We've been using Bennett for six months or so now, and I am a huge fan. We pay $25/mo for weekly compost pickup and bucket clean out ($18 without bucket clean out). They text and email you the day before pickup to remind you to leave your bucket out overnight (they often come very early, like 5am). I can't remember any missed pickups, and when our lid cracked, they noticed on their own and proactively replaced it. I am excited for Philadelphia to have a free municipal composting program, but until that day comes, I am glad we have Bennett to help us compost easily and conveniently! My office and many surrounding businesses and coffee shops also use Bennett, and it definitely makes me more likely to patron those establishments. I also love that Bennett couriers use bikes to transport compost from your house to their facilities. read more

We LOVE Bennett composting!! Living in the city with a small yard makes it difficult to compost on our own. I researched composting services after I spotted buckets on stoops throughout the neighborhood. I originally reached out to Circles Compost but they didn't serve our neighborhood at the time so they recommended Bennett. The price is reasonable and the customer service is GREAT. They are easily reachable through email and always answer my questions promptly. We were out of town for a month and they paused our subscription. Plus, we love getting free compost every year to add to our gardens. I highly recommend this service! read more

Pro: I love having access to a composting service (and to the compost they provide) Con: They've missed about 20% of our scheduled pickups in the past four months. Once they fail to make a pickup, you need to harass them until they come pick up your (overflowing) container...very annoying. They'd get 5 stars if they were dependable, but this compost Russian roulette gets old. FYI for anyone interested in this service: We've found (in West Philly, anyway) that it's necessary to put the plastic bucket inside a metal can--otherwise the squirrels (and maybe raccoons?) lay waste to the bucket, chewing right through the lid like it's paper. read more

I love that there are composting options in this city. Any way to avoid waste is amazing and I'm grateful. I wanted to share a few logistical things though: -The bucket does not have a seal so you have to snap it on very tight and then pry it open while making dinner. Our 5 gallon, orange, Home Depot bucket had a seal so we didn't have to put it on as tight. -Some people line their bucket with newspaper, paper bags or a compost bag but I don't use paper products so I don't have those. I also didn't want to invest in the extra compost bags on top of the service. -The bucket would be swarming with flies on my doorstep and reeking of the leftover, juicy compost material which I then would wash out, leaving the driveway smelly and flies everywhere. So not to be the bad guy but I wanted to share the overall experience so maybe future improvement on this road to resourcefulness. Check out these drop-off sites on the neighborhood map: http://www.phillycompost.com/Resources.html There's also: http://www.pedalcoop.org/services and a store in center city that charges $7 for drop-off in a compost bag. read more

I love Bennett Compost! They make it super easy to sign up and are very reliable when it comes to pick up. They are also very responsive over email and accommodating of extra compost when we have extra leaves in the fall. Overall, compositing has cut down our trash considerably. We used to generate about two bags a week. Now we are down to one every other week. Only downside is that you can't compost meat or dairy products. My dad composts in NYC and he can compost meat and dairy. Still a wonderful company though and I couldn't recommend it more! read more

I've tried twice in the past few years to set up a scheduled pickup for my building. I live in a mid rise with 64 units. I've been wanting to compost for years. But, i can't be here for pickup times. Plus, in a condo building we can't just leave the buckets on the sidewalk. I asked how many subscriptions would they need in order to have a more specific time. "A lot". When I asked to quantify it, Wade told me he took it to management and would await their answer. A week goes by, I email him again to ask if he heard and then I hear nothing. So, doesn't look like we'll be composting in our building. I've looked in my spam folder and there's no email. read more

How could you give a guy trying to save the earth anything less than 5 stars. What a great guy, with a wonderful business. We have been using him for a few months now, and could not be happier. read more

I've had a wonderful experience with Bennett Compost. I hate disposing good compostable waste down my garbage disposal and I don't have enough room in my tiny patio area to compost on my own. I love knowing that my food scraps go to people growing more food! I leave my bucket in the alley way to my apartment every Tuesday around 8pm and by 10pm it's empty so I can either bring in the bucket that night or in the morning. It's brilliant. You can start the service and it's an auto-pay monthly fee (using pay pal). However, you can pause service any time if you are traveling for the summer for example. The customer service is top-notch. I love that this service exists in the city. Hopefully someday the city will have it's own composting system but until then, Bennett is on top of it! read more

We used this service for approximately two years before leaving Philadelphia and had an overall terrific experience. Paying only $15/month, our compost was whisked away in the middle of the night once a week, reducing our weekly trash production to one bag, which due to the removal of organics, didn't stink. We lined the bucket with paper bags from Trader Joe's, which cut down on the accumulation of grossness in the bottom, as well as mitigated any smell. We kept the container in our kitchen and never had a problem with smell. Occasionally, we would have to wash it out ourselves, but I consider that a small price to pay. If we had a garden, we would have been eligible for compost in the spring, but since we don't, we were happy enough to know that we were doing our small part to make the city less disgusting. read more

Bennett Compost is a great business and I have been so happy with them. They pick up compost in a bucket the same evenings we put out our trash, so it's easy to remember. They are very accommodating as well, and have picked up extra bags of compost (i.e. leaves, remnants of container gardening, etc) at no extra cost a few times as well. They even offer free compost to their customers in the spring/summer, which is great if you have space to garden. They are reasonable and I filled up my bucket every week with no problem (think coffee grinds, fruit peels, veggie stalks, etc)--so glad these products were composted and not hauled to a landfill. I highly recommend them, especially to the first-time composter since Tim, the owner, is very helpful with any questions you may have and very accessible. read more

I signed up for the service, very excited to make good use of the large amounts of produce scraps that I have by week's end. There was one morning that I put the bucket out late and missed the driver and then another week I'd gone away and had to skip a week. However, there were two other times that the bucket simply was not picked up. It's frustrating to add scraps to fill three produce bags, freeze them so they won't leak or garbage drippings, and then put them out early in the morning so that the compost won't melt and attract bugs/mice...only to have it left. VERY FRUSTRATING!! I'm already busy and to remember another day other than trash day is enough. Then for it not to be picked up feels like a waste of my time. I called last week when there was no pick up to find out what had happened...leaving my address and name. I didn't hear back and when I called back the owner was indignant after I asked what had happened..."well we receive a lot of calls." I called and left two more messages this week and again never heard back. I thought I would call one last time today and again he was defensive as if I'd done something wrong. I gave him my area and street name and from 0-60 he wanted to know why I didn't give my name. We had just been on the phone for several seconds...give me a minute. Once I gave my information, he said " well that's all I wanted. now I can help you" I told him he was being patronizing and as he began to say, "Well maybe you should just...", as if he was going to tell me to go elsewhere. I hung up. He called back leaving a message not acknowledging the frustration of the bucket contents not picked up or the fact that he was about to send me on my way as a customer, but with "I think we were disconnected" I really wanted to do this. I'll see what else I can find. read more

Bennett Compost was always reliable and responsive to email! Also, $15 a month is very affordable. Highly recommend.

i love bennett compost.. compost bucket sits in my kitchen, i scrape veggie peelings into it directly, toss in everything else on the "list," which includes dryer lint, coffee grounds and dog hair. line bucket with new york times, doesn't stink, no mess in bucket after pick up. has greatly reduced sink mess in cleaning up, only put out a full trash bag for city once every 3 weeks now instead of every week. the folks at bennett answer my email queries promptly. just wish i could give a subscription as a gift to my brother in abington. read more