site-specific training materials, waste tracking and diversion plans, and used communication and relationship building to increase program participation and efficacy from team-members, vendors, and customers alike.
When he isn’t elbows deep in waste bins or spreadsheets, you can usually find him chasing around his two kids at home, the park, the zoo and just about everywhere else. He’s excited to bring his wide-ranging experience to the DEN Zero Waste Valet program.
Felipe Yam Canul
Felipe Yam Canul
Zero Waste Valet Associate
Felipe grew up on a ranch in Cenotillo in Yucatan, Mexico. He has worked in the food service industry for 33 years and brings extensive experience from a variety of kitchen environments. He is bilingual in Spanish and English, helping the team more effectively communicate across the various airport teams we work with in a rich multilingual environment. He is passionate about building a better future for his children and new grandson, which brought him to this position on the Zero Waste Valet team.
Peter Gohl
Peter Gohl
Zero Waste Valet Associate
Elena Ziskind
Elena Ziskind
Zero Waste Valet Associate
Elena is a sustainability professional whose work is rooted in waste diversion, environmental data & community-focused impact. Her interest in waste diversion grew during a summer at Walking Mountains Science Center in the Vail Valley, where she supported Zero Waste operations and strengthened her understanding of composting, recycling & material recovery. That experience inspired her to continue building expertise in waste-related systems and to help organizations reduce contamination and make more responsible choices with their resources.
Elena holds a bachelor’s degree in psychology along with certificates in sustainability and GIS, which help her to blend people-centered insight and technical data skills. She has applied that experience in environmental and engineering consulting, nonprofits & corporate sustainability, with work ranging from emissions analysis, to hands-on waste diversion projects, to sustainability-focused education efforts. Elena is motivated by work that supports healthier communities and more responsible systems, and she is committed to making sustainability approachable for everyone.
Elena loves hiking, trying new restaurants, making art & spending time with her cat Sasha.
Trusted by 3000+ members
Scraps! Changing the world — one eggshell, one avocado rind, one leftover burger at a time!
Helen Knode
Civic Center Plaza, a 590,000+ sq ft commercial office building in Downtown Denver, has worked with Scraps since Fall of 2022 to provide composting services to our tenants. Scraps has been incredibly easy to work with in getting service set up at our property, educating tenants on the importance of composting, and maintaining a reliable and efficient pickup schedule. While rolling out the program, a representative from Scraps conducted an informational “Lunch & Learn” presentation for tenants that was very well received, discussed the do’s and don’ts of composing, and informed both management and tenants as to all the incredible – and often overlooked – benefits of waste diversion toward composting. Furthermore, Scraps worked with building management to put-on a compost distribution event for tenants in the Spring, where interested parties were provided 5-gallon bins of finished compost product for their home gardening use! We couldn’t be happier with our relationship with the Scraps team!
Brian Bogle
The City of Edgewater has contracted with Scraps to provide composting services to residents and Edgewater employees since 2020. These services align with Edgewater’s Sustainability Plan and help push the city closer to its waste diversion goals.
Paige Johnson
As a commercial property manager who switched from one of the huge national haulers to Scraps, we never looked back. Their service is timely and organized and most importantly, they actually care about diverting waste from the landfill. We value the educational and operational support Scraps provides because it produces real results in our diversion rates, helping us reach our ESG goals and be good stewards of the environment.
Aaron Johnson
The City of Arvada loves working with Scraps! From the moment we request our quote until the end of each event, the Scraps team is responsive, helpful, timely, and so much fun. Scraps has helped the City reach its goal of hosting more sustainable events and the outcome has been incredible. We receive countless compliments about how much our team appreciates the zero waste events. Everyone feels better when the world is left in a better place. Thank you Scraps for all your hard work and dedication to the environment. Your passion has inspired the City to change the way we do events – zero waste is now the default. We’ll see you at the next one!
Kylie Justus
As a restaurant in Denver’s Five Points, we are thrilled to compost. We already recycle, but composting is a level up for our carbon footprint. Restaurants are known for a tremendous amount of waste, so anything we can do to reduce that, puts smiles on our faces along with our guests. Working with Scraps has been an amazing partnership, and we look forward to the continued relationship.
James Baetke
Scraps provides a simple, eco-friendly way for our building tenants to transform waste and divert thousands of pounds from the landfills. Our tenants have seen first hand how their efforts created clean soil for them to take home to use in their gardens. Scraps has helped us reach sustainability goals, while providing education, so we can reduce our carbon footprint.
Alysa Barker
As a smaller brewery, large farmers don’t want to take the time to pick up our limited amount of spent grain to feed their cattle. We do support small farms around Arvada, but when they can’t take it, Scraps is the perfect partner for us. The ease of collection, communication and efficiency make them a key partner in ensuring the proper streaming of the waste generated throughout brewing and serving beer!
Jeff Smith
Since we started composting with scraps, we’ve decreased our garbage output to a single bag of trash per day, which is wild for a restaurant. We are thankful that Scraps has provided us the opportunity to not only lessen our footprint but turn our food waste into compost for future gardens! We are proud to do our part!
Amy Cohen
