Hey, Peaks Island! Let’s do this!
Don’t put food waste in the trash! Bring it to us and we’ll compost it through the City of Portland’s composting program. You’ll save landfill space, help local farms, and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
Who we are
We’re a group of islander volunteers, doing this to make a positive difference! We’ve partnered with the City of Portland’s Office of Sustainability and Garbage to Garden to bring this service to the island.
How to use the program
Super simple! Collect food scraps at home. When you’re ready, bring them to our dropoff at Peaks Island Elementary School or at Trott-Littlejohn Park, and we’ll take it from there.
Collect your food scraps and leftovers at home
Bring them to our dropoff at Trott-Littlejohn Park
They’ll be turned into organic, nutrient-rich compost
If it's food, we can compost it!
Fruit & veggies
Bread, rice & pasta
Meat, seafood, bones & shells
Dairy, cheese & eggshells
Leftovers, cooked & spoiled food
Coffee grounds
otherwise leave it out!
No paper or packaging
No plastic, glass or metal
No pet waste or diapers
No bottles, cans, cups or bags
No yard waste
No "compostable" packaging
Dropoff 1
Peaks Island Elementary School
(At the corner of Island and Church Avenues)
Dropoff 2
Just outside the entrance to Trott Littlejohn Park
(Near the Transfer Station)
Why composting?
27% of Maine’s waste stream is compostable, but is currently incinerated or buried in a landfill. Food that’s incinerated creates pollution and ash (that needs be landfilled), and food buried unincinerated in landfills releases methane, a powerful greenhouse gas. The best option is to capture compostables before they enter the waste stream, and turn them into nutrient-rich compost for use by local farms and gardeners.
How does this compare to having a backyard composter?
It uses the same basic natural process, but because the city’s program is operating on a larger scale, the process generates more heat and so is both faster and more powerful. As a result, we can compost more types of food like meat, bones, seafood and dairy. Just as important: We totally support individual composting (of course!), but a centralized process like ours can collect a much higher percentage of food waste, and so can have a greater positive environmental impact.
Where does the composting happen?
We are currently participating in Portland's free compost program. We bring the food waste we collect on Peaks to Garbage to Garden (a private compost contractor) which does all the city's composting in Portland and on a farm in East Windham. Our long-term plan is to compost all of our food waste right here on Peaks Islands using a commercial-grade process, similar to the one used by Garbage to Garden. That will take some time to organize, but stay tuned!
Will I get compost back?
Because composting is happening off-island through Portland’s program, we don’t get free compost delivered back to the island. (The same is true for other neighborhoods participating in the city’s program.) However, one of our goals in moving the compost process to Peaks Island is to create an abundant supply of compost, made and used right here.
How much does it cost?
It’s free to use the program! Our modest costs are covered by grants, so you pay nothing. Thanks to the Peaks Island Council and Peaks Island Fund for sponsoring this year’s program.
how can i help?
It’s easy! Just start collecting your food waste and bring it to the dropoff point. You’ll be making a difference, and you’ll feel great about it. If you want to volunteer or support our program, we’d love to hear from you! Just fill out our contact form. Feel free to reach out with any questions, too.
How exactly does this help with global warming and pollution? (Nerd alert!)
There are lots of good reasons to compost, but the most important is that removing food from the waste stream reduces air pollution, saves landfill space, and reduces the production of global warming gases. Read on to learn more:
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Most of Portland's municipal trash (including our food waste) is burned as "fuel" in a waste-to-energy incinerator run by Ecomaine. That means our food waste creates air pollution. Plus, because food waste has such a high water content, it makes poor fuel for burning and so reduces the efficiency of incinerators. It also increases pollution (including persistent chemicals like dioxins.) Composting completely eliminates this issue.
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After Portland's trash is incinerated for energy, the remaining ash is buried in landfills. Burning reduces the volume, but even so, tons and tons of burned food waste (along with everything else) is buried underground every single day. Some of our food waste isn't incinerated, and ends up as raw waste in landfills, which creates even bigger problems. Buried raw waste creates methane — one of the most potent greenhouse gases — and can release toxic leachates into underground aquifers.
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Compost improves soil health by supporting abundant microbial life. It's great for plant growth, water retention, and trapping carbon! More compost availability makes it easier for local farms to have healthy soil that needs less water and fertilizer — and reduces global warming by sequestering carbon that would otherwise remain in the atmosphere.
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Once we're able to process compost on the island, we'll significantly reduce the trash that's freighted to Portland. That will save the island money, eliminate the carbon load created by unnecessary hauling, and provide the island with an abundant supply of our very own organic compost!
We're thrilled to be keeping about a half-ton of food waste out of our island waste stream every week! But our goal is to have an even greater impact, by establishing a commercial-grade compost site right here on Peaks Island. That will allow us to process much more food waste – from year-round residents, island restaurants, the school, and our summer residents and visitors too – and significantly reduce the amount of trash hauled off the island.
There are a lot of challenges ahead, from funding to stringent regulations, so it'll be a journey – but we're on board! Sign up for our email list using our contact form and we'll keep you posted about our progress.
Ask a question, make a suggestion, volunteer, or join our email list — we’d love to hear from you!