Compost FAQ

We absolutely encourage backyard and community composting of yard waste and food scraps. While Boise's compost program helps divert organic waste from the landfill where it produces greenhouse gases like methane, it still requires a lot of energy to move material from your house to the compost facility. If you’re a backyard composter, we suggest that you utilize your green cart for materials like woody debris, weeds, and other stocky materials that are challenging to compost at home.

Boise's compost facility is an industrial scale facility. During the composting process, organic material reaches temperatures that significantly reduce the viability of seeds and pathogens. In general, never put a plant or seed that you don't want to see again in a backyard compost pile, but feel free to put those weeds and seeds in your curbside cart to be put to good use!

While animal products can break down in the composting process, our compost facility does not accept these products. Animal products are much more odorous (smelly) than yard waste and kitchen scraps and are also more likely to transport pathogens such as salmonella or other bacteria. Since compost carts are only picked up weekly, sometimes material sits in carts for up to a week before being picked up. Trust us, you don't want your neighbors putting animal products in their bin. Clean compost carts make good neighbors.

The Curb It compost program does not accept any compostable or biodegradable tableware products. While these products are helpful in the commercial food setting, it's difficult for compost facility staff to tell which products are compostable versus plastic.

A few tips to reduce contamination of compostable products:

Extra leaves or yard waste materials can be placed in paper leaf bags. Extra branches or tree limbs may be cut to lengths under 4 feet long and tied into bundles under 60 pounds with natural fiber twine (no plastic twine or string, please.) Up to ten bags OR bundles will be collected each week, year-round, and at no cost. No overflow stickers are needed!

During the fall, leaf collection is limited to 10 bags per week. If you have extra bags, Curb It offers leaf collection sites for residents who prefer to dispose of all leaves immediately.

drop-off locations

If the tree was a street tree growing on the opposite side of your sidewalk from your house, you can contact Community Forestry for assistance.

If the tree is in your yard, please break down fallen branches and place what will fit into your green compost cart. Extra material may be cut to lengths of under 4 feet long and tied into bundles under 60 pounds with natural fiber twine (no plastic twine or string, please.) Up to ten bags OR bundles will be collected each week, year-round, and at no cost. No overflow stickers are needed!

Watch the video for a quick tutorial on how to keep your compost cart clean.

A few simple tips to keep your compost cart clean and reduce potential odors:

Our composting process takes over four months and Curb It compost reaches temperatures over 160 degrees Fahrenheit. These high temperatures break down compounds such as herbicides and pesticides, significantly reduce the viability of pathogens and weed seeds, and stabilize the carbon such that it is beneficial to plant growth.

Curb It Compost is certified through the US Composting Council's "Seal of Testing Assurance" or STA program. STA certified compost is regularly tested for pathogens, heavy metals, and nutrients to make sure finished compost is safe to put in your garden and ready to nurture your plants.

STA CERTIFIED LAB TEST RESULTS

Our compost IS full of bacteria – lots and lots of beneficial bacteria and other microorganisms - and we’re proud of it! Compost is a biologically active soil amendment, and all those active microorganisms will help you build healthy soils in your yard, garden, or planting beds.

You can fill them, but we sure wouldn't recommend adding plants! Compost is made from nearly all organic material and does not contain the silt, clay, or sand particles that pants need to take root and thrive. Rather, compost is a biologically active soil amendment that can help nutrient depleted or inorganic soils to become healthy again. You can use compost as an amendment to revive your used potting soils for another season!

For more information, please contact us.

Please complete the form below and a member of our Curb It team will follow up with you.

Please note: If you have a question about your bill, please contact Utility Billing Services.

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