Composting may be the right thing to do for the environment, but it can be hard to get around the smell and the mess, particularly for town dwellers with small gardens. Compost Cab is a new service about to launch in Washington, DC, that removes some of the unpleasant aspects of the job..

Compost Cab provides customers with a bin equipped with a compostable bag liner. Each day clients will fill the bin with their organic material, and once a week Compost Cab will pick up the bag, leaving behind only a clean bin with a new liner. The cost is simply $8 per week per bin.

Clients who have been with Compost Cab for nine months or longer can claim some finished soil in return. For every fifty pounds of waste the company collects from them, they can receive five pounds of fresh compost and one pound of worm castings in exchange.

Apparently the average American family produces more than 500 pounds of leftover organic material every year. There’s no reason why a British family would produce any less. Composting not only keeps that waste out of landfills, but it also produces nutrient-rich, fertile, natural soil. In addition, it keeps organic waste out of other bins, thereby freeing space for other materials.

It’s early days , but this could well prove to be a big success in these eco-friendly times. And if it works in the United States, why not here?