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Best Composting Services

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Turn your food waste into a usable product

Written by

Dacey Orr

Published 01/13/21

Our editors independently research, test, and recommend the best products; you can learn more about our review process here. We may receive commissions on purchases made from our chosen links.

A staggering percentage of the waste we send to landfills could find a happier home in community gardens, where food scraps can transform into fertilizer and feed soil. Not everyone understands how to separate their trash into recyclables and compostables, but even fewer of us are equipped to complete the full composting process at home. That’s where composting services come in.

In many cities around the country, private or public services exist to pick up your compostable waste at regular intervals, the same way your trash is collected. Some cities offer public services for pickup or drop-off of your compostables, while other areas rely on startups and community-led organizations to help citizens compost. Most compost services are highly local, so the best way to find the right one for you is to check into the options in your specific area. Here, we’ve selected four of the best composting services, each of which offers a unique benefit or business model.

Our Top Picks

Best Overall: CompostNow
Most Customizable: Compostable
Best for Sustainability: Reclaimed Organics
Best for Nationwide Service: TerraCycle

Best Overall: CompostNow

Why We Chose It: With locations around the Southeast, this North Carolina-based company is affordable, hassle-free, and mission-minded.

What We Like

Affordable monthly fee
Weekly pickups that include a new, clean compost bin
Website connects users outside the service area with other local compost services

What We Don’t Like

Limited service area

Founded in Raleigh, North Carolina, in 2011, CompostNow serves households around the Southeast in pursuit of a single mission: to “close the loop on food waste” by saving more scraps from landfills. The company offers a weekly pickup service for its residential customers. To use it, just fill your CompostNow-provided bin with compostable waste throughout the week, and set it outside your home on collection day. CompostNow will take the bin—and your waste—and leave behind a fresh, clean container for you to use in the coming week.

Plans start at $29 per month, and additional options are available on request for offices or food service businesses. Customers can choose to earn back compost or donate the spoils of their food waste to a local community garden. As of January 2021, CompostNow has saved more than 28 million pounds of food waste from being sent to landfills, resulting in more than 9 million pounds of soil-enriching compost.

Its straightforward, beginner-friendly model makes composting easy for customers, but if the company hasn’t expanded to your area yet, you’re not totally out of luck. CompostNow keeps a directory of compost pickup services around the country on its website, another sign that saving the planet is just as important to the company as finding its own customers. If you do go with CompostNow, though, they’ll reward you for it: Members can earn a $10 credit for every referral.

Most Customizable: Compostable

Why We Chose It: A relative newcomer, this Los Angeles service allows users to choose between weekly or biweekly pickups, with the option for those with extra waste to add a second bin.

What We Like

Affordable monthly fees with various pickup frequencies
Option to add odor-reducing sawdust to subscription
Compost donated to local community gardens, with option to take some home twice per year

What We Don’t Like

Service area limited to Los Angeles
One-time setup fee

When Monique Figueiredo moved to Los Angeles from Boston, she was surprised to find that composting wasn’t as easy as she hoped it would be. She did something about it, and in 2019, Compostable was born. Since then, the company—which picks up compost bins from customers and delivers them to one of two composting locations—has successfully repurposed more than 70,000 pounds of compost into feed soil as of January 2021, educating scores of customers on sustainability in the process.

To sign up for Compostable’s services, just indicate your preferred pickup frequency: Biweekly service runs about $30 per month, while more regular weekly pickups cost about $45 per month. If you find yourself needing to empty the compost bin more often than this, you can also add a second bin for $20 per month—a perfect fix for those with a lot of organic food waste. Every membership requires a small one-time setup fee, and subscribers can opt to receive sawdust (an add-on that can decrease odor, mold, and pests) with their subscriptions for about $2 per month.

Compostable hauls all pickups to Cottonwood Urban Farm or GrowGood Farm, where waste is naturally converted into compost and used to help gardens throughout the year. Twice yearly, members can visit Cottonwood to see what their kitchen scraps have helped grow—and take home some compost themselves if they wish.

Best for Sustainability: Reclaimed Organics

Why We Chose It: While composting in general is a positive step for sustainability, this New York City organization raises the stakes by conducting its pickups by bike.

What We Like

Pickups conducted by bike
Actively advocates for free community composting
Cleans buckets and replaces compost liner with every pickup

What We Don’t Like

Only available in Manhattan
No option to keep compost

Reclaimed Organics is an offshoot of Common Ground Compost, an organization dedicated to reducing waste in New York City through consulting, advocacy, education, and other avenues. So, it’s no wonder that the Manhattan service’s green priorities extend to its delivery method: Most of the pickups completed by Reclaimed Organics are completed by bike.

Once you sign up for the organization’s compost pickup service, you’ll receive a five-gallon plastic compost bucket lined with a compostable bag. Depending on your location within the city, the cost is $20 to $25 (and per bucket, if you have more than one). At each collection, your bucket will be sanitized and the compostable liner will be replaced. While this service is primarily focused on residential customers, Reclaimed Organics does offer solutions for small businesses like coffee shops on request.

After pickup, all scraps go to the East Side Outside Community Garden in the East Village, where they are repurposed to enrich the soil and help new plant growth. And while Reclaimed Organics’ service area is relatively small, it does occasionally offer options for those who may be out of range: Keep an eye on the company’s website and social media channels for pop-up drop-off stations.

Best for Nationwide Service: TerraCycle

Why We Chose It: By operating through the mail to recycle or compost your waste, this environmentally conscious company offers service in areas many other composting services don’t—even if it does come at a cost.

What We Like

Offers many recycling options in addition to composting
No regular pickup schedule, ideal for low-waste users
Offers composting in areas that might not otherwise have it
Partnership with Dyper offers composting option for new parents

What We Don’t Like

Costs can be high
Shipping may negate some environmental benefits of composting
No option to keep compost

Zero Waste Boxes come in many varieties, from specific models for single-use coffee pods to general boxes for recyclables. If you’re looking for a composting service specifically, you’ll likely need the Organics Zero Waste Container, a sealable five-gallon drum you can use to both collect and ship your compostable waste. When it’s full, ship it back to TerraCycle—you can use the same box it arrived in, along with the prepaid shipping label that's provided. Then order a new one to keep composting.

At about $170 per pail, composting with TerraCycle comes with a significant startup cost, especially if you have a lot of compostable waste. But for those who don’t fill a compost bin very quickly or lack a quality local composting option, TerraCycle might be the right choice: You can move at your own pace without paying for regular pickups that you don’t need. The company also recently announced a partnership with Dyper, a compostable diaper subscription company. The “ReDyper” service uses HazMat shipping standards to allow parents to compost diapers rather than throwing them away.

Final Verdict

When it comes to a composting service that is straightforward, affordable, and easy to set up, CompostNow sets the standard. Its easy-to-use website and weekly bin replacement is the kind of program every composter should have access to. And with a presence in multiple Southern cities, CompostNow is slowly expanding to make that a reality. TerraCycle, while expensive and not always the greenest option, was the only composting service available nationwide. At $170 per bucket, it’s not an accessible option for many composters, but may be a possibility for those with a mobile lifestyle or folks who only fill their composting bin once every few months.

Frequently Asked Questions

What Is a Composting Service?

Much of the organic matter you usually throw away releases nutrients as it decomposes that can enrich the soil and help new food or growth flourish—but that doesn’t happen when you send those items to landfills. When you separate and collect this organic waste (such as vegetable peels, apple cores, other food scraps, leaves, and more), composting services pick up the decomposing matter on a regular basis or by request, transporting it to a farm or garden where nature can run its course. In some cases, composting services also offer the compost back to their clients for them to use in their own gardens when the natural process is complete.

How Much Does a Composting Service Cost?

Each composting service has a different price structure, whether they charge monthly, weekly, or per pickup. While public options through your city or county may be free, composting services from private companies tend to run between $8 and $20 per pickup, with lower costs in smaller cities and special deals for those who subscribe to frequent pickups. Occasionally, there may be an initial setup fee to account for your collection bucket and administrative expenses. If you opt for a service that operates through the mail such as TerraCycle, be prepared to pay much more: TerraCycle's Zero Waste Box for organic matter costs more than $150 per fill.

Why Use a Composting Service?

Many consumers want to limit the amount of waste they send to landfills and build habits that preserve our planet, but not everyone has the space at home (or the time) to compost all of their kitchen waste themselves. Composting services outsource this duty to farms and community gardens that can handle a large volume of decomposing matter, saving the average composting client time and mess while, in many cases, still allowing them to reap the benefits of fertilized soil.

Why Doesn’t This List Include a Composting Service in My City?

In most cases, the best option for composting service is a local provider, not a national brand. To find the very best composting service in your area, start by looking for nearby community gardens or organizations that might be able to point you in the right direction. You can also check municipal websites. While this list does include a mail-in provider and a multi-city regional organization, the most cost-efficient and environmentally conscious composting choice is always one that is local to you—and no single list could include every worthy provider in the country. To find a local option, you can still start with the top providers we’ve listed here: CompostNow offers a handy map to help would-be composters find providers in their area.

How We Chose the Best Composting Services

To choose the best composting services, we started by looking for companies that offered nationwide compost pickup, but we quickly learned that this service is almost entirely handled by local organizations and city governments. So, we focused on looking for organizations that offer compost services in particularly unique, innovative, or intuitive ways, to shine a light on their practices and point local consumers their way.

CompostNow, one of few companies that operate in more than one city, rose to the top for its easy-to-use website, affordable prices, and its willingness to give compost back to subscribers. And the company connects users with compost services even if they’re out of CompostNow’s service area: Look at its map of composting services around the nation as ample proof.

Compostable, a relative newcomer in Los Angeles, stood out for the several ways users can customize their composting subscriptions. Reclaimed Organics, a Manhattan-based service, takes sustainability to the next level by shrinking the service’s carbon footprint.

And TerraCycle—an outlier in price, but also in the large number of service area options—offers the unusual service of composting by mail, a decent choice for users with little waste or who may spend time on the road and in RVs.

The Best New Baby Gear of 2020

TerraCycle Include USA DYPER

Caring for a newborn is as grueling as it is rewarding, and with each passing year, the caregiving toolkit seems to grow exponentially bigger, with more and more baby gear. Features on car seats multiply, carriers become more intricate, monitors monitor more things via more devices at more times of day and night. Some are gimmicks, but some baby products really do make life easier. How’s a new parent to know the difference when faced with an onslaught of bassinets and strollers claiming to be the best baby products of 2020? With research. We’ve studied the brands, the reviews, the input of experts and parents to create our list of the very best of 2020’s new strollers, car seats, baby bottles, bassinets, and other gear that will ease your parenting journey and let you focus on the good stuff. Which is really what it’s all about. The Best New Baby Carriers CoPilot Baby Carrier and Backpack by JP Outdoors

Dyper Gains Investor

TerraCycle Include USA DYPER

Price Hanna Releases AHP Study

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Report examines sustainability efforts within the industry

Price Hanna Consultants LLC, a management consulting firm whose principals have specialized in the nonwoven products, absorbent hygiene products (AHPs) and related fields, worldwide, for more than 35 years, has published a new report which provides a comprehensive global analysis of the threats and opportunities faced by the AHP industry relating to issues of environmental sustainability. Upon studying the entire supply chain and product lifecycle of AHPs, the report evaluates how current developments in science and industry help the AHPs industry solve one, or both, of the two major problems facing the industry today in terms of sustainability: 1) plastics pollution in the oceans and 2) climate change. The report begins with a rigorous examination of the basic building blocks of AHPs, including the polymers and other raw materials from which key components are manufactured. An examination of the immense trove of research on the topic has produced findings about polymers and other raw materials most relevant to AHPs. The report navigates the scientific body of research and summarizes which industry early adopters are interacting and contributing to this research. Moreover, the report evaluates various directions of the relevant research and which developments show most promise for mitigating or eliminating the ongoing problems of plastics pollution in the oceans traceable to AHPs and the CO2 emissions that contribute most to climate change. Providing a detailed description and analysis of the status of technology developments in each level of the supply chain for AHPs, this report features individual sustainability profiles on more than 100 companies. Additionally, the report delivers strategic analysis, from the perspective of the AHPs industry, of a range of comprehensive approaches to sustainability that involve the social, industrial and government sectors. Included in the report are four in-depth case studies: 1) Circular Economy Design at Unicharm Corporation; 2) DYPER and TerraCycle’s “REDYPER” Program; 3) Procter & Gamble and the EU’s EMBRACED Project; and 4) Kimberly-Clark and the Bioplastic Feedstock Alliance. Following these case studies, a market analysis of the growing consumer demand for more sustainable AHPs is presented. Capturing this demand is essential to any market growth strategy within the AHPs industry. Lastly, current global policy developments to curb marine plastic waste and climate change that may impact the AHPs industry are carefully examined and evaluated.

Our final conclusions take a progress-over-perfection approach to suggest two primary pathways forward—the compostability pathway and the recycling pathway. This report illustrates why the largest challenge facing the AHPs industry today is to increase the level of communication and collaboration between suppliers, manufacturers, regulators, and consumers to achieve a more sustainable AHPs industry.

Dyper Gains Investor

TerraCycle Include USA DYPER

Eco-friendly diaper company also announces the acquisition of diaper composting service Earth Baby

The Craftory is investing $20 million into Dyper to support its expansion in the U.S. and amplify its impact. The Craftory is leading the round with existing investor HCAP also participating. An estimated 27.4 billion disposable diapers are used annually in the U.S., resulting in 3.4 million tons of used diapers added to landfills yearly. Scientists estimate a discarded disposable diaper containing plastic takes approximately 450 years to decompose. This makes diapers as environmentally dangerous as single use plastic bags with similar risks of micro plastics entering the environment, the company says. Dyper is a subscription-based diaper service that delivers the highest quality bamboo-based compostable diapers directly to customer's doorstep each month. They are free from chlorine, latex, alcohol, PVC, lotions, TBT or Phthalates and unprinted, unscented, soft to the touch, yet extremely durable and highly absorbent. Dyper packaging is made from oxo-degradable materials, and Dyper purchases carbon offsets that actively promote reforestation for each delivery. Dyper subscribers can also opt-in to the first of its kind ReDyper program, which uses specially engineered UN Haz Mat shipping boxes to return soiled diapers for composting. The waste composted through this program is used in specialized applications, such as for vegetation in highway medians. Dyper has also announced the acquisition of Earth Baby, which has led a regional diaper composting service in the San Francisco Bay Area since 2008. "Dyper was created because I knew there had to be a better way to diaper babies with the safest materials," says Sergio Radovic, CEO and founder, Dyper. "Earth Baby has been a pioneer in the diaper composting space and by marrying our brands we are able to close the loop in the diaper supply chain by offering manufacturing, distribution and in-house composting to complete the diapering cycle in the most earth-friendly way possible." The Earth Baby acquisition will enable customers in the San Francisco Bay Area to enjoy easy pickup and delivery of Dyper's compostable diapers, positioning the company to expand the service into more major cities in the U.S. and ultimately evolve into a full-service eco-friendly baby products' concierge service. Founded in 2008, Earth Baby's founders, Mark Siminoff and Tony Patron, started their company as young parents who were passionate about the planet. Earth Baby was the first and only diaper composting service in the United States. "We are thrilled to have found a kinship with Sergio and the Dyper company," says Tony Patron, co-founder of Earth Baby, "Together we can take this shared mission to the next level through ReDyper's expansion and continue to compost diapers to ensure that consumers aren't adding to the more than 20 billion diapers filling landfills in the U.S. yearly." Siminoff and Patron will remain on the executive team as part of the Dyper acquisition overseeing the ReDyper program and logistics including immediate plans for local market expansion in Los Angeles, San Diego, Phoenix, Arizona and Las Vegas, Nevada. Dyper will continue the national ReDyper program with TerraCycle to allow all U.S. families to have the easy ability to limit their carbon footprint and have their Dyper diapers composted and eliminated from entering landfills.

Eco-Friendly Diaper Service, DYPER, Expands Composting Capabilities, Introduces Local Delivery And Pick Up Through Acquisition Of Bay Area Pioneer, Earth Baby

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SCOTTSDALE, Ariz., Oct. 15, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- DYPER, the rapidly growing eco-friendly diaper delivery service is making another stride in its mission to divert diapers from landfills with the acquisition of Earth Baby, which has led a regional diaper composting service in the San Francisco Bay Area since 2008. On the heels of a $20MM investment from global group, The Craftory, and after making headlines earlier this year with its revolutionary "compost by mail" program REDYPER, DYPER now takes this next step in its eco-promise and announces expansion via local market delivery and in house composting. In addition to its eco-friendly promise, DYPER offers a better way for diapering your baby with soft and absorbent diapers that are free of harsh chemicals, dyes or fragrance.

(PRNewsfoto/DYPER)

"DYPER was created because I knew there had to be a better way to diaper babies with the safest materials," said Sergio Radovic, CEO and Founder, DYPER. "Earth Baby has been a pioneer in the diaper composting space and by marrying our brands we are able to close the loop in the diaper supply chain by offering manufacturing, distribution and in-house composting to complete the diapering cycle in the most earth-friendly way possible."

The Earth Baby acquisition will enable customers in the San Francisco Bay Area to enjoy easy pickup and delivery of DYPER's compostable diapers, positioning the company to expand the service into more major cities in the US and ultimately evolve into a full-service eco-friendly baby products' concierge service. Founded in 2008, Earth Baby's founders, Mark Siminoff and Tony Patron, started their company as young parents who were passionate about the planet. Earth Baby was the first and only diaper composting service in the United States. "We are thrilled to have found a kinship with Sergio and the DYPER company," said Tony Patron, co-founder of Earth Baby, "Together we can take this shared mission to the next level through REDYPER's expansion and continue to compost diapers to ensure that consumers aren't adding to the more than 20 billion diapers filling landfills in the U.S. yearly." Mark Siminoff and Tony Patron will remain on the executive team as part of the DYPER acquisition overseeing the REDYPER program and logistics including immediate plans for local market expansion in Los Angeles, San Diego, Phoenix, Arizona, and Las Vegas, Nevada. DYPER will continue the national REDYPER program with TerraCycle to allow all US families to have the easy ability to limit their carbon footprint and have their DYPER diapers composted and eliminated from entering landfills.

11 eco-friendly disposable diaper brands in 2020

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Because cloth isn't the only green way to diaper your baby.

In an effort to do what's best for their babies and for the earth, more and more parents aim to make environmentally and socially responsible choices in child rearing. In doing so, they are driving big changes in the baby market, pushing brands to hop on the green bandwagon. As of late, the world of disposable diapers is no exception. That's good news, because eco-friendly disposable diapers are easier on your baby's tush AND on the earth! The average baby goes through 5,000 diapers before being potty-trained; and since 95% of families use disposable diapers, most of them end up in landfills and make up several million tons of waste every year. To top it off, mainstream disposable diapers are notorious for being packed with chemicals that are harmful to your little one's skin and to the planet. Luckily, diaper brands have come a long way and are now offering disposable alternatives and diaper subscriptions that make going natural easier than ever.

We've rounded up 11 eco-friendly disposable diaper brands that are safe for baby and Mother Nature and that stand a chance against those massive blowouts.

The 35 Best New Baby Products of 2020

TerraCycle Include USA DYPER

Caring for a newborn is as grueling as it is rewarding, and with each passing year, the caregiving toolkit seems to grow exponentially bigger, with more and more baby gear. Features on car seats multiply, carriers become more intricate, monitorsmonitor more things via more devices at more times of day and night. Some are gimmicks, but some baby products really do make life easier. How’s a new parent to know the difference? With research. We’ve studied the brands, the reviews, the input of experts and parents to create our list of the very best of 2020’s new strollers, car seats, baby bottles, bassinets, and other gear that will ease your parenting journey and let you focus on the good stuff. Which is really what it’s all about.

The Down and Dirty on Disposable Diapers

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Where we are, how we got here and is there a good alternative

Disposable diapers are amazing. Your child’s waste is contained. You see it for only a few moments (hopefully) and then you close up the diaper. Poof! Gone from your thoughts and into the trash can or Diaper Genie. The invention of disposable diapers was a miracle of convenience for parents and it seems that the world has not looked back. No more washing poop from cloth diapers. After all, hasn’t society evolved past cloth diapers? But let’s stop and consider the impact of moving to disposable diapers. An average baby uses between eight and twelve diapers per day in the first year. That equates to just over 3,500 diapers for one baby in one year and a total of more than 7,000 through potty training. For one tiny human. The numbers are staggering, but is it enough to consider alternatives. Is there even a good alternative? Let’s look at how we got here and what initiatives are cropping up to tackle the solution of diaper waste. History of Disposable Diapers Before the 1960s, parents had no choice but to cloth diaper their babies. Proctor and Gamble introduced Pampers in 1961 as the first disposable diaper. After years of tri-folding diapers and securing them using safety pins, mothers and other caretakers had the convenience of disposable diapers. They were suddenly free from the burden of additional wash cycles.

The company aggressively advertised its diapers and the brand has become a household name. In Belgium, for example, “pamper” is even synonymous with the Dutch word for diaper. Vintage Pampers commercials from the 1970s are still available online. At the end of one video, a mother who just discovered disposable diapers says: “Okay, hunny, it looks like you are going to be a happier baby from now on…and I’m going to be a happier mommy.” We have come a long way from those first disposables. The technology has advanced significantly. Diapers started to have double gussets for fewer leaks, tabs that could be refastened, and super absorbent polymers. Introduced in 1984, super absorbent polymers can hold many more times their weight in water, meaning a drier baby and fewer diaper changes. Without a doubt, diapers are quite an engineering feat. If you have any doubt, watch the short video below. An Explosion of Choice Diaper choice has exploded. Walmart.com carries 15 different disposable diaper brands, with some of the major brands marketing multiple types of diapers under the same brand. Amazon.com carries additional brands, including a few niche brands, like Honest Company. We have also seen the rise of store-brand disposable diapers, which provide a cheap alternative to name brands. It seems that each supermarket and pharmacy chain sells its own white label brand. In the U.S., for example, Aldi sells its store-brand pack of diapers for about 11 cents per diaper. These are a blessing for families just trying to get by or for cost-conscious parents. In my experience, these diapers work just as well as name brands, like Pampers and Luvs, but for full disclosure, my testing of name brands has been very limited. Many brands have developed premium diapers carrying one or more of the following descriptors: eco-friendly, bio-based, ultra-sensitive, or biodegradable diapers. Some contain natural products (such as bamboo fiber) and most are free from chemical treatment. But just because diapers market themselves as eco-friendly, are they better? In theory, these premium diapers make sense environmentally, but in practice, they may not make much of a difference. We will look at these premium diapers later in this article. Amount of Diapers Used On average, children wear diapers for two to three years until they are potty trained, while some children are potty trained even later. The first few months are intense for diaper-wearing, with babies going through approximately twelve diapers per day. This number decreases until they only go through only a few diapers while they are being potty trained. Based on these numbers and assuming three years until fully potty trained, one baby can go through over 7,600 diapers.

Cost of Diapers If you use store brand diapers, expect to pay approximately $1,300 in diapers for each child. This cost is easily doubled by using name brand diapers and even more with premium/eco-friendly diapers. Parents have to be very committed to an environmental purpose to stomach such a high price tag for biodegradable or ecologically friendly diapers.

The cost per diaper goes up as the baby advances through the different sizes. This makes sense because the diapers get bigger and there is more material involved, like the super absorbent polymers to suck up all that pee. Sometimes the diaper companies and stores get tricky about this. On a website for a local pharmacy chain, I noticed the price tag of €25 (approximately $27.50) for a pack of diapers. The package price stayed the same for four sizes of diapers, but the amount of diapers in each pack decreases. This is a typical marketing strategy in many industries. It works well in the diaper industry because, by a few months into the baby’s diaper-wearing career, parents usually have a default brand choice when going to a store. Many might not even notice the price going up.

Environmental Impact of Disposable Diapers One-time-use diapers were a boon for women’s liberation and convenience, but almost immediately, they became a significant waste stream. By the 1980s, diapers accounted for 1.4% of all municipal waste put into landfills in the United States. Today, disposable diapers accounted for 2.4% of all municipal waste put in landfills, according to the latest report by the EPA (2017). Two percent sounds pretty minimal at first, right? Well, that’s 3.3 million tons of diapers each year. Based on my calculations, if this would only be baby diapers, 20 billion diapers end up in a landfill each year, plus another 4.9 billion diapers burned. Of course, these numbers from the EPA include some adult diapers, but the split is not clear. The numbers add up quickly in every household. Remember those 7,600 diapers for each child? That is the volume of 20 bathtubs and the weight of a small-sized car, as shown in the infographic below.

It’s not just the amount of waste that’s concerning. Many people worry about the toxic chemicals and untreated waste released from diapers into the environment as they sit in landfills. However, modern landfills are designed to prevent contamination of groundwater, but this concern is real for diapers that don’t make it into landfills and are littered into nature, being exposed to the elements. Another concern is environmental impacts upstream of diaper usage, for the manufacturing of the diapers and their raw materials. Basically, a lot of trees and oil. Trees are used for wood pulp in the diaper, oil is used for the plastics in the diapers and their packaging, and water and energy are consumed in the manufacturing process. Alternatives to Disposable Diapers Okay, now that you are officially depressed, let’s talk about what can be done to combat the growing waste of disposable diapers. Three main alternatives exist to decrease the number of disposable diapers used by a child. 1. Eco-Friendly/Biodegradable Diapers — Perhaps the most mainstream of the three is choosing to buy eco-friendly diapers that have a higher composition of biodegradable materials. Now, the jury is out on whether these diapers have a huge benefit to the environment. After all, most still end up in a landfill. One thing is clear is that it is a huge hit to your wallet, costing you up to 3x more than buying store brand diapers. These diapers are meant to have less of an environmental impact during manufacturing and after disposal, but how much depends on the brand. Some diapers within this category are 100% biodegradable and compostable, but some can be as low as 65% biodegradable and still contain plastic. (By comparison, regular diapers are said to be only 25–35% biodegradable.) The sad truth is that most parents will just throw these diapers in the trash and then, “biodegradable” means nothing. If these diapers go in the same waste stream as other diapers — which most likely will — they end up in landfills. Starved of much oxygen and sunlight in the landfill, these eco-friendly diapers will most likely take just as long to decompose as basic diapers. Both eco-friendly and basic diapers can be composted, in different proportions. So what does this actually mean? If parents separate the inner filling (cellulose and super absorbent polymers) from the plastic, this filler material can be put in a compost pile or bin. Mixed loosely with other compost and soil, the diaper filling can break down within a few months. Only wet/pee diapers should be composted. Poopy diapers shouldn’t be composted because they contain bacteria. Even with only the wet diapers, since this is not an industrial composting process subjected to high heat, the resulting compost should only be used for non-edible purposes (plants, trees, and flowers). But since the composting process takes time and effort, most premium diapers will still end up in the same waste stream as other diapers. 2. Cloth Diapers — Another alternative to disposable diapers is to use cloth diapers for your child. The most common form of modern cloth diapering involves three pieces: a cloth diaper with plastic snaps or Velcro, an absorbent inner liner, and an optional disposable liner. There are also hybrid solutions with a cloth outer layer and a disposable absorbent liner, such as gDiapers. Some parents also choose to cloth diaper part of the time, still using a disposable diaper during the nights and when traveling. Although still producing diaper waste, using cloth diapers for part of the time can easily cut diaper usage by more than half. 3. Potty train a child early — This last alternative can either be a strategy of potty training a child a few months earlier or potty training them from a very early age. The latter is called Elimination Communication or Natural Infant Hygiene, which was popularized by Ingrid Bauer in her “Diaper Free” book. And I know most parents are rolling their eyes and sarcastically thinking, good luck potty training early! It is an alternative, though. Is Diaper Recycling an Alternative? There is some light at the end of the tunnel — diaper recycling. I don’t mention this as one of the alternatives above because it is still in its infant stage. In my research, I came across two main diaper reuse projects — TerraCycle and FaterSMART. TerraCycle is a New Jersey-based recycling company. Partnering with DYPER, a subscription-based diaper service, TerraCycle composts subscribers’ dirty diapers via mail-in boxes. The service only sells bamboo-based, compostable diapers and the finished compost is used for vegetation along highways. FaterSMART is a joint venture with Procter & Gamble (the company that produces Pampers) and Angelini. It has established a pilot recycling plant in Italy that recycles used absorbent hygiene products, including dirty diapers. The process sanitizes the diapers and recovers plastic, cellulose, and super absorbent polymers. However, diapers don’t get recycled into new diapers. Like most other recycling processes, recycled material can only be used in products of lesser quality, a concept known as “downcycling.” The recovered super absorbent polymers have less absorbency and the recovered plastic has a lesser quality than the original. In theory, absorbent material from recycled diapers can go into absorbent products for pets (like cat litter and dog pee pads), disposable bed liners, or fiber additives in concrete. The plastic can be mixed with other materials to make plastic wood-like products (park benches and pallets), roof tiles, tubing, and other products. Other initiatives exist around the world. Amsterdam has twelve diaper recycling bins and the used diapers get sent to the FaterSMART plant in Italy. TinyTots is a San Francisco-based pickup service for compostable diapers. Universities and private companies are experimenting in diaper recycling technology, such as in Taiwan and the Netherlands, but many of these projects have yet to be realized.

All of these projects provide a reason for optimism. Companies, governments, and other organizations want to find solutions to diaper waste and are willing to put money into this goal. However, similar initiatives have failed in the past. Canadian-based Knowaste was an early-mover in the industry and operated a diaper recycling plant in the UK and the Netherlands. The company closed these facilities in 2013 and 2007, respectively, for a variety of reasons, including profitability, competition from traditional waste plants, and failure to get plans approved by local governments. We still need to hold our breath on whether diaper recycling and composting will become a reality, especially on a broad scale. Three major obstacles need to be solved to make diaper manufacturing mainstream. 1. Legislation — In the European Union, and perhaps other places, recycled material from diapers is still classified as a waste product, not as secondary recycled material. The resulting material from diaper recycling is fully sanitized, but the classification still exists. The law would have to change in Europe and still, the social acceptance of products made from recycled diapers may be mixed. Strict regulations over hygiene and health need to be created and enforced. 2. Diaper collection — For used diapers to be processed, diapers need to be divided into a separate waste stream within households and childcare facilities. Families also need to willingly separate it from their other trash. FaterSMART estimates that more than 15% of Italians have access to a separate waste collection for diapers, but this is an anomaly. A limited amount of diaper recycling bins also exist in Amsterdam, but since no diaper recycling plant exists in the Netherlands, these diapers are transported over 1,000 kilometers (600+ miles) to the FaterSMART facility in Italy to be recycled. 3. Profitability — This ties into the first two barriers. Plants need to have a willing buyer. Manufacturers need to be willing to buy the secondary raw materials recovered from the recycled dirty diapers. Additionally, the collection of diapers needs to be widespread and in enough volume to supply the recycling/composting facilities. Preferably, the diapers collected should go to local facilities to cut down on the cost of transporting these diapers. Summary The subject of disposable diapers is a tricky subject. Parenting is hard enough and disposables are convenient and the most mainstream route. Disposable diapers do not fully include all costs for their disposal and ironically, the diapers with the most environmental impact may be the cheapest. It is similar to how fast food or canned food is usually cheaper than buying fresh produce. The market doesn’t price in the full cost of a product, such as disposal costs or adverse environmental effects. The choice is left to the consumer and often, the wallet wins out. Should everyone switch to eco-friendly disposable diapers? Well, asking parents to pay 2x more for eco-friendly diapers at questionable environmental benefits doesn’t seem to be the answer. Diaper waste is a “tragedy of the commons”. We are impacted not only by what we do, but by what others all around the world do. In the thick of parenting, it is difficult to stick to environmental principals when it requires a higher cost or larger time commitment to you, while others choose to use the basic disposable diapers. Why would we do all the effort if we still get the negative environmental effects from everyone else? The only benefit is an intrinsic one — that you’re doing something good for the environment. But let’s face it, that pat on the back isn’t going to get you any more sleep at night or money in your wallet. Why should parents bear the decision of having to save the environment or not? Shouldn’t that be the responsibility of companies that produce the diapers and governments who are trying to reduce overall waste? What I honestly believe is that there has to be more local incentives to either use cloth diapers or buy eco-friendly diapers that will actually be composted or recycled. Municipalities should offer incentives for people to use them. Some municipalities charge based on the amount of waste a family produces, but in many areas, only a flat fee is charged for garbage disposal. We need to creatively think together to decide how families can be incentivized to act greener. Disposable diapers may take up to 500 years to decompose, so it is without a doubt that the choices we make about which diapers to use stay with us forever. Unless parents are incentivized to use alternatives, then standard disposable diapers will continue to be the path of least resistance. Especially for sleep-deprived parents just trying to make it through this bumpy road of parenthood. What else can you do?

Support and encourage local initiatives to investigate diaper collection and recycling/composting
Support and encourage local projects and financial incentives to use cloth or eco-friendly diapers
Urge lawmakers to enforce diaper companies to carry some of the burden for the recycling and/or disposal of their products (Extended Producer Responsibility)

Do you know of initiatives in other countries or municipalities to recycle diapers or incentivize the use of cloth/eco-friendly diapers? Please let me know in the comments.

World Oceans Day Sees First Virtual Event, More Private Sector Support

TerraCycle tom szaky Include USA Cigarette Recycling Program DYPER

The World Oceans Day event brought together industry and celebrity voices and some 3,000 registrants. 6/10/2020 7:38:00 PM The World Oceans Day event brought together industry and celebrity voices and some 3,000 registrants. The U.N. and Oceanic Global held its first virtual event, bringing together industry and celebrity voices and some 3,000 registrants. Some 3,000 people RSVP’d, with more likely to have tuned in worldwide, said Lea d’Auriol, founder of Oceanic Global. Fashion brands like Everest Isles and Solid and Striped partnered with Oceanic Global, as have others since its inception in 2015. The Oceanic Global Foundation emerged following the foundation’s inaugural ocean festival “Oceanic x Ibiza.” The 2020 theme, titled “Innovation for a Sustainable Ocean,” arrives during a time of heightened tensions in the U.S. and elsewhere, as the Black Lives Matter movement sweeps across the globe with ongoing peaceful protests. Almost on cue for visualizing the urgency demanded by environmental groups, a week prior Russia declared a state of emergency after 20,000 tons of diesel spilled from a power plant in the city of Norilsk, Russia, into the Arctic Ocean. Melting permafrost was cited as the culprit — indicative of the effects of global warming in the region. All things considered, d’Auriol is focused on collective action today. She quoted the poet Audre Lorde: “‘There is no such thing as a single-issue struggle because we do not live single-issue lives,”’ adding, “In that same spirit, the work we do in the ocean and environmental space is inextricably linked with human rights, public health, and fighting against racial injustice.” View Gallery Related Gallery Black Lives Matter: Messages from the New York City Protests. Concern for the environment is all-encompassing, but marginalized groups (African American and Latinx people) tend to be the “most concerned” about climate change, as they are often the most vulnerable and exposed to its effects, according to a study conducted by the Yale Program on Climate Change Communication and the George Mason University Center for Climate Change Communication. D’Auriol also pointed to a recent Washington Post op-ed by Dr. Ayana Johnson, a scientific adviser to Oceanic Global, marine biologist and policy expert, as further explanation of the interconnectedness of such sustainability issues. View this post on Instagram There are ~23 million black Americans who are *already* deeply concerned about the #ClimateCrisis. (MILLION!) But how can we expect Black people to effectively lead their communities on the existential treat of climate when faced with the existential threat of racism? My latest for @washingtonpost, connecting the dots on all we are dangerously squandering. Link in bio and bit.ly/WaPoClimateBLM. Thoughts and prayers. Love and light. Those won’t solve racism or climate change. So what are you going to DO? #BlackLivesMatter