About Us

Photo by Kevin Haas

Hi, we are Kate, Jessie and Kourtney. We formed Nettle Curbside Compost because we have a passion for environmental justice, believe in the power of collective action, and have a deep reverence for soil.

Our mission is to work collectively to save food waste from the landfill and to build healthy soil and resilient community in the Rock River Valley. 

  • Jessie Crow Mermel

    WORKER-OWNER & FOUNDING MEMBER

    Jessie (she/they) is a wanderer, a community weaver, environmental educator, and a dedicated tender of the land. Jessie is passionate about cultivating shared experiences of wonder and community grief composting. Her dream is to midwife the re-storying of our relationships to the land, each other, and the more-than-human world.  Jessie also leads gender expansive women’s circles, land restoration, rewilding programs, retreats, and wonder walks.

    Jessie finds her bliss being in nature—especially paddling and backpacking, through making art, growing plants and community, being cozy with a book or a journal, and, of course, actively composting the patriarchy.

    Photo by Breanda Fedie

  • Kate Whitacre

    WORKER-OWNER & FOUNDING MEMBER

    Kate (she/her) is an organic vegetable farmer by trade, graduating from the Organic Farmer Training Program at Michigan State University. She has worked at, managed, and owned diversified vegetable farms in Illinois.

    As an organic farmer she has been keenly focused on creating a healthy soil ecosystem and believes that healthy soil is the foundation of any farm ecosystem—and life in general. Since closing her farm in 2018, she has gone back to college to study psychology and women gender and sexuality studies and is working towards becoming a therapist that centers nature based therapy as a way to connect with neurodivergent and queer kids.

    In her free time she likes to garden, practice pilates and go boating with her family.

    Photo by Breanda Fedie

  • Kourtney Harding

    Worker-Owner

    Kourtney (she/her) holds a bachelor's degree in conservation and restoration ecology and a master's degree in soil science both from Utah State University. She has work experience with native habitats in the intermountain west and urban forests in Chicagoland. Kourtney grew up in Utah but has now lived in Illinois since 2015 and identifies as a midwesterner. She is excited to see Nettle grow and the land we are on be restored to a healthy productive part of the community.

    She enjoys bird watching and playing in the snow while advocating for native plants and healthy soils. Any day spent outside is a good day. She enjoys being a mom to three children and teaching them to take care of their neighbors and the environment through acts of service and reciprocity. 

    Photo by Lucia Smith

  • Megan Devine

    FOUNDING MEMBER

    Megan (she/her) is committed to fostering a playful, fruitful life for herself and her community. Over the years, she has worked as a small business owner, organizer, and community advocate emphasizing the importance of solidarity economies and worker ownership. Her passion for composting is illustrated in its regenerative, interwoven cycle of life, death, and rebirth. When she imagines the future, it is one made up of stable and cooperative working lives, authentic relationships, and deep connection to the natural world.

    Megan enjoys making art with loved ones, kayaking, and getting cozy.

    Photo by Breanda Fedie

We are a worker-owned co-op dedicated to justice, equity, and climate resilience. We believe in:

Community Over Competition

Workplace Democracy

A Solidarity Economy

Collective Action

Workplace Equity

Social Responsibility

Why Compost?

Composting has many benefits, including helping slow climate change. Here are a few important reasons:

  • The average American family wastes 400 lbs of food waste per household. That’s about 35 percent of the total U.S. food supply ending up in the trash. Composting diverts waste from our quickly filling landfills (Winnebago County has 11 years left on landfill space). According to the EPA, 51.4% of waste in landfills could be composted. Composting turns what would be waste into a resource.

  • Methane being 28 to 36 times more effective than CO2 at trapping heat in the atmosphere over a century.

  • from the atmosphere and stores it in the soil.

  • Each 1% increase in soil organic matter helps soil hold 20,000 gallons more water per acre.

  • Compost gives nutrients back to the soil to make it fertile for future growth.