Backyard Composting
Waste isn't waste until you waste it!
Our mission is to promote backyard composting as an easy, cost-effective way to divert residential organic waste from landfills.
Our model for backyard composting costs municipalities $1.60 per year per household, around the cost of a single-day residential trash pickup. Residents invest $2 per year. (Amounts are average cost per year over 10 years —the length of the warranty.)
Our conservative estimate is that an average of 500 pounds of organic waste — food scraps, soiled paper, and other organics — will be composted per bin.
At current tipping fees of around $70 per ton (in our area), for the $1.60 invested each year, the municipality will save $17.50 in tipping fees each year. The Resident’s $2 investment will result in huge food waste savings plus up to $50 of high-quality compost each year compared with purchasing at their local big box or garden store. These are outstanding returns on investment.
Sometimes simple solutions are good ones. It’s not that we’re against other kinds of composting and diversion of organics. Residential pickup with delivery to a compost facility, bioreactors, anaerobic digestion, and other systems all have their place. The problem is that they cost a fortune, both their overall cost and the cost per household. In a time of limited municipal and state budgets, it’s hard to fund these multi-million dollar projects.
With backyard composting there are no ongoing costs for trucks, sifters grinders, composting systems, or delivery of finished compost, plus no extra energy used or CO2 emitted in the process — you get the idea. Landfill lifespans are also extended and methane release is reduced.
We just take the compostable items out to the backyard compost bin and we’re done. Nature does the rest. In 3 to 6 months we have black gold to amend the soil in our gardens and mulch around bushes and trees. The soil will hold much more water for plants and reduce runoff.
We also support community composting projects. Contact us for details.
Drawdown: Practical Ideas to Reduce Your Carbon Footprint & Save Thousands of Dollars
Topics & ideas from Drawdown.org & other environmental organizations (PDF)
For residents, the biggest benefit to composting is that it helps them monitor and then reduce their food waste with losses estimated at between $1,350 & $2,275 per household each year*.
The expected savings for the $16 municipal investment per bin is $175.00 in tipping fees over ten years. (.25 ton x $70 tipping fee x 10 years). We GUARANTEE municipalities that their investment in the compost bins from their tipping fee budget will be returned in reduced tipping fees in one year. 10-year compost bin warranty.
Backyard Composting Workshop
Learn how to compost and how to implement the Backyard Composting Program in your Town or Community! (PPT slides)
Our compost guide is short, but sweet. It provides the basic information needed to start backyard composting. You can also download flyers, sign-up forms, past stories and other materials to help you get started (ZIP file-25MB).
Turning Trash
to Teasure
Gazette story about the grant model for Backyard Composting.
EPA Letter of Support
EPA Waste Chart
Food scraps make up the largest percentage of waste dumped into municipal landfills. Soiled paper products also makes up a significant percentage.
Composting food scraps & soiled paper products — paper towels, napkins, tissues and paper food containers — to reduce landfill waste is the focus of our backyard composting efforts.
Sadly, the EPA estimates that only 6% of residential organics are composted.
This letter from the EPA supports the efforts of BackyardComposting.org.
*Source: Bloom, American Wasteland, pages 24 & 187