Now that our trash diet is well underway, I wanted to share with you what I’ve learned about composting. This is the part of the program I was most excited about because I figured it would be an easy way to immediately start reducing our waste. But before I get ahead of myself, let me give you a quick primer on how exactly it works.
See below for a visual step-by step guide:
No really – that’s it! I have no idea why it took me so long to jump on the composting bandwagon because there really is nothing to it. Basically any food you can think of (plus a few non-food items like paper towels) can go in your compost bin so there’s no second-guessing yourself about whether you’re doing it right.
As I mentioned before, Seattle Public Utilities and The Glad Products company were kind enough to provide me with this counter top
composting bucket
as well as a supply of
Glad composting bags
. I have really enjoyed using these two products but truthfully all you really need to start composting is a bin to keep food in. Once it’s full you just dump it directly into your yard waste can (at least that’s how it works here in Seattle – check out the end of this post for other options).
I will say, though, that as a mama who deals with diaper pails and toddler potties all day, I’ve kind of reached my limit on dealing with sticky/stinky stuff. Which is why I appreciate the bucket’s charcoal filter and the bags. The filter does a pretty good job of keeping the food smells at bay with the bucket out on my counter and there’s really no odor at all when I store in in a cupboard. I also like the added convenience (and neatness) of being able to put the compostable bags straight into my yard waste.
So are you wondering if I was right about how much composting would reduce our waste? Click through for the answer as well as info. on how to get even more into composting and how to get the kids excited about it all.
In the first week of composting (and being better about recycling) our kitchen trash was reduced significantly – from our norm of at least 2 bags a week to just a little over 1 bag. The majority of that change was probably due to our recycling efforts because the only food we used to throw away were things we couldn’t put down the disposal, like chicken bones. What I noticed even more than our smaller trash pile was how much less water we were using by cutting back on the garbage disposal.
Also, C is really getting into composting and every time he asks to put his food in the compost bin I feel a small twinge of pride that my 2 year old even knows what that is. And I bet you can guess what secret weapon I used to get him excited about it…
It’s a bright and beautiful alphabet book all about composting and it’s got C jazzed to add to the compost bin after each of his meals.
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| photo via Sunny side up mama |
To wrap up, I also wanted to point out that if you don’t have the option of emptying your food scraps into your yard waste, you can always start composting yourself in the backyard. Check out
this post by
Sunny side up mama for some inspiration as well as another great book recommendation, this one for slightly older kids. Also,
Make and Takes recently did a great post on the why and how of backyard composting.
Does your family compost? If so how do you do it? Share with me in the comments below.
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3 Comments / posted in Life: Simplified
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We do compost and it goes out with the City on garbage day. We have to use lined paper bags, not plastic. I don’t use the bucket, I don’t have a/c and I don’t want it to stink in the heat. So, instead I use small bags and put them in my freezer. During meal prep I bring it out and it stays out until the end of dinner. Everyone puts their stuff in it and back in the freezer it goes! No mess, no stink.
We’ve been composting for a few years now and were also shocked at how simple it is. We have a small silver can with a lid on our counter and a large compost bin from Lowes in the back yard.
I would add two crucial pieces of info to the post – NO meat, dairy, or oils should go in. These cause the pile to smell, attract animals, and don’t break down as well.
Second – about a year into our journey we noticed a significant amt of fruit flies in the large composter. I contacted my friend, a Master Composted at Cornell University, and she said that the ratio of kitchen scraps to paper and/or dried leaves/hay should be 1:3!!
That wasn’t realistic for us, but by putting our paper shredder next to the garbage and shredding and adding all non glossy mail, we fixed the problem!
We recently got serious about our composting and we are amazed by how much we can compost, we save about a half of a bag to a bag of trash a week. Both of my children are involved (2 & 7) and it is all very exciting to them. Our city doesn’t pick up our trash in western PA., but thats ok, because I am excited to use it for my garden in the next few weeks
thanks for your post! I never knew about the glad compost bags…wonder how long it takes for those to break down?