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Hard Core Compost

Bicycle-Powered Compost Collection Service

We pick up your kitchen scraps and transform them into nutrient rich compost. Worker owned and operated in Santa Cruz, California

How it works

You will receive a 5-gallon bucket for your compostables. A Hard Core rider will collect your scraps weekly by cargo bike. Your scraps are hauled to one of our nearby composting sites. Our aerobic piles decompose your waste into tilthy black gold! This compost is donated to local garden and land projects and returned to our subscribers.

Frequently asked questions »

Pricing

Basic service includes weekly pickup of one 5-gallon bucket & access to 5 pounds of the finished product as available each month.

pay one month at a time:
$30/month

pay three months at a time:
$28.34/mo, $85 total

pay six months at a time:
$27.50/month, $165 total

pay one year at a time:
$25/month, $300 total
drop-off:
$12/month

Frequently Asked Questions

What can I compost?

You can find a list of compostables here. Please remember we are not a general trash collection service, so be mindful about what you place in your bucket to help us reduce contamination and maintain healthy soil.

How can I tell if I am in your service area?

We currently serve Downtown, Midtown, Lower Westside, Seabright, Live Oak, and some of Capitola. Please refer to our service area map to check your location.

How does signing up for the service work?

When you sign up we will review your information to make sure you are in our service area before sending you payment instructions. Sign up before Saturday to have a collection bucket delivered to you the following week. Your first pick-up will be the week after we deliver your bucket.

Can I get any compost as part of my subscription?

While we have supplies available we will occasionally deliver bags of soil to interested subscribers. Please let us know if you are interested. Please return the bags.

What day will you pick up in my area?

  • Monday: Midtown & Seabright
  • Tuesday: Live Oak
  • Wednesday: Downtown, Upper & Lower Ocean
    *Downtown territory is bordered by Escalona and Bay St
  • Thursday: Upper West Side and UCSC
  • Friday: West Side

When will my bucket arrive?

Your bucket will arrive on your pick up day the week after you pay. If you have the drop off subscription and would like to use one of our buckets, you can pick it up during drop-off hours. Please email us before hand as we do not store buckets at our site and need to bring them from the office.

Can I put out an extra bucket for you to pick up this week?

Please remember we do these pickups with bicycles and plan our routes based on how much we can carry. Out of respect for the knees of our riders we cannot accommodate additional volume that is not part of a subscription. We will not pick up anything that does not fit in the buckets you are not subscribed to.

I forgot to put my bucket out. What can I do?

Subscribers are welcome to take advantage of our drop-off hours with no additional charge for the missed pickup.

I can’t afford your service.

We are doing our best to provide a service that will be available for years to come. We understand that our pricing is not accessible to everyone and provide these options for a lower price:

How do I update my billing information?

You can update your payment information or cancel your subscription by logging into this site with same email you used to sign up. Please contact us for other requests.

What if I am away on vacation?

Please send us an email if you will be away for multiple weeks so that we can know not to look for your bucket. If you will be away for more than a month, we can place a hold on your subscription.

I am an educator, can I plan a field trip to your compost site?

Yes! We offer educational workshops with curriculum for a variety of age groups. Please contact us via email at info@compost.bike to plan a field trip for your class.

Get in Touch

Hard Core Compost
703 Pacific Ave
Santa Cruz, CA 95060

contact@compost.bike

(831) 295-8294

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