Magic Dirt

We’re Bob Joblin and Ted Sniegocki, the creators of Magic Dirt. We didn’t set out to develop the only 100% sustainable premium potting soil product on the market, but we did! We simply wanted to do well by doing good (it’s our motto).

Our initial idea was to develop biomass-to-energy facilities located next to dairy farms. Our thinking: Why not use anaerobic digesters to create a sustainable, renewable source of energy? So, that’s what we did.

With partners, we’ve developed $30 million in biomass-to-energy facilities, all anaerobic digesters located on dairy farms. The methane from cattle manure is captured and used to create renewable energy. As you read this, the projects we developed are producing enough renewable energy to power 5,000 homes 24/7. We also receive carbon credits for keeping the methane out of the environment. (U.N. studies show that methane is 84 times more of a pollutant than CO₂ over a 20-year period.)

A co-product of the digester process is a pathogen-free, nutrient-rich fiber that has been proved to be a sustainable alternative to peat moss. But, we had to figure out what to do with it!

After years of experimenting, making mistakes, testing and making more mistakes, we had our Eureka! moment. Magic Dirt is, quite literally, the by-product of our process. The first bag was sold in March 2014, and the consumer acceptance and sales growth since that time have far exceeded our wildest expectations.

Magic Dirt is currently available in more than 1,400 stores across 30% of the U.S., and we’re still growing (see what we did there?). We’re expanding nationally and have five manufacturing facilities around the country.