Drop-Off Composting

Drop-Off Composting is an easy way for you to keep valuable food scraps from being wasted in a landfill. Just separate compostable kitchen scraps from your regular household trash and bring them to a CSWD Drop-Off Center or to Green Mountain Compost. All CSWD Drop-Off Centers participate in this program!

How it works

The scraps we collect in this program are taken to the Green Mountain Compost processing facility, where the piles quickly reach and stay at temperatures of at least 145°F. Because these high temperatures kill any undesirable organisms and break down even tough materials like bones and corncobs, the drop-off composting program can accept a wider variety of items than most backyard compost bins.

Please consult the What is Compostable? page of the Green Mountain Compost website for details on what you can and can’t include in your drop-off compost.

There is no charge to drop off your food scraps. We’ll even give you a free 4-gallon bucket with a lid to help you get started. Just ask the Drop-Off Center operator for your free pail and more information.

Tips for maintaining your drop-off compost bucket

If you find that your bucket gets too messy, try lining the bucket with paper towels, black-and-white newspaper (no colored or glossy pages), a plain brown paper bag, or a compostable plastic bag. You can dump these lining materials right into the compost cart at the CSWD Drop-Off Center.

Other tips we’ve learned along the way:

• Keep food scraps, especially potentially smelly things such as meat scraps, bones, dairy scraps, in a specially marked container in the refrigerator or freezer until you bring food scraps to the  CSWD Drop-Off Center. A paper bag inside a plastic bag works well as you can shake the paper bag and contents into the compost cart easily (be sure no plastic bags make their way into compost collection containers).
• Each time you add food scraps to your collection bucket, add a layer of black and white newspaper, brown paper bag or paper towel to reduce odors and to discourage fruit flies.

What about bugs?
At certain times of the year (usually summer/early fall) fruit flies can be more prevalent. Other insects may be attracted to your compost as well. One of the best ways to keep the flies away is to cover your bucket tightly when not adding food scraps.

Here are a few other tips to keep the bugs away:

• empty and clean out buckets more often during the summer and early fall
• keep food scraps in a cool place; cover food scraps with paper (see above)
• put about an inch of vinegar into a cup or jar, cover with saran wrap, punch several holes in the wrap, and place the container near compost collection containers to trap fruit flies
• Wood shavings and sawdust from “Clean Wood” (e.g., NO plywood, particle board, pressure treated wood or wood that has ever been stained or painted) are also a good item to have on hand to layer on top of food scraps to discourage odors and fruit flies.  Gerbil/hamster cedar bedding is inexpensive and works well to use as a layer for compost collection buckets.

Please do NOT put anything other than paper or food scraps and plant material into the compost cart. Conventional plastic bags must be emptied and placed in the trash.