Composting, when you turn food scraps into natural fertilizer, is a great way to be kind to the earth, but Miami does not make it easy to do. Unlike many major cities, we don’t have any public composting facilities where you can take your scraps if you don’t want to compost at home.

We’re here to show you that it is possible, even if you don’t want to do the real work yourself. It may be worth it just because of how much less gross your kitchen trash is when you take out all the stuff that can decompose.

Where to take your compost scraps

Although there are no public facilities, here are a couple spots where you can drop off your compost scraps to be turned into natural fertilizer that will grow pesticide-free plants, fruits, and veggies.

Miami Beach Botanical Garden – drop off Tuesday through Sunday, between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m.

Back2Earth (Various locations) – drop off any time during normal operating hours

Earth ‘n’ Us Farm (Little River) – drop off during normal operating hours

Cerasee Farms (Liberty City) – drop off to the team Monday and Wednesday through Saturday from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. If they’re closed, there are bins where you can drop compost off.

Verde Market (Wynwood) – drop off any time during normal operating hours on Saturday and Sunday

Got more recommendations? Let us know at [email protected] This is going to be a living resource that we’ll keep updated with the latest info.

What you can throw in compost

Fruit and vegetable scraps (peels included)

Coffee grounds and paper coffee filters

Tea grounds (but sometimes not the actual tea bags – the fancy nylon ones are no bueno, but the basic paper ones are OK)

Eggshells

Any kind of plant material – grass clippings, leaves, broken up twigs, etc.

What you can’t throw in compost

The key thing is no meat, dairy, or fish – or their bones

Want to do it yourself?

Lots of groups offer workshops for getting started, including Miami-Dade County’s Department of Solid Waste. Find more info on that here.