Curbside composting is a way to recycle food scraps and compostable materials through a pickup service rather than at home.

Instead of throwing food scraps, bones and meats, seashells, paper products, and other compostable material into the trash, households use a Garbage to Garden bucket with sealed lid. Each week, subscribers put the bucket on the curb for Garbage to Garden to service. Garbage to Garden brings the food scraps to local farms to be composted.* Participants may receive as much as 1 bag of finished compost a week, upon request.

*For us, community composting is all about composting locally. That means, whether you are in Maine or Massachusetts, your food scraps are being composted at local farms, close to home.

There are so many benefits! Our participants are routinely surprised by how much their new compost bucket positively impacts their household. You get much more than food waste pickup!

Financial & Convenience Benefits:

Saves money

Greatly reduces trash volume & eliminates trash odor

Reduces trash bag costs

Keeps kitchen cleaner and trash easier to carry

Easy open & close lid keeps odors in and critters out

Never buy potting soil again

Free compost is included + discounts on bulk purchases & delivery

Earn free service by volunteering or our referral program

Environmental Benefits:

Supports school & community programs

Shows others in your neighborhood that composting is important

Reduces landfills and methane emissions

Compost increases soil fertility, cleans water bodies, reduces stormwater run-off, increases nutrition of food grown in compost, and improves air quality

Participation is Voluntary

Sign up now! Sign up online right here on our home page! Or, give us a call during office hours, 8:30am-4pm Monday-Friday at the numbers below. You can obtain your first bucket at any partner location or request it be delivered.
Maine: (207) 332-0277
Massachusetts: (617) 977-4547

With our smaller 5-gallon buckets, most participants keep them in the kitchen, either under a sink, in a cabinet, or a pantry.

Alternatively, participants who choose our 12 gallon bucket often collect their scraps in a smaller counter-top container and keep their larger bucket in their garage, closet, or porch.

COMPOSTABLE ITEMS
If it Grows, it Goes!
All food scraps! This includes:

Vegetables, fruit, citrus, bread

Cooked & raw food

Pits, peels, shells, bones & seeds

Meat, dairy & bread

Coffee grounds and loose tea

Leaves, brush (thinner than a pencil), and other inert organic debris not treated with pesticides

Napkins and paper towels

Hair

Cooking oil, fat & grease (collect cooking oil in a separate container with a lid and place it next to your bucket on garbage day. We'll bring it to Maine Standard Biofuels for recycling into fuel & soap!)

NON-COMPOSTABLE ITEMS

Plastics and Styrofoam

Paper coated with plastic or foil

Wax and parchment paper

Chemicals or pesticides

Metals

Glass

Pet Waste and Diapers

Any inorganic material

Plastic wrap, twist ties, stickers, staples, tin foil, condiment packets & rubber bands

Brush or sticks (thicker than a pencil)

In soil terms, the word "organic" is used differently than it is when classifying produce at the supermarket. When we say we can accept anything "organic," we mean anything that was once alive.

In a similar vein, any compost that is marked as "organic" simply means it is made from materials that were once alive and have decomposed.

For most cities, your service day is the same as your city trash day. If your bucket is missed on service day, or you have a full bucket you would like to exchange, you may also drop off your bucket any time at our office. Maine

• Bath • *Thursday, all streets
• Brunswick • Thursday and Friday, depending on where you live
• Cape Elizabeth • *Tuesday, all streets
• Cumberland • Monday-Thursday, on your regular trash day
• Falmouth • Tuesday-Friday, on your regular trash day
• Gorham • Monday-Thursday, on your regular trash day
• Portland • Monday-Friday, on your regular trash day
• South Portland • Tuesday-Friday, on your regular trash day
• Westbrook • Monday-Friday, on your regular trash day
• Windham • Monday-Thursday, on your regular trash day
• Yarmouth • Monday, all streets

Massachusetts

• Medford • Monday - Friday, on your regular trash day
• Somerville • Monday - Friday, on your regular trash day

Maine: We begin each route at 6:00am. Your bucket should always be out by this time to ensure service on your garbage day.

Massachusetts: We begin each route at 6:00am. Your bucket should always be out by this time to ensure service on your garbage day.

Our routes vary due to weather conditions, route changes, or local events. The time we exchange your bucket may vary as well. If you feel your bucket may have been missed, please feel free to contact the office.

Massachusetts - Each week on your designated service day we will empty your bucket and re-line your bin with a fresh compostable liner.

Maine - Each week on your designated service day we will swap your bucket for a clean bucket.

As a general rule, we follow your city’s trash & recycling collection schedules when it comes to holidays or inclement weather cancellation.

With few exceptions for large storms, our office is open M-F from 8:30am-4:00pm and closed only on Thanksgiving Day, Christmas Day, and New Years Day.

In the event of a holiday or inclement weather cancellation, we will post the service announcement on the front page of the website, and to our social media pages (Facebook and Twitter) along with a direct email to the affected service locations.

We've got you covered! If you need a few extra buckets for a one-time event at your normal service location, we can drop them off the week before and you can return them the following service day for a one-time charge of $8. Keep in mind that we may need up to 3 days advance notice in order to fulfill your request.

If you need a last-minute extra bucket for a house party and do not want it to be replaced at the curb, you can purchase a bucket at a bucket pickup location for $8 and put the bucket out on your garbage day. If you would like it to replaced (so that you have extra buckets on hand), give us a call or email and we'll instruct the drivers to pack an extra replacement bucket for you.

For larger events with substantial food waste, visit our Event Quote request system and we'll help make your event as zero-waste as possible.

Garbage to Garden participants interested in contributing used cooking oils to biofuel production should do the following: fill any plastic, recyclable container with a screw-top lid (or very tight- fitting lid, like a deli container) with used cooking oil and place it on your curb next to your bucket (in a place it will not spill over) on garbage day.

We bring the cooking oil to Maine Standard Biofuels where it will be refined into biodiesel and Bioheat Home Heating Oil. Also created during the process of refining the waste fats and oils is Wicked Strong Soap, a powerful de-greaser that we use to wash our buckets.

Fun fact: on average the Greater Portland area uses over a million gallons of cooking oil a year. Pouring cooking oil down the drain is harmful to your home's pipes as well as plants and wildlife. That's why we help you to recycle it into renewable energy. Renewable energy is better for the environment since it is less energy intensive, creates fewer emissions than fossil fuels, and helps decrease our oil dependency. The Maine Standard Biofuels plant has the capacity to produce up to a million gallons of biodiesel a year, so together we can make a huge difference. Let's make it happen! "

Absolutely! From weekly curbside pickups to complete waste management solutions (and everything in between) we tailor our services to meet your unique business composting needs. We are serious about waste reduction, and we work with you to establish a sustainable, thoughtful composting strategy. Visit our business page to obtain more information.

We offer compost collection for events as well as complete "zero-waste" event waste management services to give your big day the green radiance it deserves. From weddings to backyard BBQs to large-scale festivals, Garbage to Garden works with events of all sizes. Visit our event page or email events@garbagetogarden.org to learn more.

Garbage to Garden is fully funded by the participants in the program. We have a minimum monthly fee as well as opportunities to earn free service through our referral and volunteer programs. Our service and fees vary by service area; in order to determine the minimum monthly fee for curbside service in your area, please visit our homepage and enter your city/state on our sign-up form.

The fee covers the cost of weekly collection, weekly bucket cleaning or compostable liners, and delivery of free bagged compost*. The fee also supports Garbage to Garden's school programming and compost donations to schools and community gardens. Our 5-gallon curbside bucket is $8 and can be purchased at one of our bucket pick-up locations or through the sign-up process. The 12 gallon bin, available only in Massachusetts services areas, is $20. Buckets/bins purchased through the sign-up will be delivered on your first service date.

*Not included in certain municipal programs.

Online, we can accept Visa, Mastercard, and Discover. We can also accept checks and bill pay from banks by mail, and cash in-store.

In the "Billing" section of My Account you can update your billing address, add and remove automatic credit card payment methods, pay your service bill, or even pre-pay for service.

You can also contact or visit the office during normal business hours and we would be happy to help you.

Definitely! We have many participants that opt for an annual subscription. In the online signup process, you can select monthly or annual billing (please note, it auto-sets to renew), or you can send a check for a pre-paid term.

If you are paying by cash or check, you are welcome to pre-pay any amount in person at our office, or by mailing a check to us. If you have any questions please contact our office.

If you are going to miss a single service day, it is helpful to know and you can email or call the office. Don't worry if you don't mention it to us. We'll service your bucket as normal when you return.

If you are going to be away on a vacation for more than one week, you can suspend your service either online or by contacting our office directly. Suspensions longer than 1 month are eligible to be suspended from auto-billing by contacting the office. To access your account suspensions, login to My Account and fill our the Suspend Service form under the "Service" section.

If you travel or move between addresses seasonally, please contact our office directly. If you will be missing service for more than 3 months at a time, we will actually deactivate your account during that time to ensure that there are no issues with your pickup address and that you are not billed during that period. You may re-start your account at any time with no penalties by contacting our office.

If you are going to miss a single service day, it is helpful to know and you can email or call the office. Don't worry if you don't mention it to us. We'll service your bucket as normal when you return.

If you are going to be away on a vacation for more than one week, you can suspend your service either online or by contacting our office directly. Suspensions longer than 1 month are eligible to be suspended from auto-billing by contacting the office. To access your account suspensions, login to My Account and fill our the Suspend Service form under the "Service" section.

If you travel or move between addresses seasonally, please contact our office directly. If you will be missing service for more than 3 months at a time, we will actually deactivate your account during that time to ensure that there are no issues with your pickup address and that you are not billed during that period. You may re-start your account at any time with no penalties by contacting our office.

Any subscriptions purchased through a promotional offer are not eligible for a refund. This includes subscriptions purchased at the discounted annual rate (12 months for the price of 11), and those purchased through our annual Spring Fling promotion. If you need to cancel service purchased through one of these promotions, you may transfer any remaining months of service to another GTG participant.

Curbside services fees also support Garbage to Garden's educational programming, compost and soil donations to schools and community gardens, as well as free or discounted raised bed gardens to local households and nonprofit organizations.

Yes! Our volunteers help drive our community operations and we always welcome any help you can provide.

Visit the volunteer page to subscribe to our volunteer newsletter. You'll receive monthly information about our shop operations that may need assistance along with an overview of upcoming events where we could use an extra hand. Volunteers who are already Garbage to Garden participants will be eligible to receive a free month of service.

Any time a Garbage to Garden participant volunteers at one of our eligible events listed in our monthly volunteer email, or around our shop - the participant is eligible to receive a free month of service. The free month credit is applied to the following month of service. There is no limit to the number of times one can volunteer - in fact, some of our participants earn completely free service by volunteering just a few hours each month. In some cases, multiple free months may be earned at one time.

We have a wide range of volunteer activities that changes month-to-month. Opportunities typically fall into one of the following categories:

At our shop: We have projects for volunteers year round, and can work with you to find a time that works with your schedule. Some examples of volunteer projects include; labeling buckets, organizing event equipment, and tying and stacking bags of compost. Volunteer with us at our shop for 1-2 hours to earn a free month of curbside composting service!

Community Events: We partner with numerous events that want to be zero-waste and compost, or that want to showcase curbside composting. Volunteers help us manage sorting stations and/or staff the Garbage to Garden information table & help us spread the word about our service!

Local Organizations: We partner with various local non-profit organizations to boost their volunteer participation for a certain month or event by offering a free month of service to those who attend. We do this to expand our impact in the community and offer a feel-good way for participants to keep costs low.

To see this month's activities, join our volunteer newsletter at the volunteer page Typically, the organization has a related mission, although we are open to new partnerships. Contact our volunteer coordinator at volunteer@garbagetogarden.org with upcoming events, organizations, or causes in need of help.

You bet! Tell a Friend about our curbside composting service and be eligible to earn a free month of service for every referral! Here's how:

1. Login to the new "My Account" section of our website. If you have not yet setup your account, you must first confirm your email address.
2. Find your unique 6-digit referral link under the "Get Involved" tab.
3. Share this link with your friends and family, on social media and anywhere else you want!
Anyone who signs up under your code will automatically credit you 1 month free service, and they will get a month of free service, too!

Please note: Referral credit is only valid for new household service accounts that have never opened an account and new household account must be active for minimum one month for credit to remain valid

Absolutely. We have shared our story with dozens of classrooms from Kindergarten to College, businesses, networking groups, industry conferences, and media outlets. Contact us about your upcoming event or classroom curriculum, and we'll connect you with the right person!

For schools and businesses specifically looking for training to introduce their new compost system, we can provide any length of presentation for any sized crowd. We can also help with signage. Mention your interest to the Garbage to Garden representative who is helping set up your account, and we'll get you the resources and people you need!

Don't see curbside compost service in your city? Request us - then tell your friends, too! Bring it to Your City!