We talk about how pollution is a worldwide phenomenon. Little do we notice how much of it is actually made up of wastes, and not just any waste but food that is wasted by households, restaurants, industries and so on. The amount of food waste that is dumped on a daily basis by households can add up to about 747 pounds in a year according to some research. In order to do our own little part and contribute to a greener mother earth, we can begin with better ideas on how to compost food. There are many ways to compost food wastes found in households. Some of the easiest methods will be discussed in this article.
Before you start composting your own food waste though, check with the municipal waste management corporation in your area to see if they have any policy regarding such practices. The reason for this is because some cities have strict policies against composting food scraps and wastes at home. Usually, such composting practices attract pests of various kinds, including rodents, mice and other vermin such as raccoons or opossums. Therefore, the area where you live in may have different policies over how such food composting process takes place.
Since you’re starting to compost at home, the first thing you should know that there are certain foods that you can compost while others that you can’t. We’ll talk about that as we discuss the different methods of composting. You can either compost in a bin or bury all of your food wastes in a trench, which will be very good for the soil. Just remember to contact the municipal authorities to confirm which is allowed and which isn’t.
If you are using a kitchen pail to compost all the foodstuff, then do create a home composting plan. Let this plan help you decide which food you can store in the kitchen and which you can keep aside for composting in the bin later on. There are many ways to store food scraps before composting. For instance; you can store scraps such as onion and potato peels in the refrigerator until you take them to your compost bin. If storing in the refrigerator creates space issues, then you can always chop or shred the scraps first, so they take less space. You can also store the scraps in a kitchen compost pail before taking them to the compost bin.
Keep a kitchen compost pail- this is one of the best ways to store food scraps until they are finally thrown into the compost bin. Since it is securely covered, there is no chance for the smell to leak. Which is why it can be kept inside the kitchen. Just stow it near the sink. When you buy one though, check to see that it is spacious, has a tight and secure lid, a handle and is washable. For smaller quantities of scraps, you can use any other container of your choices, such as yogurt containers or the like. Don’t forget to empty the containers on a regular basis, say, every few days at least, if not daily. Otherwise, not only will it attract cockroaches and rodents, but will surely make your home stink.
Another method is to directly dump your food scraps into the compost bin/bucket. But if that isn’t always possible, and if you’re exhausted of regularly emptying your containers of scraps, then use a larger container such as a 4-5 gallon bucket so you can stock a lot of food scraps at once. You can keep this bucket near your backdoor and to keep flies or pests away, you can simply cover the scraps with a wet towel, some peat moss, sawdust, leaf mulch, compost, soil, or newspaper. This will also help the stench from not spreading, but don’t forget to remove the paper when it becomes moist. Keep adding layers of moss, leaves, or compost so it can help in the breakdown process every time you put in new scraps. Once your bucket is entirely full, you can empty the contents, wash it, and reuse it again.
One other easy way of composting food is to bury the food scraps underground, also known as trench composting. Before you do so, contact your municipal authorities to know if it’s allowed in your area. To begin, all you need to do is start with a trench that is dug about 12-inches (30 cm) deep. Next, you can dump all your food scraps into the trench, mix them with the soil and then cover them up with the remaining soil, and you’re good to go. You’ll be surprised to learn that the rotten scraps will incorporate into the soil and make it even richer. If you want, you can also plant above them!
Another easy way to compost is to simply dig holes on the ground in your backyard, and dump your compost there. As simple as it seems, it can also be done in your very own garden. And since it’s so easy, all the lazy people out there are going to love this system of composting. Also, you’ll notice a difference in your plants as they’ll bloom once the soil is enriched due to the compost. You can also put this compost in any plant box or flower pot that you may have.
How you will compost will depend mainly on factors such as where you live, whether your place has a backyard or garden, what method you’d be more comfortable with, whether the municipal authority in your area allows food composting and so on. If you really have the intention of composting your waste then you should come forward and take action. Now that you know how to compost of food scraps in a few easy ways, you can choose which method is the best and easiest for you to follow. Hopefully, this article has helped you understand the different ways of composting and encouraged to do so if you haven’t started already.
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