Drop In The Bucket Composting Program

BEC and community partners collect household food waste and compost it at our community garden for gardeners to use. Our drop in the bucket program regularly diverts over 1000 lbs of food waste each month.

By keeping this waste out of the landfill, we are cutting back on our methane emissions and promoting a circular food loop.

Want to support us? Click HERE for the donation link!

Now available in Gridley!

Volunteer with us

Help us on the route! We need helpers to pick up compost in your neighborhood. Your hard work helps us divert hundreds of pounds of food waste each week. With your help, we can craft a more sustainable Chico.

Contact sustainability@becnet.org to figure out a plan for you.

DITB currently serves the Chico and Gridley areas with over 40 participating households that are provided with a 5-gal bucket for food scraps that are picked up by volunteers or dropped off at gardens weekly.

We currently have 3 composting sites at our community garden partners; Oak Way (Butte Environmental Council), Vecino (Butte County Local Food Network) and St. Timothy’s Community Garden.

Through these efforts we hope to encourage sustainability in our community, provide nutritious compost to gardens, and divert food waste from going to the landfill to cut down on harmful methane emissions.

FAQs

  • We focus on household food scraps, mainly fruits and vegetables. Coffee grounds, tea bags and grains are also accepted.

    We do not accept meat or dairy products, plastic and packaging, or hazardous waste. We ask that you limit the amount of cooked foods and breads.

    Paper products that are not bleached or saturated with ink can be accepted in small quantities. In addition, organic compounds like hair and dryer lint can be composted as well.

  • Yes! If you would like to bring your bucket to the garden on your own we can arrange that. Just fill out our registration form and we will contact you shortly there after.

  • Pickups in the Chico area happen weekly on Monday between 8am and 8pm.

    We ask residents to leave their bucket out in a visible and accessible place during this time.

  • BEC is a nonprofit so we do not ask for payment. However, donations can be made online that go back toward running this program.

    Donation Link: bit.ly/drop-it-bucket

  • We understand that life happens! If you missed a pick-up and need one urgently, email sutinability@becnet.org and we can get one scheduled for you. Additionally, if you know you won’t need a pick-up on a Monday, please let sustainability@becnet.org know ahead of time.

We want to hear from you!

For more about the survey, what it hopes to accomplish, and information about BEC’s relationship with the Butte Compost Coalition, check out the story that KRCR did here.

Fill out the Butte Compost Coalition’s survey, regardless of how much you know about compost, to help us assess what county composting will look like in the future.

If you are a homeowner or backyard composter, please fill out this survey here.

If you represent a compost organization or other organization, please fill out this survey here.