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Steamboat Springs — Composting food waste isn’t a pretty process, as Andy Kennedy knows all too well.

“It’s kind of a stinky process, and we don’t have a garage, so we have to do it in the house,” she said. But when her compost system broke down recently, there was another option.

Just 11 miles west of Steamboat Springs on U.S. Highway 40 in Milner is a giant compost pile where TwinEnviro Services cures a rich soil from kitchen scraps like the ones Kennedy saves.

“It’s a great thing to do, because you’re turning waste into resources,” Kennedy said. “So much of your food waste goes into the landfill, and it creates methane gas. And I’d rather not do that.”

Kennedy was the first person to sign up for TwinEnviro Service’s new residential compost pickup service.

TwinEnviro already picks up compost as often as several times per week from Steamboat Ski and Resort Corp. and the city’s Centennial Hall, among other businesses in town. The expansion to residential pickup will take place if TwinEnviro can get 100 people to sign up for the service.

Adam Wilson, who runs the compost pile at the Milner landfill, said he hopes it will encourage people to contribute their kitchen scraps.

“The way we’re doing it now, it’s not including everybody, but now if they’re interested in it, they can get started,” he said. “There’s people who want to compost but can’t because of where they live.”

The program will offer to everyone who signs up one five-gallon bucket with a lid. Pickup can be weekly, bimonthly or monthly, depending on the amount of kitchen scraps the household accumulates. On collection day, a clean five-gallon bucket will be left. The cost is $8 per bucket.

To begin, TwinEnviro will offer the service only to those who live in Steamboat Springs city limits.

Customers will be eligible for a free five gallons of compost every six months. The TwinEnviro compost is tested regularly for bacteria and heavy metals.

Wilson, who composts at his house as well, said saving banana peels, soiled napkins and bones is another way to recycle and keep waste out of landfills.

“You can use the nutrients,” he said. “It’s just good not to throw it in the garbage.”

Deep Roots President Chris Bradley, who makes compost and recycled compost bins at his house, said some might not want to switch to a pickup service if they already have a setup in their household. Others, he said, will welcome the convenience.

“It’s a progressive thing they’re doing,” he said. “However it happens, I’m thrilled.”

— To reach Nicole Inglis, call 970-871-4204 or email ninglis@SteamboatToday.com