Composting is one of the best things you can do for the environment on an individual scale. Most of the food waste we generate on a daily basis is sent to landfills where decompensation produces methane, one of the most potent greenhouse gases. Deciding what method of composting works best for you will be dependent on the environment you live in and proximity to local compost facilities. You can learn more about why composting is the best thing you can do for the environment, here. Below we’ve broken down the most popular methods of at-home composting for you to determine which method will work best for you.
How To Start A Compost Pile
Your nitrogen to carbon ratio often, called the “greens-to- browns ratio,” is your ratio of wet scraps to dry scraps in your compost pile. If your greens to brown ratio is off your compost pile will begin to smell, and will be more likely to attract animals and bugs. The proper green to brown ratio will ensure that your compost pile does not smell and is also hot enough to decompose. Your greens include things like grass clippings and food scraps. Your browns include things like dry leaves, paper, cardboard, straw, sawdust, and wood chips. Generally, a 4:1 browns to greens ratio should allow for your compost pile to heat up enough to decompose while not smelling. When decomposing, your compost pile should smell like fresh earth, not rotting food. If your compost pile smells like rotting food, add more browns. If your compost pile is not decomposing, or not heating up enough, you usually need to add more browns – though too much carbon can also cause a cold compost pile (but it won’t stink).
One way to get started is to go to GetChipDrop.com and order a free pile of wood chips. Add food waste to the pile. But wood chips are slow to breakdown and GetChipDrop.com will likely leave you with a massive pile of wood chips to deal with. If you have the land this is an easy way to get started.
If you find yourself with a soggy, smelly, nasty compost mess and need more carbon than you have access to, try a big bag of pine pellets for horse bedding at a farming store. A little goes a long way.
You’ll have to stir your compost pile so all your food scraps get composted, depending on how big your compost pile gets, this can be a lot of work. Despite that, a simple compost pile is one of the easiest and most cost-effective ways to get started with composting at home.
Let Us Do it For You
Having a company pick up your scraps is probably one of the easiest ways to compost your food waste if you live somewhere without a backyard, or don’t have time to manage a compost pile in your yard. You can collect kitchen scraps into a bin and then pay to have it picked up on a weekly basis. When you compost this way, your compost is usually sent to an industrial compost facility. One of the benefits of this method of composting is being able to compost items that don’t break down quickly enough for your backyard composting piles, like compostable packaging and bones. The downside to this, obviously is that you pay for the service, and you won’t have instant access to your compost. Often times you can pay for finished compost through the company that picks up your food waste, depending on the company – Midtown Composting gives each customer 15 gallons for free. To see if you live in an area where you can have compost picked up, check out this website.
If you live near Detroit, you can sign up with us here for $16 a month.
Trench Composting
Trench composting is one of the easiest and cheapest ways to compost at home. Trench composting, or hole composting, involves digging a hole or a trench in the ground and then burying your compost. The size of the trench you dig will depend on the amount of compost you generate. Some people dig a whole trench, while others dig several holes, but either way, they should be between 12-18 inches deep. Store your kitchen scraps in a bin inside, and when your bin is full, dump it outside and cover it with dirt. It’s that easy. The hardest part was digging the hole.
This method of composting doesn’t require any rotating or stirring, you don’t have to worry about greens to browns ratio, and your compost won’t smell or attract rodents if it’s deep enough. When it’s time to use the finished compost you can dig up the compost or just move your gardening space above the compost.
If your ground freezes in the winter, this method may be a little more seasonally challenging, but if you’re small scale composting at home this is our favorite method.
Outdoor Composting Bins
There are a couple of different types of outdoor composting bins. Outdoor composting buckets can be convenient for some but come with some significant downsides. If you’re constantly adding compost to your composter then your compost will not finish. Some people have 2 composters, one with fresh kitchen scraps and one that is finishing the composting process.
Most outdoor composter bins have small openings that can be difficult to work with. Additionally, even a simple outdoor composter can be pricey, especially compared to the free method of trench composting. If you’re looking for an outdoor composter you’ll likely want to get a continuous composter. Generally, continuous composters are rotating composters with multiple sections that needed to be rotated every day for your waste to break down into compost as fast as possible. If you go this route, get one with a big hole so you can easily access the compost. With the right ratios of nitrogen and carbon this method can be very fast for producing relatively small amounts of compost.
Vermicompost
Vermicompost uses red worms to decompose your scraps and can be done inside at room temperature. You’ll need a bin for your worms. You can build your own or buy one. We’re partial to the Urban Warm Bag. The size of your worm bin will depend on the amount of organic waste your generating. A family of 2 will on average produce half a pound of waste per day and should, therefore, have a worm bin that is 2 feet by 2 feet, with 1 pound of worms. An average family of 4 should have a worm bin that is 3 feet by 3 feet and full of 2 pounds of worms. Red worms will live and eat at the top 6 to 8 inches of the food waste material. To get your worm bin started you’ll want to create a damp environment, with some sort of base bedding, like newspaper or coco coir and a bit of soil or finished compost (or partially finished) for the worms. Adding soil or finished compost to your worm bin can also add microbes that will help break down the food faster.
In theory, red worms can eat half their weight each day, but this depends on conditions.
- 500 worms | 1/2 lb of worms | 1/4 lb of food a day
- 1000 worms | 1 lb of worms | 1/2 lb of food a day
- 2000 worms | 2 lbs | 1 lb of food a day
If you’re worried about the smell of your worm bin you can add coco coir, a type of coconut fiber, on top of the food scraps. You can also sprinkle diatomaceous earth on top to keep bugs from populating in the worm bin, but if it’s managed right this usually isn’t a problem. The ideal temperature from your worms is between 55-85 degrees. If your worm bin is getting too hot you can add more carbon so that there are not enough “greens” to heat the compost.
Worm castings are gold to farmers and avid growers. A little goes a long way and it’s great for seedlings. One of the great things about worm poop is they’re very high in nutrients including nitrogen but the nitrogen releases slowly so you won’t burn your plants.
Fun fact: Worms love dog and cat poop!
Bokashi Composting
Bokashi composting, like Vermin composting, can be done in your house, making it a convenient option if you live in an apartment. Bokashi composting allows you to compost meat and dairy as well, which won’t break down in your regular compost pile as quickly, and isn’t accepted by all residential compost businesses. You’ll need a bokashi composter that with a lid that seals, and some sort of spigot at the bottom to drain off liquids. You can buy a bokashi composter or make one for around $20. You’ll also need the bokashi bran, the bokashi bran has microbes that speed the composting process along. Dump your food waste into your bin (and pet waste), add the bokashi bran on top, squish to get all of the air out, and then close the lid. You’ll want to drain the liquid that forms at the bottom, in order to prevent your compost from smelling, but the liquid you drain off can be used as a fertilizer for your plants. Bokashi composting only takes a few weeks but this method doesn’t fully compost food waste. It can be added to your garden as mostly-composted compost (which many plants love and it’s great for worm activity), or add it to your outdoor compost pile to finish decomposition.
So, Which Method is Best?
Picking the best method for at-home composting can be a daunting task, especially if you’re really diving into the research, but just know whatever route you go you’re doing the environment a favor. If you’re looking for the cheapest and simplest way to compost we recommend trench composting, if you want to invest money into your composting setup, the Bokashi system, or the worm bin are both great options. And if you can’t decide, try more than one. We have an outdoor continuous compost bin, an indoor and an outdoor Urban Warm Bag, a bokashi composter, a massive pile, and a few trenches. We also still get some of our food waste picked up buy Midtown Composting (our buckets of orange peels usually go to the industrial compost facility). We also produce a lot more food scraps than the average family so we had a lot to work with and try out. At this point we don’t use the continuous composter at all, but we do use all of the other methods, with the worm bag and the pile being most practical for us.
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