KNOWLEDGE BASE

Putting your food scraps down the garbage disposal is worse than putting it in the landfill. You use fresh drinking water, which is really precious—and resource intensive to use—to do this. You also have to pay the City for your water use that comes into and leaves your house. This action squanders a lot of nutrients in the food that could be reclaimed. You ground up food scraps get mixed with all sorts of chemicals, sewage, forever pollutants, and other things that have to be removed in a facility. Your scraps also—because of the ridiculous system we have—run the risk of ending up being dumped into the rivers with raw sewage when there are over flow events. It is a deeply irresponsible way to process all of a household’s food waste.

Composting is an important way for you to immediately reduce your impact on the planet and to help mitigate climate change. When food scraps or compostable materials are put into a landfill, they turn into methane gas (a climate breakdown accelerant that is 25 times more potent than carbon emissions) and liquefy and mix with toxic chemicals to become leachate that will contaminate groundwater. When you compost, you reclaim the nutrients that are in your food scraps. You sink their carbon back into the soil for the future use of raising plants.

Yes. They are a valuable source of carbon and good for hungry microbes.

You do not need to break the eggs open. You can put them in the compost whole.

This is a good thing to add to the compost. The cheesecloth is made from cotton and will decompose rapidly in the compost.

Yes. You can also put in wooden popsicle sticks and skewers.

Yes, but only if they are not printed in full color and glossy (see above FAQ for more information). Tear them up into pieces and add them to your compost bucket. They are made up of tree pulp and will break down rapidly and add their carbonaceous nutrients to the compost pile.

For a detailed list, please refer to our Composting Guide.

You most likely can compost the items. Please send us an image of the front and back of the package. If the packaging has "BPI Certified" on it, then you can skip contacting us and compost the material.

If the pants are still wearable, take them to a thrift store. If the pants are 100% cotton, you can compost them. Remove any elastic bands, zippers, buttons or other items that are not cotton before you add it to your bucket. You must cut the pants into pieces the size of your thumb before adding them. If you do not, we will throw them away.

You can compost pizza boxes that are printed directly on cardboard in a couple of colors like the ones pictured above. The ink is minimal and there is not coating over the printing. You should recycle the pizza boxes that are printed in full color and are glossy. They are coated in a plastic sealant. The cardboard will break down leaving the plastic to contaminate the compost pile.

Absolutely. Bamboo is a grass and is welcome in the compost bin. Make sure you break the plastic bristles off first and put them in the trash.

We provide food scrap pick up, and drop off sites, in Greater Fort Wayne, Huntertown, Roanoke, Leo/Cedarville, New Haven, and Columbia City. Later this spring, Marion residents can sign up for service with Dirt Wain - Marion.

Here’s how you can get started with our composting and recycling services: Sign Up: Visit our website and navigate to the Plans section. Choose the plan that best fits your needs. Choose Your Bin Size: Select from our available bucket (5 gallons) and bin sizes (32 or 64 gallons) based on your household's waste output. Schedule Your Pickup: Our service includes weekly pickups. Simply check our service area map to confirm your location is covered. Prepare Your Waste: Separate your compostable and recyclable materials according to our guidelines. Service Activation: Once your account is set up, your bucket or bin will be delivered, and you’ll receive your first pickup schedule. For any questions, our customer support team is here to help.

Fill out and submit the appropriate form. The information will go directly to everyone at Dirt Wain and we can resolve the issue more rapidly. MISSED PICK UP SERVICE PAUSE

We offer weekly and bi-weekly pick-up services depending on the service you choose and the volume of food scraps you produce.

We provide weekly pick-up of yard waste along with food scraps with our YARDwaster 32 and 64 plans. We also have an a la carte Yard Waste Pick Up option in our store.

Visit our Plans page to choose the plan that best fits your needs. Follow the instructions to sign up and start your composting journey.

Dirt Wain is a composting and recycling service that helps convert food scraps and other waste into nutrient-rich compost. We aim to reduce waste and promote sustainability through various plans and services. Dirt Wain picks up food scraps, yard waste, and pet waste, from households, businesses, organizations, and communities, and turns them into compost.

Dirt Wain's online store offers a variety of compostable bags, books, gear, and other sustainable items for purchase.

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To purchase a gift card from Dirt Wain, you can visit our online store and navigate to the 'Gift Card' section. Select the desired amount for the gift card, add it to your cart, and proceed to checkout. You can then make the payment using the available payment methods such as credit card, PayPal, Google Pay, Apple Pay, Afterpay, card reader, or tap to pay.

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Yes, Dirt Wain offers nutrient-rich compost for sale in our online store. You can browse our selection of compost products and make a purchase to enrich your soil and support sustainable practices. We sell compost by the 5 gallon bucket and by the cubic yard.

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We provide tailored composting, consulting, and recycling services for businesses and organizations. See who we work with and request a quote on our Businesses & Organizations page.

1. You sign up for our PooPeePet pet waste pick up plan. 2. Then, we provide you with a bucket and 4 starter compostable waste bags. 3. You collect your pet's waste (dog and cat feces, and compostable litter) and bag it in a certified compostable bag. All pet waste must be bagged. If your bag is falling apart, please double bag it. 4. We pick up your pet waste once a week. We do not clean the bucket. We need to have minimal contact with the waste so it does not contaminate the food scraps we also collect. 5. We take the waste to our site and compost it separately from the food scraps. 6. We mix carbonaceous materials (straw, wood chips, grass, etc.) with the waste and turn the pile until it breaks down into soil.

We prefer Purina’s “Yesterday’s News” cat litter as the bag is made of paper and can be recycled. Here are some possible choices that each have non-recylable, non-compostable bags: https://bestreviews.com/pets/litterboxes/best-biodegradable-cat-litter

We’ve partnered with our recycling partner TerraCycle to recycle the materials in your Zero Waste Bag. They guarantee that all compliant materials that are collected are recycled. The items are received by their material recovery partners where they are sorted into individual material components. Each material is then recycled into a raw format that can be used to make new products TerraCycle is committed to verification and transparency, maintaining records and regularly auditing their supply chain to ensure that they can stand behind their recycling guarantee. They strictly control the movement of materials through each part of the recycling process so they can track and confirm where materials were sent and for what purpose. Bureau Veritas —a world leader in testing, inspection, and certification services— annually audits their collection and recycling supply chains, as do many of their partners. Explore how each material is processed.

We cannot accept any items that are not included in the 24 accepted waste stream categories. We also cannot accept any loose items placed outside of the Zero Waste Bags or any Zero Waste Bags that are filled in such a way where the bag cannot be closed. In addition, Small and Large Zero Waste Bags accept different waste streams. Please only put accepted items (listed on the bag) in the respective Zero Waste Bag. If you are unsure or have a specific question, please contact us at scrappy@dirtwain.com.

No need to mark your calendar! Just place your Zero Waste Bag next to your Dirt Wain bucket or bin on your usual collection day whenever it's full and ready to go.

You will need to pay an Extra Bag Pick Up for us to get your bag.

You can purchase our Small, Large, or Extra-Large Zero Waste Bags via our shop. We will drop bags off on your pick up day.

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No. Please only put items from one specific waste stream in each Zero Waste Bag. Mark the checkbox for that waste stream on the bag to indicate what’s inside.

We do not offer returns or refunds for Zero Waste Bags.

No. After we collect your full Zero Waste Bags, you can continue recycling your hard-to-recycle items by purchasing Zero Waste Bags from our online store as needed.

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Small Zero Waste Bag Cigarette butts Coffee capsules Corks Cosmetics packaging Eyewear Ink and toner cartridges Media storage Oral care packaging Personal protective equipment Plastic bottle caps Water filters Wires and cords Large Zero Waste Bag All plastic packaging Fabrics & Clothing Food & drink pouches Milk & juice cartons Office supplies Party supplies & disposables Pet food packaging Shoes & footwear Sporting goods Styrofoam Toys Used cleaning supplies Extra-large Zero Waste Bag All plastic packaging Food & drink pouches Milk & juice cartons Party supplies & disposables Pet food packaging Styrofoam Used cleaning supplies

Yes. Please remove as much of the remaining product as possible before including the item in your bag.

Real Recycling addresses difficult-to-recycle items like plastic film, batteries, and corks. We ensure these materials are processed responsibly with verified third party recycles. For more information, visit our Real Recycling page.

We accept many types of plastic bags and films, such as grocery bags, produce bags, and sandwich bags. For a full list of acceptable items, please refer to our Real Recycling page.

Use the Contact Us page for general inquiries and questions about our services. For specific issues such as Missed Pick Ups or Service Pause, use the dedicated pages and forms to address those concerns efficiently.

You can reach Dirt Wain at (260) 376-0353 or via email at scrappy@dirtwain.com.

We are currently located at 8015 Lower Huntington Road, Fort Wayne, IN 46809. Our site is on a private farm. Please contact us before visiting.

Dirt Wain is located at 11314 Lyndhurst Court, Fort Wayne, IN 46845-2009.

For updates on service interruptions, visit our Service Interruptions page.

We engage in several community projects, such as the Community-Funded Compost Truck and Compost It Forward. These initiatives help make composting accessible to more people. More details can be found on our Community Projects page.

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Compost It Forward is a fund that runs on donations to provide food scrap pick-up subscriptions to those who can’t afford them. Learn more and support this initiative on our Compost It Forward page.

Yes, we provide Zero Waste Stations for events to promote sustainable waste management. Our stations help divert waste from landfills by facilitating proper sorting and recycling of materials. We offer: Waste sorting Metal silverware Compostable cups, plates, napkins Composting of all food scraps and other compostable materials Contact us to learn more about our event sustainability solutions.

Yes, Dirt Wain offers composting services for events. We help make your events more sustainable by collecting and composting food scraps and other compostable materials. Contact us to discuss your event composting needs and how we can assist in reducing waste and promoting environmental responsibility.

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