Q: How do I sign up?

A: We are currently piloting collection in select areas. You can sign up or preregister to bring collection to your town (no financial commitment) through the CHaRM sign up page.

Q: When are the pickups?

A: We will be collecting items monthly. Sign up for a monthly collection subscription or a pay as you go option. Customers will be notified prior to the pick up letting them know they can opt-in for the next pick up. All customers will be notified of their specific collection date a week before the pick ups begin. Subscribers can also opt-in through their account dashboard.

Q: Where do I leave my items for pickup?

A: We ask that you leave your items in a specific pick up location like your front porch or front steps on your scheduled collection date. You can let us know where to look for your items when you complete your order. We recommend NOT leaving items out on the curb to ensure all items are recycled as intended.

Q: What do I put my items in for pickup?

A: All customers will receive 2 standard size bags for Electronics, Textiles and Donations and a green bag for plastic stretchy film. Please only put one item type in each bag. You are allowed to put the same item type in multiple bags of you have more of one (i.e. 2 bags of electronics). If you have more than 2 bags of electronics, textiles or donations you can add on additional bags for a fee when opting in to your pickup. We ask these be left in standard paper grocery bags. 

All TerraCycle categories should be placed in TerraCycle Zero Waste Bags. These are available for purchase through your customer dashboard when you opt in for pick up. 

Q: What items are accepted for pickup?

A: We are currently collecting Electronics, Textiles, Donations, Plastic Stretchy Film, and for an additional fee TerraCycle Zero Waste Bag Categories. Please view a comprehensive list of what is accepted here. 

Q: I do not see my specific item on the accepted page, what do I do?

A: Please send an email to charm@blackearthcompost.com and we will let you know if we are able to take those items.

Q: Where do my collected items end up?

A: We have partnered with multiple facilities to ensure all collected items go to the proper end markets for recycling. All electronics are sent to a partnered Electronics Recycling facility for proper destruction and recycling, they are certified to all state and federal regulations for electronic recycling.

Plastic films collected through our program first go to a plastic film recycling distributor where materials are cleaned and bailed to be shipped to manufacturers. There the plastic films are typically combined with recycled lumber to produce composite products used as outdoor decking, siding, and furniture.

Donations and Textiles are collected through a partnered recycler who distributes all items for reuse if possible, or recycles them if they are unusable. 

All Hard to Recycle items are collected by TerraCycle who has partnered with a vast number of end market facilities to ensure all items are recycled properly. Learn more about TerraCycle here.

Q: What do I do with data on hard drives?

A: Our partnered Electronics Recycler does have NAID AAA certification for data destruction, so when hard drives arrive at the facility all data is removed before the items are recycled. We do recommend formatting all hard drives before putting them out for collection for sake of redundancy and security. Please Google your device name and "how to format hard drive" for information on your specific device.

Q: How do I get more TerraCycle bags?

A: TerraCycle bags can be ordered through the customer dashboard when you opt in for your next collection and will be delivered on your next pick up.

Q: How do I change what items are on my pickup order after opting in?

A: Please send an email to charm@blackearthcompost.com with what you need to change and we will update the order accordingly.

Q: I forgot to put my items out on my collection day, what do I do?

A: Please send an email to bulkdispatch@blackearthcompost.com and we will do our best to reschedule the pickup.