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Compost Giveaways

Free compost is available for Sonoma County residents every year. Collaborating with the municipalities, community volunteers, and partner organizations, Zero Waste Sonoma organizes compost giveaway events throughout the County. The compost is certified USDA organic, OMRI listed, CDFA listed, and is produced from local facilities that process material collected from residential green carts. The compost does not contain biosolids or manure. Compost is usually delivered in bulk, and residents are asked to bring their own containers and shovels. Residents are welcome to attend any of the events around the County, but we encourage residents to go to the ones closest to them to reduce vehicular greenhouse gas emissions.

The compost will come from one of three facilities. For more information about the compost, including testing data sheets, refer to their websites below.


Related topics:

Compost rebate
Compost for the Climate
Home Composting
SB 1383 Short-Lived Climate Pollutants Law

Event in Cazadero

Event in Santa Rosa

Event in Sonoma

Oct 14 Sat
9 AM-12 PM

Compost Giveaway - Sebastopol

View the full calendar

Non-profit farm or educational garden?

Compost donations are also available for non-profit farms, educational gardens (e.g., schools), or habitat restoration on a case by case basis. Please reach out to Xinci at xinci.tan@sonoma-county.org with an explanation of your need, how much compost you'd like, and where the compost should be delivered. Minimum 20 cubic yards required for delivery.

Free countertop food scrap pails

Help us make more compost! Every piece of food you place into your green curbside bin is sent for composting, and some of it comes back at a compost giveaway event. Countertop pails are available to help transport food scraps from your kitchen to the green bin. Sonoma County residents may pick up pails at the following locations:

  • Any of the County Disposal Sites scale houses
  • Cloverdale City Hall - 124 N Cloverdale Blvd, Cloverdale, CA 95425
  • Cotati City Hall - 201 West Sierra Avenue, Cotati, CA 94931
  • Petaluma Ellis Creek Water Recycling Facility - 3890 Cypress Dr, Petaluma CA 94954
  • Petaluma City Hall - 11 English St, Petaluma CA 94952
  • Petaluma Community Center - 320 N McDowell Blvd, Petaluma CA 94954
  • Petaluma Regional Library - 100 Fairgrounds Dr., Petaluma CA 94952
  • Petaluma Water Field Office - 202 N McDowell Blvd., Petaluma CA 94954
  • Sonoma City Hall - 1 The Plaza, Sonoma, CA 9547
  • Windsor Town Hall – 9291 Old Redwood Highway, Windsor, CA 95492
Or, request a pail from your franchised hauler:
  • Recology Sonoma Marin customers only - pick up at 3400 Standish Ave, Santa Rosa, CA 95407, OR 1309 Dynamic St, Petaluma CA 94954
  • Sonoma County Resource Recovery customers only - call to request at 707-795-7470
  • Sonoma Garbage Collectors customers only - email to request at CounterTopPails@gmail.com

Suggest a new event location

Existing compost giveaway event locations are listed below. Please check our calendar for upcoming events. Most events are held in the spring and summer. If you do not see your desired location for an upcoming event, it may have passed for the year, or it has not yet been scheduled. Feel free to email Xinci at xinci.tan@sonoma-county.org to ask.

  • Cazadero - Fort Ross School
  • Healdsburg - City Community Center
  • Petaluma - Petaluma Bounty
  • Santa Rosa - A Place to Play park
  • Sebastopol - Community Center Youth Annex
  • Sonoma/Springs - Larson and Garden parks
  • Windsor - Keiser park

If you wish to suggest a new location, please type it in the message box below. Leave your contact information so that we may follow up to determine whether it will be suitable. The site entrance/gates must be at least 9 feet across for truck clearance, and there must be enough room for the truck to enter and turn around to unload. The site should also be big enough to allow for people to get out of their cars and shovel compost safely. Ideally, the site should also have at least two exits for traffic flow.

Want to help? Check the box and leave a message below about how much you'd like to be involved. An event is more likely to happen if we have one or two volunteers to help with the planning and being on site on event day to direct other cars.