What we accept depends on whether you are a resident or business. We generally accept what can be composted in a backyard bin, as well as a few additional items. Check out our compost guide for more details.

Each bin is secured with a coded lock. After signing up for one of our drop-off bins through MakeSoil, you’ll find the access code for your selected bin and specific location details on that bin’s MakeSoil page.

This is completely up to you! Many people use a small kitchen pail that fits on their countertop, one of our 4-gallon collection buckets, or any old 5-gallon bucket. You can also store your food scraps in tupperware and keep them in the freezer.

Moisture accelerates the decomposition process, creating a happy environment for mold and flies. Less moisture = cleaner bucket.

Use one or more of the following tips to reduce or avoid moisture:

• Freeze your food scraps
• Layer food scraps with dry items (like paper towels, paper napkins, paper bags, and cardboard)
• Keep the lid off your bucket (which allows moisture to evaporate. Replace the lid with a towel if you still want a cover).

You can also use a liner to create a barrier. Paper bags are preferred (they compost the best) but we also accept Biobag-brand liners.

Clean your bucket after drop-off. Wipe the inside down with a paper towel or dried leaves from your yard. If no cleaning supplies are used, toss that paper towel in the bucket to compost! Or, designate a compost bucket sponge and clean out your bucket in the sink with soap and water.

We offer sliding-scale payment options, between $5 and $20 per month, that allow households to pay what they can while participating in Cincinnati’s household composting efforts.

We want you to compost! Here’s how the contribution level you select helps:

• $5 gets you composting, and we love it,
• $10 keeps our sliding scale robust so more neighbors can access composting,
• $15 helps us build more sustainable wages and benefits for our team,
• $20 helps us expand the program across Cincinnati.

We also realize that some households do not have the capacity to pay for service. If this applies to you, please reach out to us and we’ll send you an access code for free sign-up.

Whichever level you choose, thank you for being a part of this community effort!

MakeSoil is an online platform to find and share composting sites, and is where households sign up to compost at one of our drop-off locations.

You can use MakeSoil to:

• Manage your payment and account details at any time.
• Log any drop-off data and track your impact.
• Ask us questions.
• Connect with other composters at your drop-off location and around Cincinnati.

One of the many things we love about MakeSoil is how easy their platform is to use – you can access all of MakeSoil’s features through desktop, mobile browser, and their app.

We use MakeSoil to facilitate our residential drop-off accounts. Follow these steps to access your account details, where you can apply a coupon, change your payment method, and manage your subscription:

1. Sign in to MakeSoil.
2. Click on the “My Soil Sites” tab on the left.
3. Find the QCC drop-off site you originally signed up for and click the “Enter Site” button.
4. To manage your subscription:
   1. If on mobile browser or mobile app: Click on the green button on the top of the page titled “$ Your Subscription”
   2. If on desktop: On the right of the page, scroll down to find your name under “Soil Supporters.” Click the “View Subscription” link next to your name.
   3. If you do not see a subscription button or link, and if you have access to multiple drop-off sites (listed in “My Soil Sites”), it might be that you are not in the page for the drop-off location for which you originally signed up. Double-check the other sites where you have access.