Remembering Will Bakx

By Leslie Lukacs 

California compost pioneer and visionary, Will Bakx passed away peacefully surrounded by his life partner Claire Victor, son Xander Bakx, step-daughter Ariana Victor and close friends on Saturday, November 6, 2022.   
 
Will Bakx grew up in the Netherlands and moved to California in 1979. He started composting in 1982 at Sonoma State University as student manager of the Ecological Food Production Garden. In 1985, he launched Bennett Valley Farm Compost, processing various agricultural and fish industry discards. In 1993 he started the Sonoma county-wide yard debris composting program as Sonoma Compost Company (SCC). Will was an experienced soil scientist with a demonstrated history of organics resource recovery, creating healthy soils, carbon farming and a leader in the industry. He has diverted over 2,000,000 tons of organics from the landfill, creating high quality mulches and composts allowed for organic food production, including biodynamic® composts. 
 
Will was a passionate educator for landscapers, farmers and the community at large. He was an adjunct compost instructor at the Santa Rosa Junior College (SRJC) and served as chair of the SRJC Sustainable Agriculture Advisory Committee. He also served on the US Compost Council Compost Training Committee and was a co-instructor for its Compost Operator’s Training week. Will was the co-founder and board member of the California Organics Recycling Council and the California Compost Coalition. He shared his knowledge by volunteering at countless community and industry events.
 
Will was also active in the community where he lived, Sonoma County. Will co-founded the Compost Coalition of Sonoma County after the closure of Sonoma Compost to organize community stakeholders on bringing composting back to Sonoma County. Will supported the formation of the Sonoma County Zero Waste Task Force and the Compostable Products task force which grew from concern that “compostable products” were not accepted in 90% California’s commercial composting locations. Will was actively working on carbon sequestration through the utilization of compost and co-formed the Carbon Sequestration Task Force which included leading climate action stakeholders in the region.
 
Will was dedicated to his family and enjoyed nature’s beauty which he uniquely captured behind his camera lens. Will was a  self-taught naturalist photographer and was so talented that he was invited as a guest photography teacher as part of international vacation packages. 
 
Many of those in the compost industry have interacted with Will during his past four decades in the industry. May his environmental activism and his passion for compost and healthy soils carry on by all those he has touched.