I hate moving.

First, you pack everything you own. Then you realize you own way more than you thought. You sell stuff, give stuff away, throw stuff away, pack more. You think you’re done, but inevitably you end up finding more as you’re walking out the door. At least that’s how it seems to go for me.

You get to your new place. There is almost always something wrong. This time, we had no water. Then we had no propane. It took almost two weeks to get our internet hooked up. No mailbox keys. No garage keys. A seemingly never-ending flurry of phone calls setting up utilities and getting everything taken care of.

Amidst all that, I made a call to the trash and recycling company to arrange for trash pick up. The customer service rep asked if we were interested in having yard waste pickup. It would be composted. Since our new house has a big yard, which has been very poorly maintained over the last year, I decided to go for it. After all, I can just pick up the phone and cancel it later.

The next day, our big blue yard waste bin arrived. I went out to the curb to fetch it and was met with a wonderful surprise. It is not just yard waste. That big blue bin is for full composting – food scraps, yard waste, food soiled paper, the works! Since then, I have been surprised to find that many local businesses and restaurants have recycling and compost containers next to their trash receptacles.

When I found out that my hometown of Boulder, CO had started doing curbside composting, I assumed that it was one of very few places with a residential composting program. I am excited that it appears to be more widespread than I initially thought. Beginning this year, residents of Seattle are required to sign up for curbside composting (although there is currently no way of ensuring that everyone uses the service).

I have to say, it is astonishing how much our garbage load is reduced by having a compost bin. We aren’t garbage-intensive people by any means. I try to keep purchases of packaged goods, especially foods, to a minimum, and we are very good about recycling everything we can. It is estimated that 27% of municipal waste is organic matter but, at least in our house, it seems like a lot more. And I really like that it is now being composted instead of piling up in a landfill.

I have to say, I don’t know why more communities don’t offer curbside composting services. We pay them to take our food waste. It is then composted and sold back to us at over $3 per bag. To me, it seems like a win-win.

I will probably eventually begin vermicomposting myself, both because I will have the garden and because having semi-pet worms will be fun. But even then, I think we’ll probably keep the composting. They will handle the meat and dairy that the worms don’t, as well as any yard waste that is too big for my little compost system.

Do your communities offer a curbside composting service? If so, do you take advantage of it? If so, how do you like it? If not, why did you not sign up?