Composting

Sierra Madre residents can keep food scraps and other organic material out of the landfill through Athens Services' curbside organics program, the City's free compost giveaway events, and home composting. Use the resources below to learn what belongs in your organics container, find compost giveaway information, and get help starting a compost system at home.

Local Composting Resources

Athens Services: Sierra Madre Organics Guide Check what belongs in your organics, recycling, and landfill containers and access Sierra Madre-specific Athens Services information.
Sierra Madre Free Compost Giveaway Check City event information for upcoming free compost giveaway events available to Sierra Madre residents.
LA County Smart Gardening Learn backyard composting, worm composting, organic gardening, grasscycling, and water-wise gardening through free County resources and classes.

What Goes in the Organics Container?

Green Waste Branches, flowers, grass clippings, hedge trimmings, leaves, weeds, and qualifying untreated wood.
Food Scraps Fruits, vegetables, bread, rice, pasta, dairy, coffee grounds, meat, bones, poultry, seafood, and similar food scraps.
Food-Soiled Paper Paper napkins, paper towels, paper egg cartons, pizza boxes, and other qualifying 100% fiber-based food-soiled paper.

Keep contaminants out: Products labeled "compostable" are not automatically accepted. Athens requires food-soiled paper to be 100% plant-fiber based with no petroleum-based plastic, wax, bioplastic coating, liner, or laminate. Use Athens' Sierra Madre sorting guide when you are unsure where an item belongs.

The City of Sierra Madre, in partnership with Athens Services, offers free compost giveaway events for Sierra Madre residents. The City's current program information describes the giveaway as a biannual event.

Athens produces compost from collected organic materials, including green waste, wood waste, and food scraps, through its American Organics facility. Athens identifies its finished compost as OMRI Listed® for use in certified organic operations.

Before attending: Compost giveaways are self-service events. Check the current event notice for the date, location, quantity limits, and instructions for containers, shovels, and loading.

Sierra Madre residents can place landscaping waste, food scraps, and qualifying food-soiled paper in the organics container for collection by Athens Services.

Food Scraps

Athens accepts fruits and vegetables, grains, bread and pasta, dairy products, coffee grounds and filters, meat, bones, poultry, seafood, and other food scraps.

Green Waste

Accepted green material includes branches, flowers, grass clippings, hedge trimmings, leaves, weeds, and qualifying untreated and unpainted wood.

Food-Soiled Paper

Qualifying items include paper napkins and kitchen towels, paper egg cartons, pizza boxes, and 100% fiber-based food-service items that do not contain plastic, wax, bioplastic coatings, liners, or laminates.

Athens Food Waste Recycling Guide

Home composting can turn yard trimmings and appropriate kitchen scraps into a useful soil amendment while reducing the amount of organic material placed at the curb.

A Simple Starting Method

  • Combine roughly equal amounts of green materials and brown materials.
  • Greens include fresh plant material, fruit and vegetable scraps, and coffee grounds.
  • Browns include dry leaves, straw, wood chips, shredded paper, and similar carbon-rich material.
  • Keep the pile moist but not saturated.
  • Mix or turn the material periodically to provide air and speed decomposition.

Contact Us

232 W. Sierra Madre Blvd.
Sierra Madre, CA 91024

(626) 355-7135

Sign up to our Newsletter

Stay up to date on the city's activities, events, programs and operations by subscribing to our eNewsletters.

Sign Up Today!