Backyard Composting

Composting is easy

A woman gardening with shovel and wheelbarrow.
Make and use compost for healthier gardens.

Composting is easy and a great way to recycle yard waste and kitchen scraps into a fertile, sweet-smelling soil builder.

Compost helps grow healthier gardens, lawns, trees, and shrubs that need less water, pesticides, and fertilizer too.

Get started

Choose the composting system that’s right for you, depending on what you want to compost:

  • Yard Waste Composting - For leaves, grass clippings, dead plants, stalks, and twigs. A simple open bin or pile, plus water, is all it takes to make soil-like compost in 6 months to a year.
  • Food Waste Composting - For vegetable scraps, soiled paper, and spoiled food, but not meat, dairy, or any animal product. You need a rodent-proof bin like a worm bin or Green Cone, or just bury food waste under the soil.
  • Using Compost - Either from your bin or purchased in bags or bulk, is as easy as spreading it under shrubs and perennials, on lawns, or digging compost into garden beds.

Links to resources on other sites

Public Utilities

Andrew Lee, General Manager and CEO
Address: 700 5th Avenue, Suite 4900, Seattle, WA, 98104
Mailing Address: PO Box 34018, Seattle, WA, 98124-5177
Phone: (206) 684-3000
SPUCustomerService@seattle.gov

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Seattle Public Utilities (SPU) is comprised of three major direct-service providing utilities: the Water Utility, the Drainage and Wastewater Utility, and the Solid Waste Utility.