How Bad Apple Compost pickup service works
We make composting easy
Sign up for our residential, commercial or zero waste event services and get your Bad Apple Compost starter kit.
Fill your Bad Apple Compost bucket with the approved compostable items listed below.
Exchange your full bucket for a clean, empty one through the curbside pickup service.
Get your share of the finished compost or donate it to a local community garden.
Bask in the glory of taking action to address climate change.
What can you compost with Bad Apple?
If grows, it goes! We accept food scraps, certified compostable products, and plant materials. Our residential pickup subscribers are also eligible for holiday decor and yard waste pickup. For the full list of acceptable items visit our What to Compost page.
The Bad Apple Process
Food and other approved compostables are collected from service subscribers in the Toledo area during our routes. At pickup, we weigh your bucket to collect data for our impact reports, then clean your bucket and provide a clean compostable liner.
We haul all of the organic materials to Hirzel Farms where it undergoes a thermophilic composting process to kill pathogens and weed seeds while producing a nutrient rich and microbial dense compost, then cures for another 6-9 months.
Once the compost is ready, we return your portion of the finished product for you to use on houseplants, veggie gardens, or flower beds. You can also donate your share to one of our community garden partners.
How does this composting thing work?
Bad Apple Services
All Bad Apple customers will receive a compost share for their own use or to donate to a Toledo-area community garden. Quarterly impact reports available by request.
Residential customers collect their compost in a Bad Apple bucket then we collect it for processing. It takes the mess out of composting!
Weekly pickup: $35 per month
Biweekly pickup: $25 per month
Monthly pickup: $15 per month
Unlimited bucket swaps (you haul): $15 per month
Service includes clean compostable collection bins, information on what to compost, spring and fall yard trimming collection, and annual pumpkin pickup.
Residential Services
From baby showers and business parties to festivals and weddings, we’ll work with you and the venue to minimize food waste so you can focus on enjoying the party.
Zero waste event services include:
Free consultation to assess your needs
Training on best practices for composting
Clean compostable collection bins
Hauling and processing compostables
Bad Apple staffing available upon request
Fees vary based on client needs. Free quotes available.
Event Services
We work with grocery stores, restaurants and other businesses to collect food waste and other compostables. Commercial service includes:
On-site needs assessment
Training on best practices for composting
Clean compostable collection bins
Hauling and processing compostables
Quarterly impact report
Compost share to use or donate
Rates based on number of containers needed for composting and frequency of pickup.
Commercial Pick-Up
Consulting Services
Interested in composting on your own but don’t know where to start? We consult to help you learn how to compost on your own. I work with people and businesses to create productive food scrap recycling systems.
Our range of consulting services include:
On site needs assessment
Custom designed composting systems
Virtual or in-person trainings and workshops
Troubleshooting
Fill out the form below to schedule a free 20-minute phone consultation.
FAQs
-
Bad Apple can process food scraps, napkins and paper towels with food residue on them, non-glossy cardboard and paper, plant materials and BPI certified compostables.
Food scraps do not have be certified organic.
-
At this time we cannot process used organic fabric, used tissues, raw meat, bones, or manure. While these materials can be composted under the right conditions, our partner is not currently accepting them.
Here are the forever no-nos.
NO oils or grease.
NO cat litter or dog poop, ever. The risk of pathogens is too high.
NO plant or yard waste that has been treated with herbicides or pesticides.
NO diseased plants, poison ivy, or invasive weeds.
NO treated wood. Remember, we are rebuilding soil here so we need to minimize toxins.
NO metal, plastic, or other non-organic materials.
NO clothing.
-
Weekly pickup subscribers receive 10 gallons every 6 months, biweekly pickup subscribers receive 5 gallons every 6 months, and monthly pickup or swap subscribers 5 gallons per year.
-
At this time, finished compost is only available to customers who receive composting services. Hopefully one day we’ll be able to sell compost to other customers.
-
Easy! Call or email to let me know what adjustment you need to make. We can add another bucket if you need more space to compost, skip a week if you’re out of town, pause the service for a bit, or cancel it altogether.
If you’re canceling the service we can arrange a time for me to take the Bad Apple bucket off your hands.
If you’ve been a customer for at least 6 months of the calendar year, you would still be eligible to receive a compost share.
-
We are pleased to offer a bucket swap service with our sustainability partner, Just Toledo. Scraps must be in a Bad Apple bucket. For more information check out our bucket swap page.