University of Illinois Extension in Cook County and Garfield Park Conservatory Alliance have teamed up to keep food scraps out of landfills for Earth Day 2022.

Residents can drop off kitchen waste to be composted and pick up a bucket of finished compost. Please BYOB (bring your own bucket). Finished compost is first come, first served. At the event you can also win a grow bag or bed, pick up free plant starts donated by Gotham Greens, learn more about how to compost at home, see a worm bin in action, and talk to an Illinois Extension Master Gardener or Compost Ambassador. If you’d like to tour Garfield Park Conservatory’s outdoor composting system and gardens, please make a reservation.

Help us reach our goal of collecting 1 ton of compostable food scraps at this one-day-only event.

Block Bins will haul all the food scraps we collect to a commercial composter.

Accepted Materials: food scraps (leaves, stems, cores, old produce), seeds/pits, husks/shells, peels, bread & baked goods, coffee & paper coffee filters, tea & paper tea bags (without staples), dairy, meats, bones leftover from cooking, eggs & egg shells, and cooked/frozen food.

Not Accepted Materials: No liquid dairy, oils, pet waste, rubber bands, twist ties, and produce stickers!

No yard waste will be accepted at this years’ event. In Chicago please call 311 for yard waste removal.

Location:  The Conservatory Parking Lot just south of Garfield Park Conservatory, 300 N. Central Park Ave., Chicago IL 60624

Time: 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.

If you have questions about this event or need a reasonable accommodation, please contact Sarah Batka at 217-300-8636.

To learn more about Illinois Extension’s composting efforts visit the Cook County Composting Initiative webpage.