Incorporate Composting... Do Not Disrupt!
When making the decision to stop trashing your food and garden waste in landfills and composting the waste your household produces, you basically have three choices. Easy right? Not so fast!
You can… 1) Compost for free by piling your garden and food waste up on the side; 2) Put it out for collection and pay a monthly service fee to your local waste provider; or 3) Choose to take ownership of the process and buy a composter that will help you do the job at home. In this article, we are listing a few things that you need to take in consideration when choosing the right composting method… for you.
Whatever solution you choose, what is most important is that you are electing to do something to stop dumping your food and garden waste in our landfills that are currently producing methane gas and polluting our environment. That by itself, is great news! As we mentioned in our previous article, composting at home (on-site) is believed to be the most eco-friendly and zero waste solution, as it does not involve transporting waste to an outside processing facility and producing CO2 emissions in the process. However, if you choose to compost at home (on-site) there are a few things that you need to think about to keep things tidy, efficient and without disrupting your daily lifestyle. Composting should be a long-term commitment and a change that you should incorporate to your daily chores, without disrupting your quality of life. Incorporate Composting… do not disrupt!
Choosing the Right Composting Method for you
- Composting for free by piling garden and food waste aside has been efficiently and successfully done for years in the USA. If you choose this method, you will need a sizable background and no nearby neighbors. It is recommended to create an open-area or composting zone of at least 3 square feet of space, and to spread some twigs or straw to ensure aeration and drainage. In addition, it is recommended to create a fence to protect the composting pile from unwanted animals including neighboring dogs. For fencing, you can use chicken wire or a similar material. Once the composting zone is created and safe-guarded, you will need to balance the ratio of greens (1/3rd food scraps, fresh plants waste); and browns (2/3rd sticks, dry leaves) material added. The brown materials will feed the organisms that will break down the scraps, while the greens are quick to decompose and supply the much-needed nitrogen. In addition, you need to manage the moisture and turn the composting pile (at least) every 2-3 weeks to keep it oxygenated. Lastly, always mix the material well and (if possible) leave a thin layer of brown matter on top.
- Putting your food and garden waste out for collection and pay a monthly service fee to your local waste provider, seems easy, and convenient. For sure, it seems to be the easiest and less disruptive solution for your lifestyle. However, even though you are sure that they will end in a reputable composting site, this is not the most eco-friendly solution as it involves the transportation of waste to an outside processing facility and the production of CO2 emissions in the process.
- Buying a composter bin that will help you do the job efficiently at home or to take things in your hands and compost at home, is believed to be the best solution for the environment. However, when choosing a composting bin, you need to choose a device that will help you with the new task without disrupting your daily chores and lifestyle.
Otherwise, you can be forced to stop composting at home and defeat the whole purpose. Today, choosing the most economic or valuable composting bin for you, may be confusing and time-consuming. This is due to the large selection of available options,
At HOTBIN, we suggest that you go through the process of checking if the features of those devices that spark your interest, meet your needs, do not disrupt your lifestyle, and (of course) if it is at a price that you can afford.
To conclude, whatever is your chosen method or device, do not lose sight of the main objective which is to compost your waste and do it efficiently, so that you can continue doing it going forward.
That said... Happy Composting!