Frequently Asked Questions

What is compostable?

  • Fruits 

  • Veggies 

  • Meat and bones 

  • Dairy 

  • Egg shells 

  • Coffee grounds and filters 

  • Nuts and shells 

  • Pasta, grains, and rice, even if there’s some oil

  • Bread  

  • Hair and lint

  • Tea bags 

  • Cotton and wool scraps

  • Paper towels 

  • Paper plates without a shinny plastic coating

  • Cardboard without a shinny plastic coating

What is not compostable?

  • Plastic, metal, glass

  • Fruit stickers 

  • Plastic produce bags

  • Plastic or wax coated paper plates and cups

  • Yard waste (just too bulky for our pickup service)

  • Unfortunately at this time we cannot accept “biodegradable” bags or “backyard compostable bags” due to USDA organic regulations with some of partner farms, and due to long break-down times.

what services do you offer?

We offer a food waste pick up service for homes and businesses! We swap out your full bucket for a clean one. Customers can choose a pick up frequency. We also offer snack wrapper and beauty product Terracycling for our customers. We also offer free delivery of all Woodlawn Refill products.

Source Compost also offers a compost coaching service. You can learn how to compost in your own backyard with a compost tumbler and personalized service with a compost coach. Compost tumblers delivered and installed for you! Unlimited compost for your garden!

Do you have a compost pile at home but you need help re-homing it, fixing it, upgrading it, or something else? Give us a call at 201 669 5137 and we will be happy to help you find a solution!

What happens when I subscribe?

On Wednesday, our driver will deliver you a bucket. There’ll be a few wood chips in there to help absorb liquids and odors.

Pickups are on Wednesdays so just put your bucket outside like trash or recycling.

I want to subscribe but i don’t know how long it will take to fill up the bucket

Option A: Pick a subscription frequency

A standard two person household will fill a bucket every two weeks.

If you are cooking a lot, throwing out a lot of food scraps, frequently forget to eat the leftovers in your fridge, or just have a bigger household, I’d recommend subscribing to the weekly pickup.

If you live alone, or just want to try it out, get the monthly pick up. You can always upgrade to a more frequent service later.

Option B: Pay as you go

Buckets are free for subscribers. However, if you don’t want to subscribe just yet, you can buy a bucket, figure out how long it takes you to fill it up, then you can subscribe to the service. Since the bucket is free for subscribers, we will issue discount for people who have purchased a bucket up front and chose to subscribe later. Please email celestine@source-compost.com to request this code.

Option C: Pre-pay for your pick ups

You can get a gift card and request pick ups on Wednesdays as needed.

What if there is mold on the food?

It’s normal for there to be mold in compost. Moldy fruit/veggies will not “contaminate” the compost batch so don’t hesitate to throw those in the bucket. Natural decomposers like mold, worms, bacteria, and bugs are doing their job by breaking down and processing the food. Just please remove fruit stickers, rubber bands, and plastic bags.

what if my bucket gets full before my scheduled pick-up?

  • You can request an extra pick up for nominal fee

    or

  • You can upgrade to a more frequent subscription

    or

  • You can drop off your compost at the Ramsey Farmer’s Market and we will give you a clean plastic bucket for $7 or a clean metal bucket for $9. We are only there every other Sunday! Check our calendar for our next market day: https://www.source-compost.com/calendar

When will you pick up my compost?

Please put your bucket out before 8am. We are on route doing pick ups all day. If there are unforeseen circumstances that cause us to be later than 6pm, we’ll contact you to let you know.

  • Weekly subscribers: Every Wednesday

  • Bi-weekly subscribers: Every other Wednesday. We will confirm with you via email when your next pick up is.

  • Monthly subscribers: Every four Wednesdays

i’m subscribed to the pick-up service but the pick-ups are too frequent or not frequent enough.

You can upgrade to a more frequent subscription or downgrade to a less frequent one. Log into your account, cancel your current subscription, and purchase the subscription you want. There are no cancellation or sign up fees. If you want a pro-rated price, please contact us.

Even the weekly pick-up is not enough! we want to compost more!

We now offer a 13 gallon toter on wheels which you can picked up weekly.

where should I store the bucket?

Some convenient spots include: Under the kitchen sink, pantry, garage, deck, or backyard.

Will the compost attract bears and rodents?

I have used these galvanized steel buckets in lots of outdoor areas in North Jersey where bears, raccoons, and rodents are active and I have never had a problem. The lids do lock on tight when you put the handle on. Even without the lid lock engaged, the lids stay on tight when the buckets get tipped over.

This has yet to happen, but if you are concerned that your backyard raccoons will still get into the bucket, we provide reusable zip ties to really seal the bucket handle to the lid handle.

Some people just prefer to keep the bucket in their garage or basement until pick up day.

Should I get a metal or plastic bucket?

Our galvanized steel buckets have a 6 gallon capacity and are seam-sealed to prevent leaks. The lid locks on when handle is up so it is sure to keep critters out. The benefit to the metal bucket is that it is infinitely recyclable. The drawback is that it is only rust-resistant but not rust-proof. Once these buckets go into the compost rotation, we do regularly replace them with new ones when they get too old. For this reason, the metal bucket subscriptions are a little more costly than the plastic bucket subscriptions.

Our reclaimed plastic buckets come in assorted colors with screw top lids that are equally as good at keeping critters out. My honest opinion: The plastic bucket is more smell proof than the metal bucket and it is less prone to leaks. However, it only has a 5 gallon capacity and they are not recyclable at the end of their life.

Where do you offer this pick up service?

Allendale, NJ; Bergen County, NJ; Bloomingdale, NJ; Clifton, NJ; Elmwood Park, NJ; Emerson, NJ; Fair Lawn, NJ; Franklin Lakes, NJ; Garfield, NJ; Glen Rock, NJ; Haskell, NJ; Hawthorne, NJ; Hillsdale, NJ; Ho-Ho-Kus, NJ; Hohokus, NJ; Kinnelon, NJ (west parts); Lincoln Park, NJ; Little Falls, NJ; Lodi, NJ; Mahwah, NJ; Maywood, NJ; Midland Park, NJ; Montvale, NJ; Oakland, NJ; Oradell, NJ; Paramus, NJ; Park Ridge, NJ; Passaic County, NJ; Paterson, NJ; Pequannock Township, NJ; Pompton Lakes, NJ; Pompton Plains, NJ; Ramsey, NJ; Ridgewood, NJ; Ringwood, NJ (west parts), Riverdale, NJ; River Edge, NJ; Rochelle Park, NJ; Totowa, NJ; Saddle Brook, NJ; Saddle River, NJ; Upper Saddle River, NJ; Waldwick, NJ; Wanaque, NJ; Township of Washington, NJ; Wayne, NJ; Westwood, NJ; Woodland Park, NJ; Wyckoff, NJ.

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what happens if my bucket goes missing/stolen/damaged?

In short, you have to buy yourself another bucket: https://www.source-compost.com/shop/p/bucket.

Subscribers are responsible for keeping their buckets safe and in good condition. If the bucket is missing/stolen/or in unusable condition after being in the subscriber’s care, Source Compost will request the subscriber to pay a replacement fee online, by cash, or check before resuming pickups. If the customer fails to pay the replacement fee and forgets to unsubscribe from the service, Source Compost reserves the right to retain the equivalent cost of the bucket from the last unfulfilled subscription charge before refunding the customer for remaining unfulfilled order.

What happens if I forget to put the bucket out?

Give us a call to check if we’re still in the area: (201) 669-5137

If we’re too far or can’t get in contact with you, we’ll just leave you a clean bucket and pick up two full buckets next time.

There’s also an $8 fee.