We love watching our trash turn into something useful and beautiful. You too? 

Compost Club is a community and sustainable business here to help you compost and connect with other compost-loving folks. Because the journey from food scraps to fertilizer is wildly awesome — so why not cheer each other on while we’re at it? Here’s our approach:

• Gather a network of eco-conscious individuals to share resources and support one another, whether you’re compost-curious or compost-obsessed. All are welcome.
• Encourage composting as an easy and enjoyable way of life, and not a tedious and smelly chore it’s often made out to be!
• Educate about all things compost, the do’s and don’ts, the science, and why it is so (so!) important.
• Advocate for sustainable practices that combat waste, cut carbon emissions, and address climate change.

The Dirty Details 

Why Composting Matters

Question: What’s the single most common material landfilled and incinerated in the United States? Answer: Food waste. 

Billions of pounds of food waste are created every year, filling up landfills, generating greenhouse gasses, and accelerating climate change. That’s why composting can make all the difference. It helps free up landfill space, decrease greenhouse gasses, and save energy and water — all the while nourishing soil and promoting healthy plant growth with essentially *free* organic material. 

Beyond these reasons, composting is also empowering. In an increasingly chaotic time where life often feels out of control, composting puts the power back in our own hands. 

“Composting is surprisingly simple once you get going and realize funky smells aren’t actually a thing! Compost Club is here to help more people get to the good part.” – Andrew Hargest, Compost Club and Eco-Pliant Founder

Food Waste By The Numbers

• • 66 million tons of food is wasted annually in the U.S. alone (that’s over a billion pounds) — and more than 60% of that food wasted goes in landfills
  • 30-40% of food grown in the U.S. goes completely uneaten
  • 42 coal-fired plants’ annual emissions is the equivalent of the annual carbon dioxide emissions caused by food waste 
  • 8% of greenhouse gas emissions come solely from wasted food 

If looking at this data makes you cringe and want to never throw away food again, we hear you. But food waste happens, just like life happens. Working to waste less food to begin with is an important start. And what you do with the waste that you do inevitably have (banana peels, coffee grounds, egg shells, flowers, etc)  is where composting comes in. 

“Composting is nature’s way of recycling and is one of the most powerful actions we can take to reduce trash in landfills, address climate change, and build healthy soil.” – Environmental Protection Agency 

Composting vs. Recycling? And Other Compost Questions

What is compost?

An effective and sustainable method of decomposition, where organic matter breaks down in a climate-positive way. The result is a nutrient-dense material that returns back to the Earth instead of filling a landfill.

What’s the difference between composting and recycling? 

Both are essentially taking waste and turning it into something usable. Which one you do will usually depend on the material. For example, glass bottles, aluminum, and plastic belong in a recycling bin — and yard waste, food scraps, and yard waste can be composted. However, there can be an overlap. We generally recommend composting over recycling because it’s the most natural form of recycling that is completely autonomous and can be done in your home, turning waste into a wonderful, nutrient-rich material right before your eyes.  

How long does it take for food and yard waste to become usable compost? 

This process usually takes anywhere from three months to a couple of years — depending on your compost size.

Are biodegradable and compostable the same? 

No. If something is compostable it can break down and gradually turn into a nutrient-rich material that you can use to nourish soil and plants, usually in a few months to a year. On the other hand, biodegradable materials eventually return to the environment, but this can take decades. So while all compostable material is biodegradable, not all biodegradable material is compostable. 

Won’t food just break down in a landfill? Why compost it? 

The short answer: When food is in a landfill, it isn’t usually exposed to air, so it takes much, much more time to decompose and also produces methane. However, when you’re composting food, it’s usually exposed to oxygen, so the process is much quicker and produces more CO2 and less methane – which is much less potent. Plus, composting frees up much-needed landfill space and can be used to nourish the soil with fertilizer that’s free. Everyone wins. 

Get the Dirt

There are a lot of cool things happening in the composting world. Here’s a breakdown of how composting is affecting communities around the world. 

• Motivating Numbers: According to a 2023 study published in the Nature journal Scientific Reports, composting food scraps results in 38 to 84 percent fewer greenhouse gas emissions than tossing them in landfills.
• Success Story: South Korea is setting an example of how to execute composting on a mass scale, so that it becomes “second nature.” Read the compelling story from The LA Times. 
• Composting as a Community: Jenny Liggett, a resident from Bristol, England rides her compostable electric bike and collects food scraps from her neighbors so it can be composted. “I’m not just collecting waste, I’m building relationships and empowering families to make a positive impact,” Liggett told the BBC. 
• Cool Compost Toilets: SOIL Haiti is a team that’s providing “dignified sanitation” while creating rich, organic compost as a natural resource for Haiti’s depleted soils. So far, they’ve created 225+ tons of compost, one compost toilet at a time. 

Values 

Community

We want to be a digital home where compost-curious folks can get together in a safe space to ask questions, geek out on compost, and post updates on piles. 

Awareness

We’ve found, the more we compost, the more we feel connected to what we eat, what we do, and the world around us. This shift is something we think is especially integral right now, whether we’re composting, driving, walking, and just being.

Compassion

We’re here to listen, observe, and support. We are believers that composting (and, really, everything in life) is not one-size-fits-all. We all take different paths and we’re here to keep doing the best we can, learning as we go.

Humor

Mistakes happen, surprising things pop up (literally), and sometimes the composting goes a little (or a lot!) differently than you hoped for. We’re believers that this is all something to embrace as part of the process, finding the joy and humor in it as much as possible — we’re playing with dirt after all!

We’re glad you’re here! Thank you so much for reading and getting curious about compost.