Compost at Home or with a Service

Summary: Compost your food and reduce your waste and greenhouse emissions.

Description

Composting your food waste is an easy and affordable way to reduce your household's contribution of greenhouse gases! Over 51% of the trash that goes to landfills is compostable, contributing to the generation of methane, a powerful greenhouse gas that pollutes our planet’s air. 

Along with lowering your greenhouse emissions, composting can reduce your household’s waste, reduce trash disposal costs for both you and your town, and make your trash bin smell much cleaner without rotting food!  Also, you save money by producing a free, high-quality soil amendment – compost – which reduces your use of fertilizer and pesticides. FInally, your compost helps build healthier soil, prevent soil erosion, conserve water, and improve plant growth in your garden and yard.

Deep Dive

Can I compost at home?

Yes! By composting in your own yard, you avoid unnecessary transportation of materials back and forth and add nutrients back into the soil. Read instructions on the basics of composting from the EPA and the Rodale Institute. 

Can I compost if I live in an apartment?

Yes! For those without a yard, vermicomposting, or indoor composting with worms, is a space saving option. You can make your own bin or purchase one that has added convenience features through retailers. It is simple to do, and makes a fun science project for kids!

Want to sign up for curbside pick up?

Consider using outside companies for reliable weekly curbside pickup service of all your food scraps and organics, including food-stained newspaper, flower cuttings, meat, grease, cheese and even bones. Often in the spring  services will provide you a voucher for a bag of finished compost delivered to you or redeemable at participating Garden Centers, or you can donate your compost to Backyard Growers. Businesses, restaurants, schools, and assisted living facilities can use this service too. 

Steps to Take

Step 1: Determine the best composting option for your household.

• Outdoor compost bin
• Curbside pickup
• Composting machines

 Step 2: Read up on the basics of composting from EPA.

 You can compost at home by buying a compost bin or building your own.  There are a number of DIY options on the internet from using a barrel, pallets, wire or other wooden structures.  For ideas check out 15 DIY Compost Bin Plans by Stacy Fisher.  

• Use a small bucket on your countertop or other covered containers to collect your food scraps and empty them regularly into your yard compost bin.   
• Save some of your fall leaves or torn newspapers to mix into your pile to maintain the correct balance of materials. 
• A good rule of thumb is 3 parts brown material and 1 part green material.  Examples of brown material are fall leaves, pine needles, straw or hay, coffee filters, and dryer lint.  Examples of green material include grass clippings, coffee grounds/tea bags, vegetable and fruit scraps, trimmings from perennial and annual plants, animal manures (cow, horse, sheep, chicken, rabbit, but not dog or cat manure), and seaweed.
• The right balance of brown and green will give a "hot" compost that speeds the decomposting of the material turning into soil.  If you do not have the right mixture, the compost may not "heat" up, may take forever to break down, and could start to stink up your yard. 
• Other factors inpacting your compost is water and oxygen.  Joe Lamp'l has several podcasts and sessions that talk about Composting.

Step 3. If you can not compost at home, look into curbside pickup options. The companies that do curbside pick have a composting process that produces a very "hot" compost that readily decomposes your scrapes.  Therefore, they are able to accept a much wider variety of material such as bones, egg shells, wood, etc. 

Step 3: Happy composting and and spread the word!

Note: There are in-home "composting" machines.  While they will reduce the volume of waste, you still need the microbial process to convert what is in waste into what is needed as food for plants.  Do research before buying since prices vary and you may not be happy with the results.