Collect your kitchen food scraps for composting, instead of adding them to your trash or putting them down your garbage disposal.
Since the start of the program in October 2023, we have collected 1943 large green bins of food scraps (over 97 tons), and for the week of December 18th, there were a total of 493 resident households participating. To see the full Tally Summary for the Food Scrap Drop-off Program, click here.
Please Note: For the 2025 holidays that occur on a Thursday (Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year’s Day), the drop-offs will be held the following Friday, instead of the Thursday holiday.
Page Contents
Resident Guidelines
Here’s what you need to know to participate in the Food Scrap Drop-off Program. CLICK/TAP the image to see a full sized version you can print.
If you would like to participate in this voluntary program, your food scraps can be dropped off in each of the four neighborhoods every Thursday between 9:00 and 11:00 AM. Green bins are provided for each drop-off, with a resident monitor to assist and answer any questions. If you can’t drop them off yourself during the allotted time slot, please find a friend or neighbor who can drop them off for you!
Acceptable/Unacceptable Lists
Be sure to include only the acceptable items identified below, otherwise your bag will have to go into the trash, and not be part of the food scrap program. CLICK/TAP the image to see a full sized version you can print.
Questions and Answers
Residents who participated during the summer months had some comments about What Works for them and What Didn’t Work for them. And here are some ideas about how to avoid generating so many food scraps – Waste Not.
Check out this fun Riderwood TV commercial by Anne Riley! Riderwood TV also now has a video on How to Compost at Riderwood, with residents Karen Sours, Anne Riley, and Linda Wanner.
For answers to your questions, take a look at our Frequently Asked Questions. If that doesn’t answer your question, then just send an email to FoodScraps@riderwoodlife.com.
The Reporter article from November 6, 2023, has some ideas on how best to store your food scraps during the week; and the article from December 4, 2023, describes what happens to our food scraps after we drop them off! The October 7, 2024, Reporter article focuses on Anne Riley’s contributions to the Riderwood Food Scrap Program.
Food Scraps at Riderwood
Riderwood has been recycling food scraps from the dining kitchens for a number of years, as described in a Montgomery County case study. This program handled kitchen scraps from our residential dining rooms, but did not include food scraps from our individual resident apartments. But now, food scraps collected as part of this program are added to the kitchen food scraps and picked up by Compost Crew, the contractor who handles Riderwood’s food scraps. Our food scraps are taken to the Prince George’s County Organics Composting Facility.
The pilot program ended on January 19, 2024, and, as Executive Director Dee Dee Gray-Weaver announced at the Annual Town Hall Meeting on May 17, 2024, the Food Scrap Drop-Off Program is now a permanent program here at Riderwood. Here’s a video clip of her Mission Moment presentation at the Town Hall Meeting. If you missed the PG Award Celebration on January 24th, 2024, you can still view the Event Program, the Riderwood TV video of the resident/staff gathering, and a video clip of the PG County YouTube announcement. And here’s the full Pilot Program Report.
The Erickson Senior Living 2023 Sustainability Report also had an article about Riderwood’s Food Scrap Drop-off Program. And when the program reached 500 participating households in September, 2024, a Reporter article provided a short history of the program.
Maryland is Composting
Recently, Maryland passed a law mandating recycling of food scraps for restaurants and other businesses, and our local counties are moving even further, with curb-side pickup of food scrap waste for residents (see the PGC Composts initiative and the Montgomery Pilot Program). While our Resident Food Scrap Drop-off Program is somewhat different, the benefits are the same:
Reduces landfill methane emissions
Reduces pollution from incinerators
Produces garden-ready compost
Supports sustainable agriculture
Supports local businesses