The sun is shining, birds are singing, and the warmth is upon us, which means one thing: it’s composting season. Well, this may be the case in any other town. But in Oak Park, it’s always composting season.
In 2024, the village won the Pathfinder Award from the Illinois Recycling Foundation. Erica Helms, environmental services manager in Oak Park’s public works department, said the award praised Oak Park’s “successful year-round residential food scrap collection.”
The award noted Oak Park’s efforts provide “excellent guidance for other communities.”
But how does Oak Park do it? It goes back 12 years.
The village has demonstrated its ability to unite in protecting the Earth since 2013, when Oak Park implemented a “village-wide” composting effort, according to the Chicago Tribune. The program provided participants – who pay a monthly fee that began at $14 and now sits at $16.31 in 2025 – with a 96-gallon container to be placed adjacent to trash and recycling bins.
Twelve years later, the program still stands. Only now, in 2025, there are fewer obstacles than in previous years, making the composting process easier than ever.
This is thanks to the construction of Whole Earth Compost, a facility whose existence allows for certainty that all of Oak Park’s compost has a final destination, where it can then be turned into soil.
The facility is located on Chicago’s southeast side and is built on top of a former landfill. To conclude the composting process, the facility processes composted items that have been collected by Lakeshore Recycling Systems and transferred to a transfer station in Maywood.
Once compost arrives at the facility, it gets divided into two categories: “green” and “brown.” The “brown” category includes yard waste and “dry material”, while “green” primarily includes “wet” items, such as food scraps.
Helms explained the positive impact this facility has on Oak Park’s composting ventures.
“In the past, it has been that there weren’t that many places to take composting, but now there’s been a lot of funding and legislation that supports that,” she said.
This bodes well for the future of Oak Park’s composting efforts.
“We’re able to expand our programs and then make sure it gets composted,” said Helms.
Oak Park’s compost successes owe to the village’s multiple drop-off sites. These sites allow residents to avoid paying the $16.31 compost pick-up fee and still take part in the community’s composting efforts.
Currently, there are five drop-off locations, but Helms is optimistic about adding more. They are located at 1010 N. Ridgeland Ave., 1125 Ontario St., 720 North Blvd., 102 N. Lombard Ave., and 207 Garfield St.
Helms said the village is also working on holding future partnerships with the two school districts, D97 and D200, to encourage students to collaborate in an effort to “beautify” the drop-off sites in order to increase composting participation.
Composting harvests tremendous environmental benefits, such as its contribution to reducing methane emissions, one of the most harmful greenhouse gases.
“When your trash goes to the landfill, it all just gets, like, compacted down and into an anaerobic environment that causes more methane to be released,” said Helms. “If you divert your compost to a facility that aerates it, it breaks down properly. There is much, much, much less methane coming off of it.”
Helms made a call to action.
“The more people we get signed up and the more compost we divert from the landfill, the less methane will be released,” she said.
For information on how to get involved, and updates on Oak Park’s composting journey, visit https://www.oak-park.us/Services-Parking/Waste-Recycling/Compostable-Program