1. We provide you with individually-numbered, five-gallon buckets (with lids), branded with our logo, with BPI-certified compostable liners inside.
2. You place any food scraps and associated organics we consider acceptable (such as fruit and vegetable scraps, cooked/cured meat, soft and solid dairy, bones, etc.) inside our buckets.
3. We pick up your full/semi-full buckets once per week, once every other week, or once every four weeks (depending on which of our services you’ve signed up for), on a regular schedule, and leave you new, clean buckets in exchange for them.
4. We weigh the contents of your buckets and add their weight to our grand total landfill diversion number on our homepage and on our Leaderboard at www.GBCompost.com/Leaderboard.
5. We screen your bucket contents, by hand (with gloves, smocks, and KN95 masks on), to identify and remove from them any contaminants/non-compostable/unacceptable materials from them, and contact you, via email and/or text message, to provide feedback/personalized education to help you and others in your household become the best composters possible.
6. We do the hard, dirty, sometimes smelly work of composting for you (a process which takes approximately four to six months), at our commercial, food-waste-focused, commercial compost facility (the only facility of its kind serving Northeastern Wisconsin).
7. We make the resulting, nutrient-rich, contaminant-free compost available for purchase, year-round, at www.GBCompost.com/Compost, with subscribers to our services receiving preferential pricing.

For more information on how our Services work, please visit www.GBCompost.com/Services.

No. We currently only offer Compost Pickup Services, which involve us picking up food scraps and associated organics from residential households and businesses/organizations on a schedule.

If we update our service offerings to include a Compost Drop-Off option, we will update this website accordingly.

To view our Residential Compost Pickup Service pricing, visit www.GBCompost.com/Residential.

(Please note: If you are a resident of the City of De Pere, you may be eligible to have the City cover half the cost of your Residential services with us. CLICK HERE for more information.)

To request and receive a custom quote on our Commercial Compost Pickup Service, tailored to your business/organization’s location(s) and needs, visit www.GBCompost.com/Commercial.

Please note: All of our pricing is subject to change at any time.

Potentially, yes. Assuming your residence has a private door leading directly outside, such as a private front door or garage door, preferably individually-numbered), outside of which we may perform Bucket Swaps/Compost Pickups for you, and assuming your landlord/property manager has no issue with your use of our Residential Compost Pickup Services, then yes, we can serve your residence.

Please feel free to Contact Us, if you are unsure of whether your location is serviceable by us.

Yes, we are able to serve Businesses/Organizations in both the Green Bay and Appleton/Fox Cities areas (including, but not limited to, restaurants, coffee shops/cafés, bakeries, retail stores, offices, hospitals, and schools) with our Commercial Compost Pickup Service, assuming they can be served with five gallon buckets.

We currently serve, or have served, at one time or another, the following businesses/organizations:

• Emplify Health (Bellin Health facilities in Allouez, Ashwaubenon, and Green Bay)
• Kavarna Coffeehouse (Green Bay)
• That Healthy Place (Appleton)
• Cheese Cake Heaven (Ashwaubenon)
• Crystal Coffee (Ashwaubenon)
• Glas Coffeehouse (Green Bay)
• Glass Nickel Pizza (Green Bay)
• Hospital Sisters Health System / HSHS (Green Bay)
• La Carreta (Green Bay)
• Mulva Cultural Center / Savour on Broadway (De Pere)
• Northeast Wisconsin Technical College / NWTC (Green Bay)
• Pepperboy Pizza (Green Bay)
• Riverside Pizzeria (Ashwaubenon)
• Unified School District of De Pere (De Pere Middle School)

Please visit www.GBCompost.com/Commercial to request a custom quote from us today, for your business/organization!

Yes, we can serve schools (private, public, or otherwise) through our Commercial Compost Pickup Service,  assuming they are able to be served with five gallon buckets.

No.

Currently, we perform our Residential Bucket Swaps/Compost Pickups on Sundays and Mondays and our Commercial Bucket Swaps/Compost Pickups on Tuesdays.*

* These days and times are always subject to change.

Once we have received first payment from a new subscriber, they will generally receive their first bucket(s) from us within 4-5 days.

We offer special discounts on our compost to our Compost Pickup Service subscribers. Please visit www.GBCompost.com/Rewards for more details.

Yes. Unless you Contact Us to cancel your Compost Pickup Services prior to any particular renewal date, your services will automatically renew each month and we will auto-charge/invoice your payment method on file with us.

Yes, by Contacting Us to let us know of your desire to cancel, in which case we make arrangements with you for your final Compost Pickup and for you to return to us any of our property remaining in your possession, such as our buckets and/or lids.

Please note that canceling our Services does not, in and of itself, entitle you to a refund, prorated or otherwise, of any funds you may have paid to us. Whether you will or will not be eligible for a refund will depend upon several factors, including, but not limited to, whether you’ve returned all of our property to us.

For more details on our Refunds policy, please see our Terms of Service.

Possibly.

Canceling our Services does not, in and of itself, entitle you to a refund, prorated or otherwise, of any funds you may have paid to us.  Whether or not you will be entitled to a refund from us will depend upon several factors, including, but not limited to, whether you’ve returned all of our property to us and how many Bucket Swaps/Compost Pickups we have performed for you since your last renewal date.

For more details on our Refunds policy, please see our Terms of Service.

If our property, whether a bucket or lid, or both, is lost, stolen, or irreparably damaged while in the possession of a subscriber, the subscriber will be charged/invoiced for the replacement cost of this property.

For a new bucket, a subscriber will be charged/invoiced for $15.00.

For a new lid, a subscriber will be charged/invoiced for $5.00.

If an invoice for replacement property is not paid by a subscriber within 30 days of our emailing it to a subscriber, the subscriber may be subject to involuntary termination of their Services, as well as other financial and/or legal consequences, as per our Terms of Service.

Unequivocally, no.

Because our buckets and lids are our property, and not that of our subscribers, all subscribers whose Services with us are canceled are required, per our Terms of Service, to return any of our property still in their possession to us, by no later than their final Bucket Swap/Compost Pickup day, or our next-scheduled Bucket Swap/Compost Pickup day, whichever comes first.

If a subscriber whose Services with us have been canceled fails to return our property to us in a timely fashion, the subscriber may experience legal and financial consequences, in accordance with our Terms of Service.

Before we answer this question, please note that we do have an Email Reminder service available to all Residential Compost Pickup Service subscribers, to help them remember to place their buckets outside for us on their regularly-scheduled Bucket Swap/Compost Pickup days, and that we offer each new Residential subscriber of ours the opportunity to receive Email Reminders from us.

If you are not already on our Email Reminder list and would like to be, please Contact Us about this and we will have you added to the list as soon as possible.

Once you’re signed up for Email Reminders, you will receive an email from us on the day prior to each of your regularly-scheduled Bucket Swap/Compost Pickup days, with a reminder to place your bucket outside for us by no later than 8:00M AM (CST) the following day.

To learn about how we handle Missed Bucket Swap/Compost Pickup situations, and what our Residential Compost Pickup Service subscribers’ options are, for in the event that they miss a Swap/Pickup, please see our post entitled “Regarding Missed Bucket Swaps/Compost Pickups“.

If you know, in advance, that you will be unable to place your bucket(s) outside for us by 8:00 AM on your scheduled Bucket Swap/Compost Pickup days, as required, for whatever reason, and would still like to Swap your bucket(s)/not have to wait another two to four weeks for your next Swap/Pickup, you may Request an Early/Late Swap, by submitting our form at www.GBCompost.com/Missed-Swap.

If you would not like to perform an Early/Late Swap with us, please note that you will need to wait until your next regularly-scheduled Bucket Swap/Compost Pickup day for us to perform a Swap/Pickup for you.

PLEASE NOTE: Subscribers who miss their regularly-scheduled Bucket Swaps/Compost Pickups, through no fault of Greener Bay Compost’s, are not eligible for any refunds, prorated or otherwise, relative to said Bucket Swaps/Compost Pickups.

If you know, in advance, that you will be unable to place your bucket(s) outside for us by 8:00 AM on your scheduled Bucket Swap/Compost Pickup days, as required, for whatever reason, and would simply like us to Skip your residence/wait until your next Swap/Pickup day for your next Swap/Pickup, you may Request to Skip, by submitting our form at www.GBCompost.com/Missed-Swap.

If you have us Skip a Swap/Pickup for you, please note that you will need to wait until your next regularly-scheduled Swap/Pickup day for us to perform your Swap/Pickup for you, unless you Request a Late Swap before your next regularly-scheduled Swap/Pickup.

PLEASE NOTE: Subscribers who miss their regularly-scheduled Bucket Swaps/Compost Pickups, through no fault of Greener Bay Compost’s, are not eligible for any refunds, prorated or otherwise, relative to said Bucket Swaps/Compost Pickups.

Residential subscribers may Contact Us to upgrade to the Every-Other-Week version of our Residential Compost Pickup Service (assuming they’re not already subscribed to it), add additional buckets to their existing service (for an additional monthly charge), or Request an Early Bucket Swap (with the understanding that us performing an Early Swap will necessitate us skipping their next regularly-scheduled Bucket Swap/Compost Pickup).

Commercial subscribers may Contact Us to change the number of buckets we swap for them each week (with the understanding that doing so will materially change the amount they pay each month for their Commercial Compost Pickup Service).

Yes, any time you make a payment to us, you should receive an emailed invoice/receipt from our secure payment processor, Stripe, reflecting the products or services you’ve paid for as well as the amount you’ve paid us.

If, for whatever you reason, you do not receive the invoice/receipt you should, or if you would like a copy provided to you, you may request a copy of any invoice/receipt by Contacting Us. You may use our Manage My Subscription page to download copies without needing to contact us, if you so desire.

Please note: If you use our Manage My Subscription page, you will need to enter the email you provided to us when you made your purchase with us and will then receive an email, which will provide you with a security code that you must enter to access your subscription information.

When you enter the code, you will be taken to a subscription self-management page where you can download the document(s) of your choice.

If you have any trouble using our subscription self-management option, please Contact Us.

You may safely update your payment method/card on file with with us, self-service style, through our payment processor Stripe’s secure website at: https://billing.stripe.com/p/login/14kfZ66EA7zv58c3cc

Per our List of Acceptable and Not Acceptable Materials, we accept alleged compostable products only if they are clearly and individually labeled as BPI, TUV, or Compost Manufacturing Alliance certified compostable (meaning the products themselves, and not just boxes or bags they come inside of, must be labeled appropriately).

The logos or icons to look for on compostable products are as follows:

To search for BPI certified compostable products by company or product name, visit: BPIWorld.org/Find-Certified-Products

To search for TUV certified compostable products by company or product name, visit: TUV-at.be/Green-Marks/Certified-Products

To search for Compost Manufacturing Alliance certified compostable products by company or product name, visit: CompostManufacturingAlliance.com/Product-Category/CMA-I-Products/

The reason for this policy is that not all products labeled as “compostable” are actually compostable, let alone in our compost piles/windrows, and many companies can, and do, try to take advantage of environmentally-conscious consumers, by claiming their products are compostable when, in reality, they’re not.

When companies engage in this behavior, it is what is known as “greenwashing,” which Investopedia defines as “the process of conveying a false impression or providing misleading information about how a company’s products are more environmentally sound. Greenwashing is considered an unsubstantiated claim to deceive consumers into believing that a company’s products are environmentally friendly.”

Because greenwashing exists, and because our goal is to produce the cleanest, highest-quality compost possible, we will not accept any products that do not meet our acceptance standards detailed above.

Yes, assuming you are one of our paying Residential or Commercial Compost Pickup Service subscribers, who have agreed to our Terms of Service, and are able to fit them inside our branded five-gallon buckets.

PLEASE NOTE: Most Municipalities, including the dozens whose residents and businesses/organizations we serve, maintain taxpayer-funded yard waste sites where their residents may sustainably dispose of materials such as leaves, lawn mower clippings, brush, branches, logs, and more “free of charge.” We highly recommend that everyone, including our service subscribers, make use of their local yard waste sites, when/where appropriate.

Please note: It has been illegal in the State of Wisconsin, since 1993, to dispose of yard waste in the trash. For more information, visit https://docs.legis.wisconsin.gov/statutes/statutes/287/II/07#:~:text=Beginning%20on%20January%203%2C%201993%2C%20no%20person%20may,waste%20facility%20in%20this%20state.%20%283%29%20Waste%20tires.

No. We only accept materials found on the Acceptable side of our List of Acceptable and Not Acceptable Materials, provided to us inside our branded five-gallon buckets, from our paying Residential and Commercial Compost Pickup Service subscribers (who have agreed to our Terms of Service).

We are not a charity. We are a legitimate, small/local, family-run, for-profit business that has been in business for years, which, like all other businesses, has bills (equipment, supplies, insurance, utilities, etc.) and employees to pay. That said, we don’t work for free, and no one should expect us to.

Every ounce of food waste/scraps we pick up costs us money (as well as massive amounts of time, energy, and resources) to process, and the valuable work we do is labor-intensive, time-consuming, and dangerous (i.e.: expensive to perform). Accordingly, if you are not willing to compensate us/pay us fairly for composting for you, then we suggest you learn to compost yourself, at your own expense, in your own backyard.

No. We only accept materials found on our List of Acceptable and Not Acceptable Materials from our paying Residential and Commercial Compost Pickup Service subscribers, who have agreed to our Terms of Service, exclusively inside of our branded five gallon buckets.

Because we have no way of knowing what someone else may have contaminated their homemade “compost” with, we will never accept it.

No. We do not accept lawn grass or lawn mower clippings because the risk of herbicide/weed-killer contamination in these materials is unacceptably high, and unlike many compost producers (including most Municipalities that produce compost from yard waste they collect), we are very concerned about the quality of the compost we produce.

Also, please note that most Municipalities, including those in the areas we serve, have yard waste sites where materials like lawn grass and lawn mower clippings, leaves, brush, and branches may be disposed of, free of charge:

• Green Bay Yard Waste information: https://greenbaywi.gov/YardWaste
• Allouez Yard Waste Information: https://www.villageofallouezwi.gov/depts/public-works/yard-waste-and-waste-oil-drop-off-site/
• Ashwaubenon Yard Waste Information: https://ashwaubenon.gov/government/departments/public-works-streets/yard-waste-disposal/
• Bellevue Yard Waste Information: https://www.villageofbellevuewi.gov/departments/public_works/garbage__recycling___yard_waste/yard_waste
• De Pere Yard Waste Information: https://www.deperewi.gov/topic/index.php?topicid=278&structureid=88
• Hobart Yard Waste Information: https://www.hobart-wi.org/public-works
• Howard Yard Waste Information: http://www.villageofhoward.com/174/Yard-Waste-Removal
• Ledgeview Yard Waste Information: https://www.ledgeviewwisconsin.com/departments/public-works/yard-waste/
• Suamico Yard Waste Information: https://www.suamico.org/departments/public_works_engineering/yard_waste_site.php

Please note: It has been illegal in the State of Wisconsin, since 1993, to dispose of yard waste in the trash. For more information, visit https://docs.legis.wisconsin.gov/statutes/statutes/287/II/07#:~:text=Beginning%20on%20January%203%2C%201993%2C%20no%20person%20may,waste%20facility%20in%20this%20state.%20%283%29%20Waste%20tires.

We do not currently sell our compost “by the truckload” or “by the cubic yard,” however, we do offer “multi-bag” and “bulk” discounts on our regularly-priced Cubic Foot and Gallon bags of compost, as well as a special compost discount to our Residential and Commercial Compost Pickup Service subscribers, if they are purchased directly from us through www.GBCompost.com/Compost.

Before we answer this question, please note that our compost is not soil, but rather a soil amendment, meaning it is something to be added to existing soil or to create a custom soil blend, not to be used alone as a growing medium. Also, please note that a Cubic Yard = 27 Cubic Feet, and that we sell by the Cubic Foot, in bags, not by the Cubic Yard.

To determine how many Cubic Feet of our compost you may need for a particular project, please use the Cubic Feet Calculator below to enter the length and width, or square footage, of the area you need compost for in feet, plus the height (depth) of the compost layer you’d like, in inches (such as 1.00, 2.00, etc.) or fractions of an inch (such as 0.25, 0.50, etc.).

PLEASE NOTE: For brand new garden beds, or beds that have not been amended/fertilized in the last year or two, an inch or two of compost may be appropriate, but for most existing beds that have been recently amended/fertilized, as little as 0.25 or 0.50 inches may be enough to meet your needs.

Once you know how much compost you need, please Make a Compost Request of us.

Cubic Feet Calculator

Inch Calculator

Yes.

To amend soil: Work 1–2 inches of compost into the top 3–5 inches of soil.

For growing vegetables: Give your vegetable garden plenty of compost in the fall. Spread several inches of compost on top of the existing bed, then till it into the soil in the springtime. Put a handful of compost in each hole when you’re planting. Once plants begin to grow quickly, you can add a half-inch layer of compost around the base of the plants. Provide “heavy feeder” plants such as tomatoes, corn, and squash with 1/2 inch of compost monthly—this will result in great produce!

For growing flowers: In the spring, loosen the top few inches of annual and perennial beds and mix in a 1-inch layer of compost. Or in the fall, apply a 1-inch layer of compost as a mulch to protect plant roots from freezing and conserve moisture.

For replenishing soil in potted plants and window boxes: Even the best potting soil gets depleted of its nutrients as plants grow. To replenish nutrients, add an inch of compost to potted plants and window boxes twice a year. Or, make your own potting soil using two parts compost to one part sand or perlite.

Yes. Unlike many Compost Pickup Service providers, which outsource their composting to local farms or commercial/industrial compost facilities, Greener Bay Compost is a full-service company company, which means we not only pick up compostable materials from our subscribers, but compost it ourselves.

No, because there is no such thing in Wisconsin, and if you see the word “organic” on another company’s compost, please know that they are using it purely for marketing purposes, and not because they’ve received any organic certification from an independent, third party.

Also, please note that another company’s compost being labeled as “organic” does not necessarily make it better, “cleaner,” or higher-quality than ours, as compost is only as good as what goes into the making of it, and we are one of the only compost producers in the world that offers the level of transparency we do, when it comes to what we accept and do not accept as feedstocks for our amazing soil amendment.

The closest thing that exists to an”organic certification” for compost in the U.S. is a compost being “OMRI listed,” which means that the feedstocks that went into the making of the compost meet OMRI’s criteria for being considerred acceptable inputs specifically for organic farming.

Our compost is not “OMRI listed,” and likely never will be, because we acceptable certain types of paper items, as well as certain types of compostable products, that OMRI does not consider to be acceptable inputs for organic farming.

At our fully-insured, food-waste-focused compost facility in the Town of Lessor, which is the only facility of its kind serving the Greater Green Bay area.

Approximately 4-6 months.

Not at this time. If this changes, this website will be updated accordingly.

No. We sell all of our services and products online. The address listed for us on this website is a Post Office box and our commercial, food-waste-focused compost facility is private property, not open to the public.

If you would like a paid tour of our compost facility, you may Contact Us to request such a tour.

Our commercial, food-waste-focused compost facility is private property, not open to the public.

If you would like a paid tour of our compost facility, you may Contact Us to request such a tour.

Yes. You can follow us on Facebook at Facebook.com/GBCompost and/or on Instagram at Instagram.com/GreenerBayCompost.

No.

No.

No.

No.