How to start composting

How to start composting 7

Compost

Dig in to get the dirt on composting.

Composting is a lot like sex. It's a healthy, natural process involving fertility, tumbling around, and -- when it's going right -- steaminess. On top of that, some people call it dirty.

It's not our fault we're squeamish. Most Americans are praised from an early age for taking out the garbage -- not hoarding it and keeping scraps of it in our kitchens. Toss in the false mythology that composting is complicated, smelly, and wormy, and it's understandable that we've wrinkled our collective noses at it.

But no longer. Today, growing legions of converts are hot to rot, from celebs like Julia Roberts and Pierce Brosnan to heaps of urbanites, suburbanites, and local governments.

Modern composting is easy, odor-free, and ultra-earth-friendly, providing rich, fertile soil that retains water and needs no nasty fertilizers or pesticides. The process -- in which microorganisms munch organic materials and break them down into dark, nutrient-rich humus (which should not be confused with ground chickpeas and will not taste good with pita bread) -- actually helps reduce global warming, since it slashes the CO2 and methane gases released when organic waste sits neglected in landfills. And the rewards are robust plants, fruits, and veggies -- a bountiful harvest indeed.

Here's how to start digging in.

Don't leaf all this organic goodness in your garbage!

Level One: The Baby Steps

Take a load off. The average American throws away more than 4 pounds of trash every day, up to half of which is compostable; New Yorkers alone toss enough garbage each day to fill the Empire State Building, according to the Clean Air Council. Time to stop trashing and start treasuring. For food waste, use a dishwasher-safe ceramic composting crock pot or other small vessel to collect scraps right on your kitchen counter. Toss in just about everything that isn't dairy, meat, fish, or oils and fats. Collect yard waste in bins or bags, whatever your town prefers.

Kick it to the curb. In some places, the next step is as easy as walking to the curb. In San Francisco, for example, residents can put compost out in green bins for weekly pick-up. New York City, for its part, offers a downloadable "Worms in the Green Apple" [PDF] guide to public composting sites that welcome your waste. Other towns have composting projects at community gardens. To find a dump spot near you, call city hall or your local recycling center, or check out the online state listings at BioCycle magazine.

Level Two: The Next Steps

Manage your microbes, mini-style. No matter how small your digs might be, all that's needed to start your own compost system are nitrogen-rich "greens" (veggie and fruit scraps, coffee grounds, green plants, etc.) and carbon-rich "browns": dead flowers, leaves, twigs, and such. Even cramped urban dwellers can go compostal: Just collect those greens and browns in a container on your deck, balcony, or other outdoor spot. You can buy small composting bins online or, if you're on a modest budget, snag one of the reduced-price bins offered by dozens of cities, from Seattle and Santa Cruz to Anoka, Minn. Better yet, make your own bin.

Expand your operations. Got more space and bigger composting goals? Buy one of the larger composting containers -- they come in tumblers or pyramid and beehive shapes, among others -- and start piling in the scraps. Another option: Make a DIY wire enclosure or, if anarchy is more your style, just start a heap in a dry, shady part of the yard. Keep your compost moist (not soggy) and give it air every week or so by turning it with a pitchfork. And to make sure your pile heats up (which means things are rotting properly), check out the simple do's and don't's offered in online guides [PDF] or at your local gardening store.

Gotta hand it to 'em: those worms do wonders.

Veni, vidi, vermi. Vermicomposting -- in which worms speed up the compost process -- is another way to turn waste into wondrous topsoil. Red wigglers, the most common compost squigglers, live happily in small indoor bins that you can make yourself and plop in your basement or, for apartment-dwellers, under the sink. (Worms need moist, cool, dark digs in temperatures between 40 and 80 degrees Fahrenheit, so keep them outside only in moderate climes, and don't let them roast in regular outdoor compost piles, which can reach 145 degrees or more.) Purchase composting worms online or try harvesting some night crawlers from your own backyard. Stuck on the yuck factor? Watch a vermicompost video to see how worthy worms can be.

Don't waste another minute -- start composting now.

Level Three: The Big Step

Give a shit. Of all the leaps that eco-warriors are taking, embracing the humanure, um, movement, is one of the bravest. Fecal matter, as we all know, carries lethal diseases, stench, and the worst image problem on earth. But today those prejudices are getting flushed. Modern composting toilets, from the basic to the swanky, provide odor-free sanitary systems that morph human waste into safe and compacted compost -- without ugly visuals or other eww factors. Excretions go into a compartment where they break down into compost that can be buried in the yard, garden, or landscape. Since the units don't require water or electricity -- and don't need energy-and-chemical-laden waste treatment processes -- the environmental benefits are enormous. (Consider: About 40 percent of America's indoor water use goes to flushing toilets, wasting more than 4 billion gallons of H2O a day.)

Composting privies are perfect for remote or arid landscapes; eco-conscious homeowners are trying them, too. To make sure they're legal in your state, check with your local public health department or consult The Humanure Handbook. Install one, and you'll have unbeatable greenness -- just a throne's stow away.

Resources

General composting information, tips, and advice
How to Compost.org
Compost Guide
Green Culture
Environmental Protection Agency
YouGrowGirl

Composting supplies
Gardener's Supply Co.
GreenCulture
NatureMill
Greenfeet

Guides to neighborhood and community composting
BioCycle magazine
EPA guide to composting programs

Wormy goodness
City Farmer
Freshtopia
Earthworm Digest
Worm Woman

Composting toilets
Sun-Mar
Oikos
EPA fact sheet [PDF]
The Humanure Handbook

bhurley Posted 11:38 pm
18 Aug 2008
Urban compostingAfter 10 years in rural Vermont where composting was second nature, I moved to a city. It turns out that my city (Montreal) subsidizes the cost of plastic compost bins, so we picked up one last year. I was amazed at how efficient those bins are at turning kitchen scraps into compost -- the scraps we put in there about two weeks ago are already close to being finished compost, and we ended up getting a second bin to allow a full batch to finish while we add material to the other bin. Between recycling and composting our weekly trash for two people consists of one or two kitchen size garbage bags.
The biggest challenge at the beginning was finding some soil or finished compost to get the process going. Bagged topsoil or compost tends to be fairly sterile, most of the microbes don't survive, and we had to dig some soil from a local park (shhhhh!) to get things really going. But once the composting process starts you can use your own finished compost to get the next batch going.
Permalink
PermieWriter Posted 1:43 pm
19 Aug 2008
CompostingWe use a stacked worm bin and a Biostack for our garbage, very successfully. Don't listen to people who say that earthworms can't survive in wormbins - ours do just fine. We put fine stuff like tea bags (tag and all), greens, leftover rice, etc. in for the worms and the bigger stuff like avocado peels, some yard waste, egg shells, etc. into the Biostack.
If you put your Biostack in the sun, its contents will compost much more quickly than in the shade. Our marauding raccoons can't seem to get into the Biostack (thank goodness) but some rodents do like nesting in there. More work for the cat.
Permalink
PaulMasterson Posted 3:18 am
20 Aug 2008
Certified compostable bagsOnly use certified compostable 'bioplastic' bags for kitchen and garden waste, these are made from plant starch and will compost the same as other plant matter. If you go shopping and your shop offers starch bioplastic bags(NOT 'degradable' NOT 'oxo-degradable' plastic) you can reuse these bags to collect kitchen and garden waste for your compost heap or bin.
Production of just one million tonnes of bioplastic instead of petro-plastic would reduce annual greenhouse gas emissions by FOUR millions tonnes a year, this is why bioplastics are booming, and it's why we should all change to bioplastics wherever it is practical to do so. Reducing greenhouse gas emissions will help reverse the climate change that is responsible for many crop failures, thus increasing the amount of food available in the world.
Forget 'degradable' and 'oxo-degradable' plastics, they are made from ordinary high CO2 generating plastic, the fact they 'might' biodegrade is irrelevant as they have already done their damage by then, by increasing CO2 levels by a factor of at least double their own weight.
http://www.european-bioplastics.org/index.php?id=151
Bioplastics use as little as 25% of the energy used in making petro-plastic, and it's good to save energy.
Many bioplastics are compostable at home, the best one's for this are potato starch and blends of potato and corn starch, these are available from Stanelco in the UK, http://www.stanelcoplc.com this bioplastic is as strong as petro-plastic, you won't tear them or make holes in them when filling them up.
Waste and carrier bags made in the UK from this Bioplastic are available from Comp-Bio Products at http://www.comp-bio.co.uk or made in Canada and USA by Indaco Manufacturing at http://www.indaco.ca or in several EU countries by Sphere S.A at http://www.sphere.eu or Australia/N.Z via BioPak at http://www.biopak.com.au or in the Middle East via Isracaps at http://www.isracaps.com
Read the FAQ on bioplastics, these are the facts not the hype, rumour, or old wives tales about Bioplastic
http://www.european-bioplastics.org/index.php?id=191
Permalink
bhurley Posted 11:36 pm
20 Aug 2008
Voice of experience on bioplastic bagsI used bioplastic bags in my compost bin and I'm here to tell you that, while it's true they will compost, it takes a long, long time compared with regular plant materials. Like a year, at least. They're the one thing that hasn't completed composted in my otherwise "finished" compost from last year. They're certainly decomposing, but if you want to just toss bioplastic bags filled with kitchen scraps into your compost heap you should be prepared for a long wait.
Permalink
PaulMasterson Posted 3:48 am
21 Aug 2008
Fountain of Bioplastic knoledgeHi bhurley,
Then you have bought the wrong bags, the one's I refer to are certified to compost by at least 90% within 90 days, and by compost the certification requires that 90% of the product is compiosted into nothing more than water, CO2, and matter that can be consumed by plants.
The certification on these bags has been performed by three separate testing bodies, OK Compost, BPI(Biodegradable Products Institute), and DIN CERTCO.
I suggest you request samples from the companies I have listed, I am sure they will oblige, and I am sure you will be satisfied with the quality and composting time ;-)

Permalink
marisap Posted 12:34 am
26 Aug 2008
japanese bokashi?I've got a very small apartment with no outdoor space and have been wondering about the Japanese Bokashi systems. They seem to ferment waste rather than compost it. I haven't talked to anyone who has actually used it, so i don't know how much to trust that it works indoors with no smell.
Permalink
Zephaniah Posted 4:44 pm
26 Aug 2008
Dig itWe have been composting for years in a 3' by 2' patch of dirt in our yard. We dig down two shovelfulls, dump in scraps, cover with dirt and tamp it down. Within about three weeks, the vegetable and fruit peels, paper napkins, coffee grounds and eggshells have turned into dirt. It's wierd but the amount of dirt there does not seem to visibly increase. If a squirrel or other critter discovers it, mashing the scraps in the dirt with the shovel before covering them helps discourage the mammals.
If the ground gets too frozen to dig, I use a couple 20-25 gallon rubbermaid storage containers with holes cut near the top for air. I put in about 3 inches of half dirt and half wet torn up newspaper and purchased redworms. I cover the scraps with dirt and also put a loose piece of plastic over the dirt to discourage insects. If I'm careful not to put in more food than the worms can eat before it molds, it doesn't smell or attract flies.
Permalink

Add a Comment

You are not logged in. Thus, you cannot post a comment. If you have an account, log in. If you don't have an account, well, by all means go make one! Meet you back here in five.