Food waste is the low hanging fruit of the waste world. Every year billions of pounds of food is wasted and added to the landfill; taking up valuable space and releasing methane as it breaks down, exacerbating climate change. On average, somewhere between 30-40% of the trash we throw out is actually compostable, and could (and should) be recycled into valuable fertilizer. Even if you don’t have a garden yourself, by taking nutrients out of the ground and failing to return them, we are breaking the carbon cycle and this path is ultimately unsustainable.
What’s more, this is an entirely fixable problem. No matter where you live, there is a way you can compost. In almost all cases, there is a way to compost and if we can compost even a little more of what we can, we’ll have made a pretty significant dent in moving toward a more sustainable future.
If you do have a garden you can recycle your wasted food directly by composting yourself, and feeding your garden to recycle the nutrients right back on to your table. Compost is magic, and there are many paths to success, but I promise you there is one that is right for you.
[interact id=”5dadd7dcc31fa100148b7b7d” type=”quiz”]
Community Composting
If you want to recycle your food scraps and support your local community garden, composting at your community garden is a fantastic option. Community gardens have become an entrenched part of communities all over the country and the world, and at most of these sites is an area to generate compost.
Members can bring food scraps from home and deposit them in the compost area. Gardeners then have access to freshly made compost which they use to fertilize their garden plots, and add nutrients and vital minerals to the soil.
Always check with your local community garden about any rules regarding their composting area, but typically this can represent a great partnership between the community and it’s members, all the while diverting food scraps away from the landfill. If you are interested in finding a community garden, a quick google search for a community garden in your area should yield results quickly.
Hire a Compost Pickup Service
If you live in a city, it can be easy to think that composting is not an option for you. But you’d be wrong. Some cities have really stepped up their food recycling game and added organic waste to their municipal recycling program. Cities like Seattle and San Francisco have added a third stream to their waste collection. In addition to a trash and recycling bin, they also provide a third bin for food and yard waste.
If you are not lucky enough to live in one of these areas, private companies have stepped up to fill the need. They will provide you with a bin and pick of your food waste on a schedule just like your city waste hauler. As food waste in trash has become less and less acceptable, these companies are growing in popularity. In my former home town of Portland, ME, 1 in 6 households have signed up for this service, and what was once considered a fringe experiment has become a normal and essential service.
Price of this service varies on location, but could be anywhere between $15 and $30 per month. To find a company which services your area, you can use this tool and it will spit out some options for you.
Bokashi Composting
Bokashi is a very old form of composting and has been used in some form for thousands of years. It uses a process called anaerobic decomposition, which means “without oxygen”.
After collecting your food scraps in a bucket or bin, you’ll need to add a special bacteria or “bran” to start the decomposition process. After just a couple of weeks, your food scraps will have partially broken down, which will massively decrease the time it takes to fully turn back into soil.
After just a couple of weeks, your waste will be ready to be buried in the ground, and just a couple weeks after that, will be readily available for all the plants in your garden. Considering most composting methods take at least 3 months, this can cut down your composting time dramatically.
Vermicomposting: The love of worms
Perhaps the most fun way to divert food scraps from the trash can, vermicomposting has long been a favorite of gardeners and eco warriors alike.
Once your worm bin is set up, composting worms can consume their weight in food scraps each and every day. They consume the scraps you feed them, and they excrete worm castings, which are one of the best soil amendments you will ever find.
There are some things worms don’t necessarily like to eat, and some things that are not good for them. As a rule of thumb if you avoid adding meats, dairy, oil, and onions, your should be alright with most other kitchen scraps. Worms love leafy greens and things high in sugar such as squash.
The Green Cone
The green cone is a composter which combines benefits of an upright composter, with the benefits of trench composting. The green cone is a composter which comes designed to sit below the surface of the ground a little bit. By both collecting your food scraps in a closed environment, it protects the waste from would-be pest raiders. The submerged design also allows worms and bugs in the ground to have easy access to the food so it can be easily broken down.
Between these two additional benefits, the green cone can be used to compost some more difficult items, even meat scraps can be broken down this way.
Compost Heap
Sure, there are a bunch of ways to compost food waste, but can’t you just throw everything in a pile and let it break down? Of course you can. This article is meant as a resource to showcase the fact that there is always a way to compost everything possible. But plain old compost heap is as old as time and tried and true.
If you want to keep it super simple, just pile all your compostable waste up and let it rot. The basic rule of nature applies, if it can decompose, it will decompose; let it rot!
However, if you turn your compost pile every once in a while (even once per month), it will greatly decrease the time it takes for your compost to be produced.
In the same vein, a proper mix of greens and browns will speed up the process. In general, you’ll want ⅔ browns to ⅓ greens. Loosely layer them one after the other and you compost heap will be cooking in no time.
The Compost Pit (Trench)
Sometimes an outdoor compost pile just isn’t feasible. Whether it’s because you have got intrepid squirrels or don’t want to look at a compost pile. Or maybe you don’t cherish the idea of breaking your back hauling compost everywhere. Whatever the reason, you can actually compost by composting in the garden. No Muss, No Fuss.
All you need to do is dig either a hole or a trench in your garden area. The hole should be about 1 foot deep. Fill it up with food scraps, top if off with dirt and let it rot!
As it decomposes, the nutrients will leach out and feed your plants over time. You should wait at least 3-4 weeks for the food to begin to break down. Then go ahead and plant!
Upright Rigid Bin
Getting started with composting using a rigid bin is downright easy. Most compost bins come with ventilation along the sides, and a lid on top to keep the critters out. Compost bins can provide basic but sufficient pest prevention, making them a very common composting solution for gardeners.
Tumbling Compost Bin
Want to have some fun? Tumbler compost bins come with all the benefits of a rigid bin, but they are also very easy to spin, making them super fun but also speeds along the compost pile by making it easy to consistently turn your compost.
Some tumblers are built with two chambers so you can compost in two stages. While one bin is cooking away, the second can store your finished compost. Them simply switch sides and compost on!
Build a Pallet Bin
If you want to give your compost pile little structure, but want something a little more rustic than a plastic bucket, you can put together a compost bin out of old wooden pallets. Pallets are everywhere, and can almost always be acquired for free or very cheap.
Just screw the pallets together, making a 3 sided box and you’re good to go. If you want to you can dig a trench to sit the sides in to make them more sturdy, but this may or may not be necessary for you.
Simple Wire Bin
So you don’t want the heavy duty structure of a pallet bin but you still don’t want your pile hanging out all over the place? A wire bin might be perfect for you. These are lightweight, discrete, and easy to set up. They are basically an open topped cube with a wire siding similar to chain link fence. These are a very low maintenance bin with a fairly large capacity. Perfect to get started quickly.
Leaf Pile (Leaf Mold)
Of course, if the only material you have to compost is leaves, the go for it! You can make wonderful compost with just the leaves from trees. Just throw them in a pile or in a wire bin and they will degrade just fine.
It should be said that leaves will takes some time to break down if they are the only ingredient. But you can speed up the process considerably by routinely adding water to your pile. You can also shred the dried leaves before adding them to the pile and that will speed it up as well!
Sheet Composting
Sheet composting is a great way to prepare your garden for the next season. If you’ve got an area you know you will be planting next year, you can prepare it by liberally spreading material to decompose levelling across the bed.
This method does not work so well for food waste as it is in the open air and will attract lots of animals, but if you’ve got yard waste (grass clippings and leaves), strategically spreading them on your bed and through the off season it will naturally break down and fertilize your bed. Come spring, your soil will be much healthier and your garden will thank you for it.
So there you have it, 13 ways to compost. I hope you can see now that there is a compost method for everyone. If you have a garden, there is no reason you cannot make your own compost spring in and spring out. Even if you don’t have a garden and just want to divert as much food waste from the landfill as possible, where there is a will, there’s a way!