How to ‘FoodCycle’ At Home in Tucson

In a step toward environmental sustainability, the City of Tucson introduced the FoodCycle At Home program, making it easier for Tucsonans to decrease food waste.

FoodCycle lets folks drop off food waste at designated sites, where it is then processed at the City’s Los Reales Sustainability Campus Composting Facility. In its first year in 2021, the program composted 261 tons of material. Now, that the FoodCycle program has an “At Home” option, they’re hoping for an even bigger impact.

What’s allowed: everyday food waste items such as fruit, eggshells, coffee grounds, bread, and leftover pastries in their composting efforts.

What isn’t: meats, oils (including butter), bones, egg yolks, and all plastics.

How it Works:

1. Sign up for a 30-minute information session to learn the basics
2. Complete the training and receive a free home kitchen compost pail to collect food scraps
3. Receive the code to access the container lock at drop-off sites
4. Drop off food scraps in containers at a City collection site 

The next 30-minute information sessions will be held on Saturday, January 25 at 10:00 a.m. and 11:00 a.m. at Reid Park Zoo, located at 3400 E Zoo Ct.

The learning sessions tend to fill up quickly, so keep an eye out for upcoming events if the January 25 times are spoken for.

For more information about FoodCycle, visit tucsonaz.gov.

Locked bins for food scraps are set up at each of the following locations:

• Blue Moon Garden: 1501 N. Oracle Road
• Highland Vista Garden: 5300 E. 7th Street
• Little Leaf Garden: 1315 W. Speedway Boulevard
• New Spirit Garden: 8701 E. Old Spanish Trail
• Pio Decimo Garden: 835 S. 7th Avenue
• Purple Heart Dog Park: 9820 Rees Loop
• Tucson Clean and Beautiful: 1360 E. Irvington Road
• Udall Park: 7290 E. Tanque Verde Road
• Ward 4 NRC: 8155 E. Poinciana Drive