Curbside Composting: A Valuable Community Service

This past spring, my family and I were able to get all the compost we needed for our vegetable garden from a local community’s compost pile at their department of public works. The compost was created from all of the leaves and yard clippings that had been collected curbside. Many communities collect leaves, clippings and other outside organic matter to turn into compost, but some communities are taking it a step further.

Cities such as San Francisco, Minneapolis, Toronto, and Boulder all have programs in place that allow residents to place food scraps curbside to be turned into compost.

Food that is mixed in with regular trash is estimated to make up about 40% of the trash in landfills. It also is the biggest offender in creating landfill methane which is a powerful greenhouse gas – 72 times more powerful than carbon dioxide. Reducing landfill methane is just one of the benefits of keeping this type of waste out of landfills.

Curbside composting’s many benefits include:

saving money by reducing trash to landfill service and thereby lowering garbage bills;
conserving valuable organic resources by returning organic matter and nutrients to the soil;
reducing climate warming gases from landfills and reducing the risk of potential groundwater pollution
extending the life of our landfill by saving space

Since it is not possible for everyone to compost in their home, curbside composting programs like these are valuable community services. I’m going to bringing up the idea at my town’s next Green Team meeting. Right now, my community does pick up vegetative waste but it is limited to things like “grass clippings, sticker balls, acorns, pine cones and viney type materials such as ivy, honey-suckle, poison ivy, laurel and plant clippings.” I wonder what would need to be changed to include food waste in the can that is provided to collect these other things. If you think this would work in your community, contact your department of public works to see how you can help implement a curbside composting program.

Does your city already offer curbside composting? Do you think it is a good idea? Share your comments below.

Green Options Media is a network of environmentally-focused blogs providing users with the information needed to make sustainable choices. Written by experienced professionals, Green Options Media’s blogs engage visitors with authoritative content, compelling discussions, and actionable advice. We invite anyone with questions, or simply curiosity, to add their voices to the community, and share their approaches to achieving abundance.

Read more: Blogs, Community, Community Service, Green, Home, Life, composting

By Robin Shreeves, Green Options

Disclaimer: The views expressed above are solely those of the author and may not reflect those of
Care2, Inc., its employees or advertisers.

Charles W.

8:54AM PDT on Apr 3, 2011

Herman Cain for US president!

send a green star

Sarah B.

7:25AM PST on Mar 4, 2011

Great idea, never heard of it. Don't think it happens here.

6:54PM PST on Feb 28, 2011

Oh great. Put your food scraps out to be composted. Make a paradise for rats--not to mention the smell. GAG!

Brian M.

9:16AM PST on Feb 28, 2011

Many cities still aren't composting. We can begin to make a difference in our communities first by getting our schools to compost all the leftover food typically dumped off our kids' lunch trays. We can encourage voluntary programs where volunteers pick up compostable materials from restaurants and grocery stores and take them to a suitable site for composting. Eventually, as more businesses and people adopt composting as part of their participation in the community, it should prove easier getting city councils to approve citywide composting measures.

Susan A.

3:32AM PST on Feb 28, 2011

Our leaves and yard clippings are picked up, but I don't know what happens to them...this is a great idea to pass on to city...

Dave C.

11:37AM PST on Jan 10, 2010

We live outside Minneapolis and have friends in San Francisco and hear wonderful things about both programs. Wish we could do curbside, but we try to do as much as possible weather permitting (tough in winter).

considering worm composting which can be done indoors -- and in apartments, too.

question for anyone who might have evidence. I assume if food cannot be composted, it would be better to be run in a garbage disposal rather than put into landfill --- from a methane creation/global warming perspective????

Past Member .

1:07AM PST on Dec 17, 2009

Does this actually reduce methane emissions? It seems, based on the lack of detail in the article, that the same amount of methane would be produced whether the organic waste was sitting in a compost pile or a landfill. Why wouldn’t that be true?
vitamin b6

Miss I.

8:17AM PDT on Sep 11, 2009

I compost by digging a hole in the ground behind the garage. It's as deep as I can manage alone with a shovel, maybe two feet max. I throw the kitchen waste in and loosely cover it with a board. When the hole is filled, I make a new hole, using the dirt to cap the old hole. Once a pile is capped with dirt, it takes about two weeks to turn all the waste into black gold. Banana and orange peels take longer sometimes. Anything that grows from the ground can go back in the ground, but no meat or dairy. The temperature of an in-ground compost pile doesn't get high enough to burn them up. The only non-veggie thing you can throw in is egg shells, which are very good for your soil because they provide calcium. If you keep your hole loosely covered you might get flies, but you won't get any stink. If there is any, just throw a small amount of dirt in with your compost and the smell goes away. Unless they see the board on the ground, your neighbors won't even notice your pile at all.

Denise H.

1:06PM PDT on Sep 10, 2009

Janet C - it is actually possible for renters to compost. If you are in a house and have a fenced yard, you can simply designate one corner for yard waste. You can either simply make a pile, or purchase some pieces called hog panels (check a CoOp or ranching store) that you can take with you. A well-run compost pile shouldn't have a terrible smell. If you have no fence or live in a duplex, you can purchase or make a very simple composter from a barrel. This has an added benefit of making compost VERY quickly, so you wouldn't have to worry about leaving a compost pile behind. Even in a high-rise apartment, the practice of growing earthworms can be done in a tub under the kitchen sink! None of these practices costs much or makes an awful smell. I have done some of them myself and know firsthand, and have friends who have done the other ones, with great success.

When you start to research compost piles, it can seem pretty complicated. All in all, nature does the work if we'll just let her, and they don't have to be complicated at all.

Melissa S.

11:35AM PDT on Sep 10, 2009

I'd love curbside composting service! And to Miss Info- just keep your scraps in the freezer (if you have room). A biodegradable container sounds good, but like lawn waste containers, I'll bet they'd only accept a certain type.