Where to Compost

Crucial Rule: Contamination ruins entire batches of compost! Always remove produce stickers, rubber bands, plastic ties, and PLU labels before dropping off your scraps.

✅ YES – Put These in the Drop-Off Bin

• Fruit & Vegetable Scraps: Peels, cores, rinds, seeds, stems, and wilted produce.
• Grains & Pantry Staples: Bread, pasta, rice, cereal, flour, oats, and nuts/nut shells.
• Coffee & Tea: Coffee grounds, unbleached paper coffee filters, and loose-leaf tea (no synthetic tea bags with plastic mesh/staples).
• Eggshells & Shells: Crushed or whole eggshells.
• Flowers & Plant Trimmings: Cut flowers, household plants (soil-free), and fresh herbs.
• Clean Paper Items: Unbleached paper towels, plain brown paper bags used to carry scraps, and wooden toothpicks/skewers.

❌ NO – Keep These OUT of Standard Community Bins

• Meat, Poultry & Seafood: Bones, fat, gristle, skin, and shells (Unless using a commercial service like Compost Cab or Veteran Compost).
• Dairy & Fats: Cheese, butter, milk, yogurt, lard, and cooking oils.
• Plastics & Bioplastics: Plastic bags, produce wrap, stickers, rubber bands, and “Compostable” BPI packaging/cutlery (Standard DPR community bins cannot process PLA/bioplastics).
• Pet Waste: Dog waste, cat litter, or animal bedding.
• Treated Wood & Yard Waste: Pressure-treated wood, sawdust, diseased plants, or yard trimmings treated with pesticides.

Washington, DC’s Department of Parks and Recreation (DPR) operates 50 neighborhood compost parks at community gardens across all 8 wards.

These bins are locked to prevent illegal dumping and contamination.

• Complete a Quick Registration: Register online through DPR or attend a 1-hour in-person workshop hosted by local urban agricultural staff.
• Learn Local Bin Protocol: Review site-specific guidelines (such as capping your scraps with brown carbon material/woodchips provided at the park).
• Receive Your Lock Code: Upon completing the orientation, you will receive the combination lock code for your neighborhood park’s bins.

For more detailed information visit: DC Department of Parks and Recreation Community Compost Coopertive

Don’t have access to a drop-off bin or yard space? You can process organic waste right inside a DC apartment or small townhouse garden:

• Worm Composting (Vermicomposting): Uses Red Wiggler worms in an odor-free, enclosed indoor bin to break down kitchen scraps into rich worm castings (“black gold”) for houseplants or balcony gardens.
• Bokashi Fermentation: An anaerobic Japanese fermentation method that uses beneficial microbes to pre-compost ALL kitchen waste—including meat and dairy—in a sealed countertop bucket before burying it in garden soil or outdoor containers.
• Tumblers & 3-Bin Systems: Ideal for townhouses with backyard space. Combine 1 part “Greens” (nitrogen-rich kitchen scraps) with 2 parts “Browns” (carbon-rich dry leaves, shredded cardboard, or straw) to maintain an odor-free heap.