Meet the Composter: The Eberbach Family

The Eberbach Family

Steve and Megan Eberbach live in Conshohocken with their two girls, Isla (5) and Nora (3), and their cat, Argyle. Megan is a pediatric occupational therapist at CHOP, although these days, she is mostly home with the girls. Steve is a partner and wealth management advisor at Clarity Financial Planning Group in Radnor. He also started an environmentally-focused group called Sea Plastic Pledge that he hopes to build into an official non-profit.

The Eberbach's have been composting with Back to Earth Compost Crew for three years. Megan signed up as a birthday present for Steve.  Since Steve loves the earth and does not like getting “stuff” for his birthday, it was the perfect gift!

What do the Eberbach's like most about Back to Earth Compost Crew?  Colleen, of course!  According to Megan, “Colleen is our favorite thing about Back to Earth Compost Crew – she is so kind, responsive, and accommodating. She’s always easy to get in touch with and so knowledgeable and friendly. We also love the new portal and how easy it is to manage our subscription.”

Megan and Steve both grew up composting and they had done casual composting at their previous homes with a basic pile in the backyard.  Back to Earth Compost Crew is their first experience with professional composting. When the Eberbach's are not able to compost (on vacations, etc.) they are always amazed at the amount of trash they have. They estimate that composting cuts their trash at least in half.  The Eberbach's compost to cut down on household trash, to support the natural cycle of life and decay—and, because it is such an easy thing to do with a huge environmental impact.

Sustainable practices are one of Megan’s favorite topics of conversation. The Eberbach's try to be as sustainable as possible in their home and in their lives and make improvements all the time. Megan says, “Making changes to be more sustainable is not only better for the environment; it’s also healthier and usually more affordable! For our family, it has been so important to focus on small changes so that the process of being more sustainable is sustainable, too.” Megan suggests that doing a trash audit is a great place to start. Some sustainable practices they have put in place include:

• Using Non-plastic food storage containers like mason jars, glass “Tupperware” type containers, and stainless steel lunch containers.

• Cleaning with reusable (machine washable) cloths, from washable floor steamer pads to muslin cloths to clean up the kids after meals. The Eberbachs very rarely use paper towels anymore.

• Using cloth wrapping or recycled craft paper that they can decorate for most holiday and birthday gifts.  

• Slowly overhauling the products they frequently purchase (detergents, toys, clothing, make-up, etc.) to find more sustainable, healthy, eco-friendly, humane companies and products. 

The Eberbach Family is mindful about the environment while at home—and, while away! On family vacations, the Eberbach's enjoy days on the beach and enjoy leaving the beaches a little cleaner. As a kid, Steve grew up spending time on Indian River Bay. He always enjoyed the water and being outside. Growing up and in college, he would pick up any litter that crossed his path—especially on the beach.  Steve studied Coastal Environmental Science and worked in consulting for about seven years. In 2013 he shifted his career to wealth management. Interestingly, he felt that his environmental work tied in with wealth management: clients save money for plan for their future, just as it is important to save the environment for the future.

Steve knew that his hobby of collecting trash on the beach could turn into something much bigger. He was inspired by a non-profit started by a friend, Uplifting Athletes.  Uplifting Athletes collects pledges for charity based on athletic performance.  Steve decided to utilize a family vacation to the British Virgin Islands to do something similar and created Sea Plastic Pledge. He asked donors to make pledges for each piece of plastic he and his family picked up during vacation. The campaign resulted in collecting 118 pieces of debris, raising $723 from 19 pledgers. Sea Plastic Pledge has run additional campaigns and hopes that in addition to raising money, the campaigns will raise awareness for people to think about what they are leaving behind after a day at the beach, in a park, or on a hike.

Sea Plastic Pledge is a movement aimed at increasing awareness around the ocean sustainability crisis and expanding mindfulness toward conservation in daily life. Clean-up campaigns that focus on removing plastic litter from the environment have been used to raise money for charitable causes both nationally and internationally since 2018.

Building on the success of the campaigns, Steve’s goal for this year is to make Sea Plastic Pledge an official non-profit organization. To learn more about Sea Plastic Pledge, visit the public group page on Facebook.

Back to Earth Compost Crew is happy to have The Eberbach Family in our composting community!