Adventures Aboard an Eco Bus Tour
Aug 6th 2025
Hillside Solutions, a waste management company near Omaha, Nebraska, recently partnered with Eco-Products’ Zero Waste Specialist Jamie Brown to launch the first eco-conscious bus tour. Designed for community leaders, educators, and anyone interested in sustainable living, the field trip attracted more than 30 participants, including eight team members from Axcion Food Services.
Traditionally, Eco-Products offers broker partner tours of compost facilities. This year, we expanded that model by collaborating with Manifest Omaha and Hillside Solutions to open the experience to the broader community. The goal of the 2025 Eco Bus Tour was to raise awareness, promote learning, foster connections, and strengthen Nebraska’s sustainability network.
Tour Itinerary
The trip included six stops, beginning and ending at Clothes Mentor. Highlights included:
- Hillside Solutions Compost Farm (Ashland, NE): A behind-the-scenes look at how food waste from local schools, churches, and businesses becomes nutrient-rich compost.
- Rooted Table: A plant-based lunch and learn hosted by Eco-Products, featuring a presentation on sustainable packaging and food systems.
- Eden’s Preserve, St. Vincent de Paul Thrift Store, and Exist Green: These stops broadened the tour’s scope beyond composting to include eco-conscious retail, secondhand shopping, and zero waste solutions.
Learning All the Way
During lunch at Rooted Table, Jamie Brown led a mini-seminar on recycling, composting, compostable packaging, and sustainable food systems. The group engaged deeply with topics like packaging terminology and making smart choices at home and in business.
At Clothes Mentor and St. Vincent de Paul, participants learned about eco-friendly clothing swaps and bulk purchasing options. Exist Green showcased refill stations, sustainable gift ideas, and low-waste home goods. The main event—Hillside’s composting demo—offered an up-close look at turning food scraps into soil.
More Please
Attendees praised the event's value and the sense of community it fostered. Many said they’d recommend it to others. One participant noted, “We just need more leaders to attend events like this to help drive eco-conscious habits in everyday life. We can all make a difference.