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Food Waste

GSWMD does not currently offer an outlet for food waste, but we can connect you with some resources on how to avoid sending food waste to the landfill.

How to Reduce Food Waste

Curbside Compost Collection in Gallatin County

  • Happy Trash Can
    “Started in 2016 by Ryan Green and Adrienne Huckabone in Bozeman, MT. With backgrounds in sustainable agriculture and high density composting, we feel passionate about keeping organic waste out of landfills and turning it back into soil. Happy Trash Can will pick up your food scraps from your door step on a weekly basis. We switch out your used bucket for a clean one upon pickup, take your food scraps to our site at Strike Farms. We process the food scraps back into the Bozeman soil and keep your organic waste out of the landfills.”
  • YES Compost LLC
    “If you are serious about protecting our environment then you should be serious about composting!  Food waste buried in a landfill creates methane gas as well as toxic leachate which are significant pollutants to our air and waterways.  At YES Compost LLC, we are serious about keeping food waste out of the landfill and offer our composting service to make it easy for you to participate.  Our program is simple.  You (household or business) collect your compostable materials in a container that we provide.   Once a week we take the full one and leave an empty one so you can keep collecting without interruption.  We thermally compost the materials to eradicate any potential pathogens and feed it to red wiggler composting worms to transform the food waste into nature’s richest soil amendment: Worm Poop!  This material , formally known as worm castings, is a mineral and microbial blend that functions as an all-purpose soil enhancement which is perfect to bring out the best in your houseplants, garden or lawn.  As a YES customer, we deliver your FREE worm castings right to your doorstep so you can turn your home into an organic paradise.  For more information or to sign up to get started click the link above or visit yescompost.com  or our instagram page @yescompost.”

Why Compost?

  • Conserve energy and resources
    • Growing, manufacturing, transporting, and selling food involves a variety of energy and resources.
    • Hauling food waste for disposal at a landfill uses additional resources.
    • Nutrients in food waste are lost when buried in a landfill. Compost keeps nutrients available for future use in gardening, landscaping, and soil amendment.
  • Save on waste disposal fees
    • Household trash, including food waste, costs $27/ton for disposal at Logan Landfill, plus transportation and travel time. Save a trip to the landfill and save some money.
  • Extend the life of our landfill
    • “Food waste is the second largest category of municipal solid waste (MSW) sent to landfills in the United States, accounting for approximately 18% of the waste stream. That is over 30 million tons of food waste that the U. S. sends to  landfills each year” (U.S. EPA).
  • Reduce greenhouse gases
    • “Municipal solid waste (MSW) landfills are the third-largest source of human-related methane emissions in the United States, accounting for approximately 15.3 percent of these emissions in 2013. At the same time, methane emissions from landfills represent a lost opportunity to capture and use a significant energy resource” (U.S. EPA).

Food Preservation
Learn how to keep your food longer and stop throwing away money.