21
Sep
UPDATE: Major changes to our policy on waste provided to us outside of our buckets

By: Cory Groshek

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We are, today, making the following changes to our policies regarding waste provided to us outside of our buckets:

Effective immediately, we will be enforcing a stricter ban on materials provided to us outside of our buckets on Bucket Swap/Compost Pickup days, with the exception of plain/matte pizza boxes, the following list of dry, “high carbon” materials (assuming they can fit inside no more than (2) paper or plastic bags which are no larger than traditional grocery store bags), and any materials we have authorized a subscriber to provide to us outside of their buckets (via a written exception):

  1. Plain/matte paper and cardboard items (including, for example, clean or soiled pizza boxes, clean or soiled fast food takeout bags, soiled paper towels and napkins that have not been in contact with chemicals, paper grocery bags, toilet paper and paper towel tubes, egg cartons, newspapers with glossy inserts removed, etc.), with all tape, stickers, staples, and other contaminants removed
  2. Fall/autumn leaves (as long as they are not mixed/intermingled with grass/lawn mower clippings, brush, and/or copious amounts of sticks, pinecones, etc.)

As an aside, please note that we still do not accept receipts, as they are made of toxic thermal paper. Going forward, we will also no longer be accepting “junk mail,” including unopened junk mail envelopes and/or their contents, as “junk mail” takes an inordinate amount of time for us to process/sort, compared to the other materials listed above, and pose a far greater risk of contamination to our compost.

Accordingly:

  • Receipts should be thrown in the trash.
  • “Junk mail” should be recycled.
  • Also, please throw any “Snotty” Kleenex/facial tissues (as opposed to paper towels, napkins, etc. soiled with food) in the trash.

But what about dead flowers, corn husks, etc.?

Until recently, we were accepting outside of our buckets materials we considered “dry,” including dead/dead-headed flowers, certain types of garden waste, and corn husks.

Unfortunately, our definitions of “wet” and “dry” have proven to be confusing for our subscribers and have needlessly complicated our policies. Accordingly, and as implied earlier, these materials will only be accepted inside of our buckets from this day forward.

So, what can a subscriber expect, going forward, if they provide material to us outside of our buckets, which should be inside of our buckets?

Should we be provided, outside of our buckets, at any time following this announcement, materials other than those identified above as materials we accept outside of our buckets, we reserve the right to refuse said materials/leave said materials on a subscribers property, without further explanation (and it should be noted that it is our intent to do so).

If, for whatever reason, we decide to take said material from a subscribers property, despite it having been provided to us in what we consider to be an unacceptable manner, our taking of said materials should not be interpreted to mean that we have changed the above-mentioned policy or made an exception to it.

On a related note, and importantly, we will no longer be providing weight-based credit (under our Waste Reduction Rewards Program) relative to materials provided to us in non-compliance with the above-mentioned policy (regardless of whether we take said materials or refuse/leave them on a subscribers property).

Should we take from a subscribers property a bag of what we initially believe to be filled with acceptable, dry, “high carbon” materials, which we later determine to be filled with a mix/combination of acceptable materials and materials we only accept inside of our buckets (for example, a pile of garden waste covered with or obscured by newspaper or Fall leaves), we will, likewise, provide no weight-based credit relative to the contents of said bag.

In a nutshell: From this point on, for a subscriber to receive weight-based credit for the weight of the materials they provide to us, the materials must, first, be considered Acceptable by us (meaning they are found on the Acceptable side of our list of Acceptable and Not Acceptable Materials) and, second, be either 1) provided to us inside of our buckets or 2) provided to us inside of the up to (2) bags of dry, “high carbon” materials we accept outside of our buckets.

This means that while we reserve the right to accept bags outside of our buckets in excess of the (2) bag limit described above (as we have sometimes done in the past, if the space in our pickup vehicles permitted us to do so), we will only be providing weight-based credit for the contents of (2) bags per each Bucket Swap/Compost Pickup we perform.

So, what can a subscriber do if they have more waste than can fit in their bucket(s)?

Should any Residential subscriber have more organic waste they would like to provide us than what they can reasonably fit inside our buckets or the (2) bags mentioned above, and should they wish to receive weight-based credit for said waste, they can either purchase a Special, One-Time Swap from us or subscribe to our Add-A-Bucket option at www.GBCompost.com/Residential.

Similarly, should any Small Business subscriber have more organic waste they would like to provide us than what they can reasonably fit inside our buckets or the (2) bags mentioned above, and should they wish to receive weight-based credit for said waste, they can subscribe to our Add-A-Bucket option at www.GBCompost.com/Commercial.

Please note: There is no limit to how many Special, One-Time Swaps a Residential subscriber can purchase or number of times a Residential or Small Business subscriber can subscribe for an extra bucket from us under our Add-A-Bucket options. Also, it should be noted that the Add-A-Bucket options can be canceled at any time.

What if a subscriber doesn’t want to pay extra for us to take their excess organic waste?

If a subscriber does not wish to pay for a Special, One-Time Swap or an Add-a-Bucket subscription (which, it should be noted, supports us/helps us stay in business, grow, and expand), they have a few other options when it comes to what they can do with their excess organic waste:

Assuming the excess waste is considered yard waste by the subscribers Municipality, the subscriber may be able to take said waste to their local yard waste site, free of charge (please note that most Municipalities consider garden waste/refuse to be yard waste).

Assuming the excess waste is food waste, the subscriber may save the waste for a later bucket by freezing it (such as in a gallon-sized freezer bag), or, if absolutely necessary, dispose of it in the trash (although this is something we do not support doing, for obvious reasons)

Please note: It has been illegal in the State of Wisconsin, since 1993, to dispose of yard waste (including pumpkins, potted plants, etc.) 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.

If you have any questions or concerns about the above-mentioned policy changes, you may contact us using any of the contact methods available at www.GBCompost.com/Contact.

Until next time, best wishes and happy composting!

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