FAQ

What materials are considered compostable?

  • COMPOSTABLE

    Food Scraps including:

    • Fruits & veggies - include stems, pits, seeds, corncobs, etc., but PLEASE REMOVE STICKERS.
    • Pasta, grains, breads & cake, pastries, candy
    • Coffee grounds
    • non-synthetic tea bags - PLEASE REMOVE STAPLES. If unsure about the bag's material, cut open the tea bag and empty the leaves into your compost bin.
    • Eggs & eggshells
    • Meat & fish, including bones
    • Lobster, crab, and shrimp shells are okay, but NOT mussels, clams, or oysters (because they do not break down.)
    • Dairy: cheese, yogurt, etc.
    • Nuts & coconut shells

    Household Items

    • Wood: toothpicks, popsicle sticks, chopsticks, utensils
    • Pet FOOD (no pet waste)
    • House plants & flowers - please remove tags and rubber bands, no potting soil. (Potting soil can be placed in your yard or used again.)

    Food soiled paper

    • Food-soiled napkins & paper toils
    • Food-soiled cardboard egg cartons
    • IF TORN INTO PIECES TO FIT INTO YOUR BIN: food-soiled pizza boxes.

    Note: Clean paper and cardboard are better suited for recycling. We accept items that are only food-soiled, but we cannot take those that have been contaminated with chemicals or cleaners.

    We kindly ask customers to tear paper products into smaller, manageable pieces. This helps prevent larger items from being blown away when the composting facility is breezy, making them difficult to collect later.

  • NON-COMPOSTABLE

    Packaging

    • ABSOLUTELY NO PLASTIC: Cups, containers, wrappers, and chip bags are not acceptable. Even “compostable plastic” items are also problematic, as many are difficult to verify, take a very long time to break down, and often contain hazardous chemicals.
    • NO CARTONS: milk, juice, ice cream
    • NO stickers
    • NO meat packaging or styrofoam
    • NO “compostable” utensils (wood is okay.)
    • NO takeout containers

    Household Items

    • No bodily fluids
    • No ash (stove, fireplace, or grill)
    • No compostable diapers or sanitary products
    • NO PET WASTE, including cat litter
    • No dead animals
    • No grass clippings
    • No laundry lint
    • No textiles   
    • No dental floss or q-tips

    Paper

    • No mail envelopes, shiny paper, magazines, cereal boxes, shredded paper (these are better recycled)
    • No plastic or waxed cardboard
    • No chemically soiled paper: disinfectant wipes, or paper soiled with machine oil, house paint, cleaners, etc.

    Note: Clean paper and cardboard are more suitable for recycling. Paper does not contribute nutritional value to finished compost, may contain plastic or chemical contamination, and adding too much paper can disrupt the balance in compost piles.

Areas Covered

  • Saratoga County

    Ballston, Charlton, Clifton Park, Corinth, Day, Edinburg, Galway, Greenfield, Hadley, Halfmoon, Malta, Mechanicville, Milton, Moreau, Northumberland, Providence, Saratoga, Saratoga Springs, Stillwater, Waterford, Wilton.

  • Warren County

    Bolton, Chestertown, Hague, Horicon, Johnsburg, Lake George, Luzerne, Queensbury, Warrensburg, Wevertown.

  • Washington County

    Argyle, Cambridge, Dresden, Easton, Fort Ann, Fort Edward, Granville, Greenwich, Hampton, Hartford, Hebron, Jackson, Kingsbury, Putnam, Salem, White Creek, Whitehall.

Pick-up Instructions

Please place the container on your front steps, stoop, porch, or the agreed-upon location by 8 AM every week on your scheduled pickup day. We will swap the container with a fresh clean one.

Afterward, we will return the container to its original location. Please note that you, as the client, own the container. We are not responsible for any theft or damage to the container.

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