In 2009, MakeSoil founder Josh Whiton was living in a suburban apartment block in the city of Raleigh, North Carolina in the United States. He noticed that all the residents there were throwing all their waste into the trash, which would be taken away to sprawling landfill sites outside the city. Josh was sure there was a more beautiful way to do things. So, one day, he found some discarded wooden pallets, fixed them together to make a compost bin outside his building, and went door-to-door inviting his fellow residents to donate their food scraps to him. People soon got the idea, and were glad to have a clear, simple and practical way to do something good for the planet. And as Josh began to master the art of making soil, they were even more amazed to see how quickly all sorts of organic materials could be turned back into rich, living soil. And now that they had direct access to good quality soil, it wasn't long before they all came together to create a beautiful community garden too, all starting from simple food scraps. Josh was himself amazed to watch all of this unfold, as he gradually began to fully realise the great potential of this simple yet profound act - of making soil together - to inspire people, to bring them together, and to repair our relationship with our planet, all at the same time: "I'm still in awe of the transformations I saw in people as they began to participate in the process and have that experience of making soil. It was unexpected and profound. Despite having been the CEO of a successful tech startup, building that compost bin and inviting people to use it, is perhaps the simplest thing I've ever done that had the greatest benefit." It's the simple desire to share this experience, that gave birth to MakeSoil.