Composting

[freeazabird]

Do you compost? Is it worth it? If so, how do I get started in the cheapest and simplest way?

[mbl]

Do you compost? Is it worth it? If so, how do I get started in the cheapest and simplest way?

We have a lot of space(acres) so I picked a spot past the orchard and fill it with vegetable cuttings , fruit cuttings and egg shells.
We never added anything to it.   I turned it over from time to time and it produces adequate compost.

[big_owl]

I compost all our household waste that is compostable.  Honestly I'm not sure it's really worth it.  I've been doing it for several years yet my pile is only about 2ft tall.  It certainly doesn't produce anywhere near enough compost to actually do anything with in the garden other than maybe add a tiny amount of compost to one of my raised beds.  And this even includes shredded paper waste and even algae that I clean out of my backyard pond.  Heck I even include the wood ash waste from my wood stove. 

Since I have a mulching mower I don't have any need to compost lawn clippings or leaves, maybe that's the problem.  The only real benefit I see is that the waste doesn't clutter up my trash bags (I can go up to 3 weeks without going to the dump) and it is less waste to the landfill so there's a tiny environmental benefit.

[Chris22]

Never understood the point myself, unless you've got a garden and you think it makes a meaningful difference there.  Most of my compostable waste (food waste) goes down my garbage disposal.  Not sure why composting is better.

[big_owl]

Never understood the point myself, unless you've got a garden and you think it makes a meaningful difference there.  Most of my compostable waste (food waste) goes down my garbage disposal.  Not sure why composting is better.

In my case I'm on a septic system so putting all that food waste down there is generally a bad idea. 

[Chris22]

Never understood the point myself, unless you've got a garden and you think it makes a meaningful difference there.  Most of my compostable waste (food waste) goes down my garbage disposal.  Not sure why composting is better.

In my case I'm on a septic system so putting all that food waste down there is generally a bad idea.

That I get, but for those of us on city sewers...

[dycker1978]

I compost.  I have a bin that I got from Home depot, I think.  I compost all of my house compostables, lawn clippings, leaves, weeds from the garden.  The bin is about 1/5' square and 5' tall.  I empty the compost out twice a summer and spread it on the garden.  So yes in my opinion it is worth it.

[Mtngrl]

I garden and I compost -- primarily because it does keep a lot of stuff out of the trash -- and I'm on a septic system, so putting it all down the disposer isn't an option. I live in the mountains where it is cold and dry, so it takes a lot of time for things to break down, but since we live on two acres, it's no big deal to dump stuff in the bin, stir it up every once in a while and let it break down. I spread the compost in the garden beds but it certainly isn't enough to make a huge difference. Still, it beats tossing the stuff. As for how to get started cheaply -- I began with a five-gallon bucket. I just put all kitchen waste (except meat scraps) and the few grass clipping we get from the one area we mow, into the bucket. Now I have graduated to a bin made of old pallets. You certainly don't need anything fancy. I have friends who just bury everything directly in the garden and this works too.

[Arktinkerer]

Works for us bigtime--we pick up coffee grounds from a couple of the local coffee houses that are a short walk from home.  About 15 or more gallons per week of grounds.  We rake almost all the leaves from the property (two city lots) into a large bin and mix the two together.    We do have some very large trees.  We also throw all food waste into another pile that we layer with leaves but the volume is much lower.Result is about a cubic yard of compost or more every year and a good reason to take a walk with my spouse every other day. We have a fair number of raised beds and can use all the compost we generate.

[MicroRN]

You can make super cheap composters with a roll of wire mesh and some 2x4s or T-posts.  I've seen a ton of designs for ones like this :  http://www.instructables.com/id/Simple-Compost-Enclosure-cheap-fast-n-easy/

Not pretty, but functional and gives you a chance to try it out.  We built a nice cedar 3-bay composter at our last house and plan to replicate that here.  For us it's worth it.  Less stuff going to the landfill.  Chickens eat most of our food scraps, but they produce waste that can be composted for the garden, and things they can't eat can go in the composter. 

[Chris22]

People keep posting about "less waste going to the landfill" but unless you're worried about number of trucks or whatever, why should I care about sending compostable waste to the landfill?  I mean, it can compost in my yard, or at the dump, who cares which?  The stuff to worry about sending to the landfill isn't the compostable stuff, it's the plastics and styrofoam and such. 

What am I missing?

[MicroRN]

Compostables do not compost in a landfill.  They are packed away tightly in bags, layered, and don't get the moisture and aeration necessary to compost.  Instead, the decompose anaerobically, which produces a lot of methane gas.  Methane is a greenhouse gas, is responsible for some of the infamous landfill explosions, and also hazardous to the landfill workers to breathe.   

Some areas will do commercial composting, where you have another curbside trash bin, and you can put food waste and yard waste in it. 

[dycker1978]

People keep posting about "less waste going to the landfill" but unless you're worried about number of trucks or whatever, why should I care about sending compostable waste to the landfill?  I mean, it can compost in my yard, or at the dump, who cares which?  The stuff to worry about sending to the landfill isn't the compostable stuff, it's the plastics and styrofoam and such. 

What am I missing?

This is not exactly true.  The stuff will compost at the dump for sure.  But it gets buried and mixed in with all the stuff that doesn't.  The result is a methane/h2s mixture that releases into the atmosphere.  This is a nasty green house gas.

I work for a gas company.  They are "tapping" into the methane from the landfill, hoping that this will be usable to burn in the various systems that supply to.  It is not, however.  Sweet natural gas that is burnt in furnaces is around 90%-99% methane, to give you a nice clean burn in your furnace, or whatever.  The "gas" that is produced in a dump is about 70% at best.  This is not usable in the system.  so they are stuck with what to do with the gas coming off of the dump. 

I have heard stories of explosions in dumps caused by the sudden release of the methane, but not sure of the validity of that.

[Chris22]

Fair enough, thanks guys.

[GuitarStv]

Never understood the point myself, unless you've got a garden and you think it makes a meaningful difference there.  Most of my compostable waste (food waste) goes down my garbage disposal.  Not sure why composting is better.

Using a garbage disposal and dumping your waste down the sink is much worse for the environment.  It means that your compostables break down anaerobically, which produces an awful lot of methane and then eventually a thick sludge.  This sludge gets screened out of the waste water treatment plant and dumped in a landfill.  Not really a good scene.  That doesn't cover the water waste that you have to use to flush the stuff down the drain.

Composting in your back yard:
- Is aerobic, so doesn't produce the quantity of greenhouse gases that using a garbage disposal does
- Doesn't end up in a landfill
- Doesn't waste water

[Chris22]

Never understood the point myself, unless you've got a garden and you think it makes a meaningful difference there.  Most of my compostable waste (food waste) goes down my garbage disposal.  Not sure why composting is better.

Using a garbage disposal and dumping your waste down the sink is much worse for the environment.  It means that your compostables break down anaerobically, which produces an awful lot of methane and then eventually a thick sludge.  This sludge gets screened out of the waste water treatment plant and dumped in a landfill.  Not really a good scene.  That doesn't cover the water waste that you have to use to flush the stuff down the drain.

Composting in your back yard:
- Is aerobic, so doesn't produce the quantity of greenhouse gases that using a garbage disposal does
- Doesn't end up in a landfill
- Doesn't waste water

That's another one I don't get, "water waste".  I live in Cook County.  My water comes from Lake Michigan.  It ain't exactly scarce.  If you live somewhere where it is, and it needs to be pumped in at great expense, got it, but I don't.  My water gets treated and then finds its way back into Lake Michigan and the cycle starts anew.

[dycker1978]

Never understood the point myself, unless you've got a garden and you think it makes a meaningful difference there.  Most of my compostable waste (food waste) goes down my garbage disposal.  Not sure why composting is better.

Using a garbage disposal and dumping your waste down the sink is much worse for the environment.  It means that your compostables break down anaerobically, which produces an awful lot of methane and then eventually a thick sludge.  This sludge gets screened out of the waste water treatment plant and dumped in a landfill.  Not really a good scene.  That doesn't cover the water waste that you have to use to flush the stuff down the drain.

Composting in your back yard:
- Is aerobic, so doesn't produce the quantity of greenhouse gases that using a garbage disposal does
- Doesn't end up in a landfill
- Doesn't waste water

That's another one I don't get, "water waste".  I live in Cook County.  My water comes from Lake Michigan.  It ain't exactly scarce.  If you live somewhere where it is, and it needs to be pumped in at great expense, got it, but I don't.  My water gets treated and then finds its way back into Lake Michigan and the cycle starts anew.

I am sure that is what was said about lake Mead before the drough.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2549619/Shocking-pictures-reveal-Lake-Mead-shrinking-dangerously-low-levels-threatening-Las-Vegas-water-supply.html

[Chris22]

Never understood the point myself, unless you've got a garden and you think it makes a meaningful difference there.  Most of my compostable waste (food waste) goes down my garbage disposal.  Not sure why composting is better.

Using a garbage disposal and dumping your waste down the sink is much worse for the environment.  It means that your compostables break down anaerobically, which produces an awful lot of methane and then eventually a thick sludge.  This sludge gets screened out of the waste water treatment plant and dumped in a landfill.  Not really a good scene.  That doesn't cover the water waste that you have to use to flush the stuff down the drain.

Composting in your back yard:
- Is aerobic, so doesn't produce the quantity of greenhouse gases that using a garbage disposal does
- Doesn't end up in a landfill
- Doesn't waste water

That's another one I don't get, "water waste".  I live in Cook County.  My water comes from Lake Michigan.  It ain't exactly scarce.  If you live somewhere where it is, and it needs to be pumped in at great expense, got it, but I don't.  My water gets treated and then finds its way back into Lake Michigan and the cycle starts anew.

I am sure that is what was said about lake Mead before the drough.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2549619/Shocking-pictures-reveal-Lake-Mead-shrinking-dangerously-low-levels-threatening-Las-Vegas-water-supply.html

Erm, you know Lake Michigan is 100 times bigger than Lake Mead, just in terms of surface area, right?  250 miles^2 versus 22,000.  And Lake Michigan is connected to the other Great Lakes? 

[Greenstache]

We have a garden, so composting makes sense for us.  We have a very simple compost bin which was provided for free by our county (an easy way to start composting for many people, as many counties provide free bins to encourage this behavior).  I find that the more fruits and vegetables we eat, the more stems and trimmings we have to compost, which makes me feel good both from a health and an environmental point of view.  We also recycle anything we can, so there's very little actually going into the trash.

[dycker1978]

Never understood the point myself, unless you've got a garden and you think it makes a meaningful difference there.  Most of my compostable waste (food waste) goes down my garbage disposal.  Not sure why composting is better.

Using a garbage disposal and dumping your waste down the sink is much worse for the environment.  It means that your compostables break down anaerobically, which produces an awful lot of methane and then eventually a thick sludge.  This sludge gets screened out of the waste water treatment plant and dumped in a landfill.  Not really a good scene.  That doesn't cover the water waste that you have to use to flush the stuff down the drain.

Composting in your back yard:
- Is aerobic, so doesn't produce the quantity of greenhouse gases that using a garbage disposal does
- Doesn't end up in a landfill
- Doesn't waste water

That's another one I don't get, "water waste".  I live in Cook County.  My water comes from Lake Michigan.  It ain't exactly scarce.  If you live somewhere where it is, and it needs to be pumped in at great expense, got it, but I don't.  My water gets treated and then finds its way back into Lake Michigan and the cycle starts anew.

I am sure that is what was said about lake Mead before the drough.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2549619/Shocking-pictures-reveal-Lake-Mead-shrinking-dangerously-low-levels-threatening-Las-Vegas-water-supply.html

Erm, you know Lake Michigan is 100 times bigger than Lake Mead, just in terms of surface area, right?  250 miles^2 versus 22,000.  And Lake Michigan is connected to the other Great Lakes?

Yes, I do know that... Is it not irresponsible though to say, I live close to lots of water, so screw everyone else. 

http://www.businessinsider.com/americas-about-to-hit-a-water-crisis-2015-4

YMMV

[GuitarStv]

Never understood the point myself, unless you've got a garden and you think it makes a meaningful difference there.  Most of my compostable waste (food waste) goes down my garbage disposal.  Not sure why composting is better.

Using a garbage disposal and dumping your waste down the sink is much worse for the environment.  It means that your compostables break down anaerobically, which produces an awful lot of methane and then eventually a thick sludge.  This sludge gets screened out of the waste water treatment plant and dumped in a landfill.  Not really a good scene.  That doesn't cover the water waste that you have to use to flush the stuff down the drain.

Composting in your back yard:
- Is aerobic, so doesn't produce the quantity of greenhouse gases that using a garbage disposal does
- Doesn't end up in a landfill
- Doesn't waste water

That's another one I don't get, "water waste".  I live in Cook County.  My water comes from Lake Michigan.  It ain't exactly scarce.  If you live somewhere where it is, and it needs to be pumped in at great expense, got it, but I don't.  My water gets treated and then finds its way back into Lake Michigan and the cycle starts anew.

We live on a planet that is 71 percent water.  It ain't exactly scarce anywhere.  Clean, fresh, easily drinkable water is a somewhat different story of course - that requires energy no matter where you live.

When someone talks about water waste they actually mean energy waste.  The energy that it takes to pump, filter, chemically treat, pump again, then get used.  The water you're generating from the garbage disposal doesn't 'find it's way back' to the lake.  It makes it's way into the waste water treatment there's a whole separate sets of pumping, filtration, pumping, and treatment that happens again.  You're lucky enough to be living in a place where this energy cost is lower than for much of the world (no long distance trucking/desalination/etc.).  It's still not trivial amounts of energy though.

[Chris22]

Never understood the point myself, unless you've got a garden and you think it makes a meaningful difference there.  Most of my compostable waste (food waste) goes down my garbage disposal.  Not sure why composting is better.

Using a garbage disposal and dumping your waste down the sink is much worse for the environment.  It means that your compostables break down anaerobically, which produces an awful lot of methane and then eventually a thick sludge.  This sludge gets screened out of the waste water treatment plant and dumped in a landfill.  Not really a good scene.  That doesn't cover the water waste that you have to use to flush the stuff down the drain.

Composting in your back yard:
- Is aerobic, so doesn't produce the quantity of greenhouse gases that using a garbage disposal does
- Doesn't end up in a landfill
- Doesn't waste water

That's another one I don't get, "water waste".  I live in Cook County.  My water comes from Lake Michigan.  It ain't exactly scarce.  If you live somewhere where it is, and it needs to be pumped in at great expense, got it, but I don't.  My water gets treated and then finds its way back into Lake Michigan and the cycle starts anew.

We live on a planet that is 71 percent water.  It ain't exactly scarce anywhere.  Clean, fresh, easily drinkable water is a somewhat different story of course - that requires energy no matter where you live.

When someone talks about water waste they actually mean energy waste.  The energy that it takes to pump, filter, chemically treat, pump again, then get used.  The water you're generating from the garbage disposal doesn't 'find it's way back' to the lake.  It makes it's way into the waste water treatment there's a whole separate sets of pumping, filtration, pumping, and treatment that happens again.  You're lucky enough to be living in a place where this energy cost is lower than for much of the world (no long distance trucking/desalination/etc.).  It's still not trivial amounts of energy though.

But it is nuclear energy.  So I don't feel bad about wasting that, either :)

[dude]

YES!  I compost all compostable material in my Green Machine, which my city subsidized (cost me $25).  I use the soil that results from composting for my garden every year.  And yes, I think it's so worth doing.

[dougules]

Never understood the point myself, unless you've got a garden and you think it makes a meaningful difference there.  Most of my compostable waste (food waste) goes down my garbage disposal.  Not sure why composting is better.

Using a garbage disposal and dumping your waste down the sink is much worse for the environment.  It means that your compostables break down anaerobically, which produces an awful lot of methane and then eventually a thick sludge.  This sludge gets screened out of the waste water treatment plant and dumped in a landfill.  Not really a good scene.  That doesn't cover the water waste that you have to use to flush the stuff down the drain.

Composting in your back yard:
- Is aerobic, so doesn't produce the quantity of greenhouse gases that using a garbage disposal does
- Doesn't end up in a landfill
- Doesn't waste water

That's another one I don't get, "water waste".  I live in Cook County.  My water comes from Lake Michigan.  It ain't exactly scarce.  If you live somewhere where it is, and it needs to be pumped in at great expense, got it, but I don't.  My water gets treated and then finds its way back into Lake Michigan and the cycle starts anew.

I get what you're saying, but unless your water is gravity fed (eg Portland OR), conserving water is conserving energy.  I'm in the south where we would never ever run out of water unless there is some severely drastic climate change.  Our supply comes from the river and groundwater, though, so it takes a decent amount of energy to pump it up into the water tower on the hill by my house. 

Anyway, back on topic, I don't know if composting household trash really produces a lot of compost, but it definitely doesn't hurt. 

[GuitarStv]

Never understood the point myself, unless you've got a garden and you think it makes a meaningful difference there.  Most of my compostable waste (food waste) goes down my garbage disposal.  Not sure why composting is better.

Using a garbage disposal and dumping your waste down the sink is much worse for the environment.  It means that your compostables break down anaerobically, which produces an awful lot of methane and then eventually a thick sludge.  This sludge gets screened out of the waste water treatment plant and dumped in a landfill.  Not really a good scene.  That doesn't cover the water waste that you have to use to flush the stuff down the drain.

Composting in your back yard:
- Is aerobic, so doesn't produce the quantity of greenhouse gases that using a garbage disposal does
- Doesn't end up in a landfill
- Doesn't waste water

That's another one I don't get, "water waste".  I live in Cook County.  My water comes from Lake Michigan.  It ain't exactly scarce.  If you live somewhere where it is, and it needs to be pumped in at great expense, got it, but I don't.  My water gets treated and then finds its way back into Lake Michigan and the cycle starts anew.

We live on a planet that is 71 percent water.  It ain't exactly scarce anywhere.  Clean, fresh, easily drinkable water is a somewhat different story of course - that requires energy no matter where you live.

When someone talks about water waste they actually mean energy waste.  The energy that it takes to pump, filter, chemically treat, pump again, then get used.  The water you're generating from the garbage disposal doesn't 'find it's way back' to the lake.  It makes it's way into the waste water treatment there's a whole separate sets of pumping, filtration, pumping, and treatment that happens again.  You're lucky enough to be living in a place where this energy cost is lower than for much of the world (no long distance trucking/desalination/etc.).  It's still not trivial amounts of energy though.

But it is nuclear energy.  So I don't feel bad about wasting that, either :)

Maybe you should.  Nuclear energy is a non-renewable resource.  There's only about 80 years of material left to be dug up to fuel the industry at current consumption rates: http://phys.org/news/2011-05-nuclear-power-world-energy.html

[secondcor521]

Super-dumb-composting-questions-I-should-probably-google-but-I'm-too-lazy-right-now-and-y'all-probably-know-and-are-willing-to-answer:

I've been sorta trying to compost for a few years now by dumping all of my grass clippings and branches from a bush I didn't want on the ground in a pile in the corner of my yard.  It's not composting - it isn't hot, and it isn't turning into anything looking like compost or soil.  The grass clippings turn brown eventually, but that's about it.

What am I doing wrong?

Do I need to add liquid?  Turn it?  Buy some worms?

I thought compost just magically happened if you just started a pile, but there must be more to it than that.

Another question:  I have a Mexican fireplace on my patio that I occasionally burn stuff in and am left with wood ash waste I guess.  Can I / should I put the ash waste in the compost pile, or throw it away, or spread it on my lawn, or ... ?

Thanks!

[CanuckExpat]

Never understood the point myself, unless you've got a garden and you think it makes a meaningful difference there.  Most of my compostable waste (food waste) goes down my garbage disposal.  Not sure why composting is better.

Using a garbage disposal and dumping your waste down the sink is much worse for the environment.  It means that your compostables break down anaerobically, which produces an awful lot of methane and then eventually a thick sludge.  This sludge gets screened out of the waste water treatment plant and dumped in a landfill.  Not really a good scene.  That doesn't cover the water waste that you have to use to flush the stuff down the drain.

Composting in your back yard:
- Is aerobic, so doesn't produce the quantity of greenhouse gases that using a garbage disposal does
- Doesn't end up in a landfill
- Doesn't waste water

It's complicated, like most things. Composting is probably better in most cases, but it's not always convenient or something people want to do at home. Municipal compost collection takes care of this, but not a lot of places offer that.

Putting things through a garbage disposal can be good or bad, depending on your plumbing system, the local sewage system, and what they do with their waste. Some places go as far as to collect it and generate energy, some places are probably just dumping it all back out relatively untreated.

As people alluded to earlier, stuff doesn't really "compost anyways" in a garbage dump the way people think. Trash facilities have to be designed not to allow uncontrolled decomposition for safety and stability reasons, and things get weird with lack of air, etc.

I've composed at home, using a large bin, small containers, a worm system, and considered an electric composting thingy; as you can tell it was more of a hobby and out of curiosity. They all worked well, produced compost at a reasonable rate and got rid of waste, but I'm not sure if I'd go through the hassle of setting different systems up again somewhere new, and would hope the municipality would take care of it.

I think the most efficient system would be for me to be feeding my foodwaste to the dogs, and then composting their small amount of waste (yes, I know pet waste has to be composted at higher temperatures). It would keep the dogs happy  and save me money on dog food :)

[JoRocka]

Never understood the point myself, unless you've got a garden and you think it makes a meaningful difference there.  Most of my compostable waste (food waste) goes down my garbage disposal.  Not sure why composting is better.

Using a garbage disposal and dumping your waste down the sink is much worse for the environment.  It means that your compostables break down anaerobically, which produces an awful lot of methane and then eventually a thick sludge.  This sludge gets screened out of the waste water treatment plant and dumped in a landfill.  Not really a good scene.  That doesn't cover the water waste that you have to use to flush the stuff down the drain.

Composting in your back yard:
- Is aerobic, so doesn't produce the quantity of greenhouse gases that using a garbage disposal does
- Doesn't end up in a landfill
- Doesn't waste water

That's another one I don't get, "water waste".  I live in Cook County.  My water comes from Lake Michigan.  It ain't exactly scarce.  If you live somewhere where it is, and it needs to be pumped in at great expense, got it, but I don't.  My water gets treated and then finds its way back into Lake Michigan and the cycle starts anew.

I am sure that is what was said about lake Mead before the drough.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2549619/Shocking-pictures-reveal-Lake-Mead-shrinking-dangerously-low-levels-threatening-Las-Vegas-water-supply.html

Erm, you know Lake Michigan is 100 times bigger than Lake Mead, just in terms of surface area, right?  250 miles^2 versus 22,000.  And Lake Michigan is connected to the other Great Lakes?

that doesn't mean it's an endless source of water.

Ultimately - and this is what it sounds like- you're looking for reasons to justify not doing something.
Which really- if you don't want to do it- then don't do it.

I'm not particularly green- I don't claim to be- I wasn't raised that way- and it's difficult to be "green" where I live in NJ.

But I do the best I can b/c I absolutely believe even a little bit can help.
I don't have a good reason to compost- it's actually inconvient for me- and my BF hates it. But even in the month or two that I've stopped throwing organics out- I've reduced the amount of waste that goes out my front door to be picked up on Mondays.

That's a win.

[Kriegsspiel]

I just made a pretty easy worm bin as shown here. It's a tad more work to scrape food scraps into a bowl then into the bin, as opposed to scraping them into a trash can. I feel good about doing it, and it will result in fertilizer.

My worms spent the first few days trying to escape from the cozy little habitat I built them. Ungrateful wretches.

[ooeei]

Never understood the point myself, unless you've got a garden and you think it makes a meaningful difference there.  Most of my compostable waste (food waste) goes down my garbage disposal.  Not sure why composting is better.

Using a garbage disposal and dumping your waste down the sink is much worse for the environment.  It means that your compostables break down anaerobically, which produces an awful lot of methane and then eventually a thick sludge.  This sludge gets screened out of the waste water treatment plant and dumped in a landfill.  Not really a good scene.  That doesn't cover the water waste that you have to use to flush the stuff down the drain.

Composting in your back yard:
- Is aerobic, so doesn't produce the quantity of greenhouse gases that using a garbage disposal does
- Doesn't end up in a landfill
- Doesn't waste water

That's another one I don't get, "water waste".  I live in Cook County.  My water comes from Lake Michigan.  It ain't exactly scarce.  If you live somewhere where it is, and it needs to be pumped in at great expense, got it, but I don't.  My water gets treated and then finds its way back into Lake Michigan and the cycle starts anew.

It's pretty simple, a treatment plant doesn't have to work as hard for a city where everybody composts their waste than a city where everyone dumps it all down the sink.  It's just making the treatment plant work harder (more energy) for no gain, not to mention potential clogs and other things that require maintenance that wouldn't otherwise be needed.  Compost your food waste and it becomes part of the soil, locking up carbon and providing nutrients for plants that generate oxygen.

For one person, it doesn't make that much difference.  But we can argue that about pretty much anything.

[PhrugalPhan]

My situation is a little different.  I got a subsidized compost bin years ago.  By composting and recycling, I can keep my trash output near zero (yes I am single) and avoid the $30/mo. trash pick up fees.  I take the $30 I would have spent on trash pickup and invest it every month (through a DRIP).  I'm on year 9 of doing this, and the DRIP is up near $5,800 with a nice $40/qtr dividend.  I understand it wouldn't work for most people, but it works for me.

[Cranky]

It's not like composting is hard. When I was growing up, we always just had a compost pile for food scraps and grass clippings. My dad turned it over a couple of times a year, and when it got annoyingly large he tossed the bottom layer onto the garden.

You can build bins, or you can buy one. I bought a black plastic bin with a door at the bottom at least 10 years ago, and all of our food waste except meat (which is not a big item in our diet anyway) gets tossed in there year round. I take out a 2quart tupperware container at least once/day. I give it a little poke with my tiny shovel every couple of days. Sometimes I throw some shredded paper in there.

At the beginning of summer and at the end of summer I take out a couple of buckets of compost and dump them on the garden and dig them in. It's not some super fertilizer, not like manure, but it does improve your dirt quite a bit.

We generate very little actual trash between the recycling and the compost, and I think that's a good thing, given that it's super easy. I guess that if you pay for trash pickup by the bag it would save money, but that's not the issue for us.

[rockeTree]

I find that thinking of composting as waste management rather than as soil manufacturing makes sense- you really see the difference with your trash output (reduced and notably less gross) but an average household won't make oodles of compost in a typical setup. It's the most ecologically sound thing you can do with food and yard waste, it might save you a few bucks or trips to the dump, and hey, a couple buckets of free fertilizer now and then!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Grosgrain]

Just like anything, composting can be as simple or as complicated as you want it to be.

At it's simplest, 'cold' composting involves dumping all your compost-able organic waste together and waiting for time/worms/micro-organisms to work their magic.  Eventually, there will be compost at the bottom of the pile that can be added to your garden.

'Hot' composting requires the correct combination of nitrogen-rich materials (greens such as grass clippings, food waste, weeds, etc.) with carbon-rich materials (browns such as leaves, shredded paper, etc.).  Compost is produced much quicker with this method, and pathogens and weed seeds are killed by the heat.   

Here's a quick run-down of the two methods:  http://www.finegardening.com/hot-composting-vs-cold-composting

[GoCubsGo]

 I just got a letter from my town offering Curbside Composting bins that will be picked up weekly.  Any idea what is done with the material they collect? 

Also, it's $12 a month which seems a little excessive and will probably stop most people from signing up. I'm on the fence but at $144/year it's seems like a costly burden unless it's really green and they are disposing of it responsibly.

[Arktinkerer]

I just got a letter from my town offering Curbside Composting bins that will be picked up weekly.  Any idea what is done with the material they collect? 

Also, it's $12 a month which seems a little excessive and will probably stop most people from signing up. I'm on the fence but at $144/year it's seems like a costly burden unless it's really green and they are disposing of it responsibly.

Always find the accounting/politics of these things interesting.  Usually the cost of the landfill is higher over its lifetime and so they want to discourage dumping it in the garbage.  In my locale its actually illegal to put yard waste in the garbage.

Then you may have a populace that is use to paying nothing (or nothing extra) to have yard waste picked up.  But they want to charge extra for yard waste pickup to be composted?  What do they do with the yard waste if they don't pay for this service?

I've read about a few places that charge for the volume of trash/yard waste picked up.  I really like that idea.  The closer people get to paying the true costs the more realistic people are in their choices.

[Miss Prim]

I compost everything I can.  We make plenty of compost because I have laying chickens too so the poop goes in as well.  I have a huge garden because I grow most of my vegetables and freeze or can.  Still, the compost would not be enough to till into the soil and I do no-till anyway, so I just take a scoopful and put it in the hole before I plant.  Seems to work well as I usually get good crops.  I also plant a cover crop in the fall for extra nutrition.  I love the fact that between composting and recycling, I am helping to keep stuff out of landfills.

                                                            Miss Prim

[big_slacker]

We have curbside composting in our city trash collection. It's illegal to put food waste in the landfill can. Our goal is to have that can be as empty as possible. Some weeks we have nothing in it at all. Recycle is always full to the brim and composting the bottom covered and sometimes full of yard waste.

[tthree]

DH made this beauty five years ago.   Works well as you can have one side "finishing" add you to the other side.   Front slats are removable.  We have a garden to put the compost into.   Works great aside from the volunteer strawberry plants that take over my garden.

[GuitarStv]

I just got a letter from my town offering Curbside Composting bins that will be picked up weekly.  Any idea what is done with the material they collect? 

Also, it's $12 a month which seems a little excessive and will probably stop most people from signing up. I'm on the fence but at $144/year it's seems like a costly burden unless it's really green and they are disposing of it responsibly.

You would have to check with your municipality.  Different composting facilities can handle different types of compost.  The one that we have in Toronto handles a lot of stuff that you wouldn't put in a backyard compost . . . bad meat, bones, human and animal poop, disposable diapers, etc.

[big_slacker]

I just got a letter from my town offering Curbside Composting bins that will be picked up weekly.  Any idea what is done with the material they collect? 

Also, it's $12 a month which seems a little excessive and will probably stop most people from signing up. I'm on the fence but at $144/year it's seems like a costly burden unless it's really green and they are disposing of it responsibly.

You would have to check with your municipality.  Different composting facilities can handle different types of compost.  The one that we have in Toronto handles a lot of stuff that you wouldn't put in a backyard compost . . . bad meat, bones, human and animal poop, disposable diapers, etc.

It was my understanding that if the composting facility keeps the stuff at 150 degrees for a long enough period that meat, bones, etc. are fine to compost. That's the protocol for our local place.

On poop, I read a book on traditional japanese farming and the 'night soil' (aka shit) was very commonly used as compost, didn't know that wasn't safe?

[ABC123]

I have a compost bin in order to cut down on the amount of trash we but in the can.  I have a very small garden, but don't usually get around to using any of my compost in it.  I have a Rubbermaid tub that I drilled some holes in the bottom for drainage.  I have some 32 oz. yogurt tubs I keep in the freezer that we put fruit and veggie scraps in, and when those are full my 5 year old takes them out and dumps them in the Rubbermaid tub.  Occasionally, I will add some of the leaves that blow into the corners of the yard.  When the tub is full I take it to the other side of the yard and dump it on a pile.  Things seem to break down pretty quickly for the most part, so I only have to empty the tub once a year or so.  We go through a lot of fruits and veggies, so I figure we are keeping a decent amount out of the landfill.  We have a fairly large yard, so there is plenty of space for it.

Question for you composters -- newspapers, is it better to compost or recycle?  I know they will compost, but I have just always put them in the recycle bin, but lately I've been wondering which is actually better for the environment.

[shelivesthedream]

I just got a letter from my town offering Curbside Composting bins that will be picked up weekly.  Any idea what is done with the material they collect? 

Also, it's $12 a month which seems a little excessive and will probably stop most people from signing up. I'm on the fence but at $144/year it's seems like a costly burden unless it's really green and they are disposing of it responsibly.

You would have to check with your municipality.  Different composting facilities can handle different types of compost.  The one that we have in Toronto handles a lot of stuff that you wouldn't put in a backyard compost . . . bad meat, bones, human and animal poop, disposable diapers, etc.

It was my understanding that if the composting facility keeps the stuff at 150 degrees for a long enough period that meat, bones, etc. are fine to compost. That's the protocol for our local place.

On poop, I read a book on traditional japanese farming and the 'night soil' (aka shit) was very commonly used as compost, didn't know that wasn't safe?

I've looked into composting toilets before and the general advice is not to put it on edible plants but to spread liberally around any ornamental plants. That's after it's 'matured', though...

Composting seems obvious to me if you have any outdoor space. Chuck organic matter in pile. Wait. It goes away and compost appears. It really isn't rocket science. There is some optimising that you can do to make it speed up, but you really don't need to. We live in a flat but the council recently introduced food waste collection for composting and the best thing about it is that the bin doesn't smell any more! We have a little caddy and empty it into a big food waste bin at the bottom of the building every day or two.

It just seems so win-win-win. No more stinky kitchen bin, no food going to landfill (where it really does not decompose into fragrant and useable compost...), less fuel used for the bin lorries to heft your compostable waste around the country, you get some compost for almost no effort, you get to experience the magic of natural processes of decomposition.

By the way, I don't really know what a garbage disposal is. I've googled it, but I still don't totally get it. It's like some sink attachment that shreds stuff, so you just scrape your food waste (all of it, meat and all?) down the sink and it blends it and puts it into the sewage system? What for?

[mbl]

Never understood the point myself, unless you've got a garden and you think it makes a meaningful difference there.  Most of my compostable waste (food waste) goes down my garbage disposal.  Not sure why composting is better.

In my case I'm on a septic system so putting all that food waste down there is generally a bad idea.

We're on a septic system also,  the same system for 26 years.
If the box and leach fields were created properly, there isn't any issue....at least we haven't had any.
I don't have a garbage disposal so organic material goes into the compost heap.
I've had enough decomposed material to use in the garden.   
Works out reasonably well for us.

[Chris22]

By the way, I don't really know what a garbage disposal is. I've googled it, but I still don't totally get it. It's like some sink attachment that shreds stuff, so you just scrape your food waste (all of it, meat and all?) down the sink and it blends it and puts it into the sewage system? What for?

Yes.  You don't want to put too much down at one time, or scraps that are too big, but yeah, basically it's a couple rotating blades that mince up food waste so it can go down the drain.  Means you don't have to scrape plates into the trash and then wash them, washing them is a one step process.  I grew up without one, and my parents (on septic) still don't have one, and it really makes a huge difference in the amount of time it takes to clean up from a meal, especially a holiday with a large number of people eating. 

[GuitarStv]

I just got a letter from my town offering Curbside Composting bins that will be picked up weekly.  Any idea what is done with the material they collect? 

Also, it's $12 a month which seems a little excessive and will probably stop most people from signing up. I'm on the fence but at $144/year it's seems like a costly burden unless it's really green and they are disposing of it responsibly.

You would have to check with your municipality.  Different composting facilities can handle different types of compost.  The one that we have in Toronto handles a lot of stuff that you wouldn't put in a backyard compost . . . bad meat, bones, human and animal poop, disposable diapers, etc.

It was my understanding that if the composting facility keeps the stuff at 150 degrees for a long enough period that meat, bones, etc. are fine to compost. That's the protocol for our local place.

On poop, I read a book on traditional japanese farming and the 'night soil' (aka shit) was very commonly used as compost, didn't know that wasn't safe?

I've looked into composting toilets before and the general advice is not to put it on edible plants but to spread liberally around any ornamental plants. That's after it's 'matured', though...

Composting seems obvious to me if you have any outdoor space. Chuck organic matter in pile. Wait. It goes away and compost appears. It really isn't rocket science. There is some optimising that you can do to make it speed up, but you really don't need to. We live in a flat but the council recently introduced food waste collection for composting and the best thing about it is that the bin doesn't smell any more! We have a little caddy and empty it into a big food waste bin at the bottom of the building every day or two.

It just seems so win-win-win. No more stinky kitchen bin, no food going to landfill (where it really does not decompose into fragrant and useable compost...), less fuel used for the bin lorries to heft your compostable waste around the country, you get some compost for almost no effort, you get to experience the magic of natural processes of decomposition.

By the way, I don't really know what a garbage disposal is. I've googled it, but I still don't totally get it. It's like some sink attachment that shreds stuff, so you just scrape your food waste (all of it, meat and all?) down the sink and it blends it and puts it into the sewage system? What for?

Human poop and urine can be used as compost, but without the right conditions (very high temperature is my understanding) to allow it to compost you are going to be putting everyone around you at risk of bacteria and other pathogens.

[Janelle]

I got an amazing composter for free on craigslist. It's the kind on stilts that you turn. We live in an apartment, and put the composter on our patio. The plus was that we had to take out the trash much less often, and the negative was that we, as apartment dwellers, had a hard time finding carbon based (brown) materials to balance out the mixture. Mostly we put shredded junk mail and leaves from around the property. It's all about balancing green and brown materials.

[shelivesthedream]

I just got a letter from my town offering Curbside Composting bins that will be picked up weekly.  Any idea what is done with the material they collect? 

Also, it's $12 a month which seems a little excessive and will probably stop most people from signing up. I'm on the fence but at $144/year it's seems like a costly burden unless it's really green and they are disposing of it responsibly.

You would have to check with your municipality.  Different composting facilities can handle different types of compost.  The one that we have in Toronto handles a lot of stuff that you wouldn't put in a backyard compost . . . bad meat, bones, human and animal poop, disposable diapers, etc.

It was my understanding that if the composting facility keeps the stuff at 150 degrees for a long enough period that meat, bones, etc. are fine to compost. That's the protocol for our local place.

On poop, I read a book on traditional japanese farming and the 'night soil' (aka shit) was very commonly used as compost, didn't know that wasn't safe?

I've looked into composting toilets before and the general advice is not to put it on edible plants but to spread liberally around any ornamental plants. That's after it's 'matured', though...

Composting seems obvious to me if you have any outdoor space. Chuck organic matter in pile. Wait. It goes away and compost appears. It really isn't rocket science. There is some optimising that you can do to make it speed up, but you really don't need to. We live in a flat but the council recently introduced food waste collection for composting and the best thing about it is that the bin doesn't smell any more! We have a little caddy and empty it into a big food waste bin at the bottom of the building every day or two.

It just seems so win-win-win. No more stinky kitchen bin, no food going to landfill (where it really does not decompose into fragrant and useable compost...), less fuel used for the bin lorries to heft your compostable waste around the country, you get some compost for almost no effort, you get to experience the magic of natural processes of decomposition.

By the way, I don't really know what a garbage disposal is. I've googled it, but I still don't totally get it. It's like some sink attachment that shreds stuff, so you just scrape your food waste (all of it, meat and all?) down the sink and it blends it and puts it into the sewage system? What for?

Human poop and urine can be used as compost, but without the right conditions (very high temperature is my understanding) to allow it to compost you are going to be putting everyone around you at risk of bacteria and other pathogens.

Yup, but that's why you want to be avoiding edible plants and using a proper composting toilet (it all goes into one of two special receptacles which 'matures' for a year while you fill the other receptacle) rather than just emptying your chamber pot into the garden. I'd probably also be wary even after all that if I had small dirt-eating children, but I'd generally feel very confident using 'humanure' in my garden if my husband would get over his "icky feelings" about using composting toilets (and when we buy a house rather than rent...) I think it's great and wish it would be more mainstream, especially in public buildings like museums that have attached gardens/landscaping. I've only used one as a *ahem* user, not an owner, but it seems easier to maintain than conventional plumbing because it's so incredibly simple.

[Kriegsspiel]

"One crucial economic problem for hygiene in preindustrial Europe was that human waste had little or no market value, because it was not socially acceptable to use it as the valuable fertilizer it was for farm and garden purposes. As Alan Macfarlane notes, 'where in Japan, night soil could be used in lieu of rent, in England one had to pay to have it taken away.'"
- Clark, A Farewell To Alms

You'd think the peasants in Japan would all be really into bean cuisine.

[Eowyn_MI]

Super-dumb-composting-questions-I-should-probably-google-but-I'm-too-lazy-right-now-and-y'all-probably-know-and-are-willing-to-answer:

I've been sorta trying to compost for a few years now by dumping all of my grass clippings and branches from a bush I didn't want on the ground in a pile in the corner of my yard.  It's not composting - it isn't hot, and it isn't turning into anything looking like compost or soil.  The grass clippings turn brown eventually, but that's about it.

What am I doing wrong?

Do I need to add liquid?  Turn it?  Buy some worms?

I thought compost just magically happened if you just started a pile, but there must be more to it than that.

Another question:  I have a Mexican fireplace on my patio that I occasionally burn stuff in and am left with wood ash waste I guess.  Can I / should I put the ash waste in the compost pile, or throw it away, or spread it on my lawn, or ... ?

Thanks!

A pile of pure grass clippings has a tendency to mat together and this really slows down the composting process.  Anything you can do to air it out and break up the matted grass will help.  I would recommend turning the whole pile while adding any available materials that are high in nitrogen: fruit and vegetable scraps, manure, urine etc.  If the pile does not feel damp to the touch then it needs more liquid.  Adding a few shovelfuls of soil will help the composting process too.  Ash is fine to put in compost as long as it is a small quantity in comparison to the whole pile.