When I was growing up, I spent a great deal of time at my grandparents’ house. They taught me the basics of gardening and caring for our small patch of the world around us, and I have tried to emulate them in my own life. However, they had one practice that I have never tried myself until now: composting.

Waste Not, Want Not

My grandparents were each born in the early 1920s. If they were still alive today, my grandmother would be 101 and my grandfather 100. They saw a great deal of change over the course of their lives. There was one event, however, that left a permanent effect on them, their families, and how they would live the rest of their lives: the Great Depression.

Like most, their families just scraped by during that time. One way they did so was by reusing everything they possibly could, including food. How?

By composting.

What Is Compost?

NC State University defines composting as the “controlled decomposition of organic materials into a soil-like substance called compost”. Many items fall under the umbrella of “organic materials,” including food scraps, yard trimmings, and even some paper products. When these items are composted, they can “mulch landscaping, enhance plant growth, enrich topsoils, and provide other benefits to plants and soil.”

By returning these materials to the earth, the cycle continues, helping to ensure more food can be grown the next year.

My grandparents had a compost pile in a wooded area behind their backyard, near their gardens. Throughout the week, my grandmother would collect food scraps like egg shells and coffee grounds in an old metal coffee can. When the can was full, she took it out and emptied the contents into the pile, where it eventually became compost for their gardens.

Although I knew of this practice, I had never attempted it myself as I have never had a garden. As I have become more aware of the impact of human actions (and inaction) on the earth, I have begun wanting to do more. The impact of food waste is considerable, affecting our bank accounts as well as our planet:

• The USDA estimates that reducing food waste can save a household an average of roughly $370 per person every year.
• In 2021, the EPA estimated that food waste comprised 24 percent of municipal solid waste, making it the largest category of material found in municipal landfills.
• Once it reaches landfills, food waste produces methane, a greenhouse gas that packs a very strong punch in warming the planet. The EPA estimates that 58 percent of methane emissions from municipal landfills are now coming from food waste.
• Such emissions from food waste have been estimated to be equivalent to: 
  • The emissions coming from more than 50 million vehicles powered by gas
  • The carbon dioxide emissions of more than 42 coal-fired power plants

It was time to take action.

Green Waste Company

One issue facing us as we started our journey to reduce food waste via compost was that we don’t have a garden or similar place for it to go. Another was our HOA and immediate neighbors–how would they react to the smell of decomposing food in our backyard? And what about keeping animals out?

Enter Green Waste Company.

We had heard of compost pickup services such as Compost Now. However, Compost Now’s service area is limited, and our location in Fuquay-Varina is not included. So I was very excited to hear about local small business Green Waste Company, which specifically mentions servicing more rural Triangle areas such as Fuquay-Varina and Holly Springs on its website. Green Waste closes the loop locally by taking the compost to Green Hill Harvest Farm in Franklinton.

After researching and discussing our options, we decided to give it a try. We signed up eight weeks ago in February 2024.

The Sign-Up Process

The sign-up process was simple. We created an account and purchased the lowest level, known as the Silver Membership. This got us a 3.5 gallon bucket for a weekly pickup. We expected the container to come with a liner since the website specifies that the larger bucket that comes with the Gold Membership does not come with a liner, but ours didn’t come with one either. This hasn’t been a problem for us, but it is something for customers to be aware of.

The company was very prompt in processing our order. We placed the order on a Sunday and our bucket was dropped off on our front porch the very next day. We were very impressed at this turnaround time. The bucket itself is great. The lid always snaps on snugly and no stenches escape the container except when the lid is off. The container fits nicely in our pantry, out of the way but still clearly visible whenever we open the pantry, reminding us to compost rather than throw away our scraps.

Composting

Green Waste Company’s website provides a fairly comprehensive list of items that can be included in your compost, and its social media posts have yielded a few additional pleasant surprises. Not only can food scraps and yard waste be included, but also paper products such as shredded paper and cardboard. We have a small shredder and have been using it quite often, resulting in a great deal of shredded paper we weren’t sure how to dispose of. We’re now including it in our compost bucket. We’re also putting paper products like paper towels and napkins in, as well as cardboard items such as paper towel and toilet paper tubes and other items like dryer lint.

Of course, we are also composting food waste as well. Fruit and vegetable scraps have gone in our bucket, including banana peels, apple cores, onion skins, orange slices, egg shells, and more.

Pickups

In general, the pickup process has been smooth. Our pickup day is Monday, so every Sunday night or Monday morning we put our bucket out on the front porch for pickup. The pickup times vary; the instructions state to have the bucket out by 7am, but our pickup usually happens in the afternoon. The company drives out, picks up our bucket, and leaves an empty one for the coming week.

There has only been one time when this process has not gone according to plan. In that instance, the company was delayed in making the pickup until Wednesday. They posted the delay on their Facebook page but did not send out an email or other communication, and since I rarely check social media, it was evening by the time I discovered the delay while wondering why our pickup had not occurred.

I am hopeful that any future delays will be communicated by multiple methods, and in the meantime I always check their Facebook page on our pickup days.

My Conclusion

We have been using Green Waste Company’s pickup compost service for eight weeks now, and we love it. The service is prompt and the containers are solid and well made. We plan to continue using it for a long time to come and encourage anyone interested to give it a try too!

Of course, many people want to start composting for their own use and have no need of a pickup service. If you are one of them, check out our Compost page to learn how to get started!