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Bring on the Rot and Worms! Home Composting

As we note in the Green Life Guide, "Composting is the process of decomposing organic (plant and/or animal) materials to make nutrient-rich compost." Essentially, composting is nature's way of recycling organic material so that it can be used as food for other organisms. You can replicate this process at home, and use the compost as a nutritional supplement for indoor and outdoor plants - essentially, a natural fertilizer. This allows you to keep these materials out of your waste stream, and, consequently, our overtaxed landfills.

Home composters have two methods available to them: traditional outdoor composting, which involves collecting organic materials outdoors in a manner that creates favorable conditions for the natural process to occur, and vermicomposting, or using red worms to break these materials down (and can be done indoors or out). We explain both processes in our Green Life Guide entry, and MasterComposter.com has step-by-step instructions available. Your choice of one or both methods depends primarily on your living situation: if you live close to your neighbors, or in an apartment, you'll definitely want to use vermicomposting for kitchen scraps such as fruit and vegetable peels and egg shells. Rural residents can throw everything into the outdoor pile - you'll probably want it a little ways from your house, though, as it can smell (especially if not maintained)!

Your Action for Today:
Plan a Home Composting System

It's very easy to get started composting:

1. Choose the composting method(s) you plan to use, based on your living situation.
2. Decide where and how you'll collect compostable materials. For kitchen scraps, you may want to keep a container like an empty coffee can on hand for quick collection. Lawn and garden materials can likely go directly into your pile or bin.
3. For vermicomposting or quicker outdoor composting, you'll need a specialized bin. You can makeown, or buy one. your
4. Start putting compostable materials in the pile or bin. Remember: piles and bins both need relatively regular attention to maintain the optimal composting conditions. You can't compost meats, fats or dairy products without a specialized system.
5. Something not working right? Visit MasterComposter.com's discussion boards. You can also leave a question in the Green Options discussion forums.
6. When the compost is ready (which depends on the methods you use), add it to soil in your garden, flower beds, house plants, lawn... anywhere you're growing something.

Record the method you use, and the steps you take to implement it, in your Green Journal.

Tomorrow: Are there vampires in your house?

Sincerely,

The GO Team
GreenOptions.com