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Composting: A common dilemma for apartment dwellers
Here's a rogue approach to composting in 2011 — with the help of a neighbor's green bins. How do you compost?
Tue, Jan 04 2011 at 5:08 PM
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Photo: Siel Ju
I admit it. I don’t compost.
To be fair, I have looked into composting — a lot. Composting would be easy if I had a green bin — since L.A. and many L.A.-area cities now allow you to throw your food waste in those bins. Alas, apartment dwellers don’t get green bins. The trouble is, living in an apartment with a too-rodent-friendly balcony (squirrels mostly, but still) then moving to a very tiny balcony-less apartment doesn’t make composting easy. At this point, my lilliputian residence simply doesn’t have room for a composter, even if I were willing to pay hundreds of dollars for one.
But despite my reasons (excuses?), my uncomposted life is really getting to me. For day 2 of the No Impact Challenge — dubbed “Trash: Discover how wasting less improves your life” — I hoarded my trash for the weekend (the challenge asked for a day’s collection, but I haven’t taken out the trash since 2010) — and took a photo of it. There it is above.
You’ll notice I threw out some expired coupons and outdated calendars, a few pieces of mail, and a bunch of crumpled up notes on which I planned out my New Year’s resolutions. You’ll notice I drank a lot of berry juice and ate curry this week. And you’ll also notice I eat a lot of fruits and veggies — they make up almost all of my non-recyclable trash (save those non-recyclable jar and bottle lids).
If I could just find a way to compost, I would be able to bring down my non-recyclable trash to almost negligible levels. I mulled over this problem for a long time yesterday — and by mulled over, I mean I did some Google research. I started by considering the eco-confession made quite a few of my friends who live in apartments without blue bins: They surreptitiously sneak their recyclables into their neighbors’ blue bins on trash days. So I wondered: Could I too adopt a clandestine composting habit via the green bins of my neighbors?
Unfortunately, West Hollywood, where I live, doesn’t allow food scraps in its green bins. However, Beverly Hills, where I run, does. I further figured out that in the neighborhood where I run, trash collection happens Thursday mornings — which means I can plan my compost drops for Wednesday evenings.
I’ll report back on how Operation Compost goes later in the week. I also plan to ask the city for green bins that allow food waste — for both houses and apartments.
In the meantime, I’d love to hear your composting confessions. Do you compost — or not? If not, why not? (Remember — I still am not composting myself, at least until Thursday.) Do you think it’s okay to dump food scraps into other people’s green bins, or that it's a rude abuse of other people’s property?
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I live in UES in NYC and have a pretty good size easily accessible fire escape and nyc.org actually has a class on composting (with worms) in NYC. I am going to take the class and let you know how it goes. They compost with worms.
Vermicomposter for the past two years in sixth floor apartment in downtown Seattle. It's been amazing, and I use the worm castings to augment my balcony container garden. I LOVE my worms, and they take care of everything.
Let me join the comments advocating worms. Make sure you cover the stuff when you add it. And it's a good idea to freeze it in case fruit flies lay eggs on it before you put it into the bin. Make sure you thaw before you add it...
As for the concerns that worms "can't keep up", they can. You may have to start slow, but they reproduce pretty quick.
http://naturemill.com/
We bought a naturemill indoor composter that turns our family of 4's scraps into soil in less than a week. We were afraid of animals getting into an outdoor compost bin, and wanted to be able to compost food waste all year long. We have had it for almost a year and it is very easy to use. We store the soil in a bin to use on potted plants or in the garden throughout the year. I would recommend it for apartment dwellers or homeowners.
one pound of worms becomes 3 pounds of worms over a couple months...
As long as you don't overfeed initially, you'll eventually get up to large numbers. So if the initial cost of 3 pounds seems high, start with something lower. We started with 1 pound (or was it 1/2?) and by now, I estimate we have well over 5. Possibly 10 lbs in there.
...Is there a reason you can't knock on a door of someone who uses the green bin for compost and just ask their permission?
I would most certainly compost if I knew how to go about it. I live an apartment and I have no idea what to do! If there were public service announcements on composting, I would be more in the loop.
Come now, there must be hundreds, if not thousands, of hits when the term "compost" is input into a search. Saying "I don't know what to do" is a copout.
there are many many sites on the net just google
As a Master Gardener I do programs on garbage can composting, in which you can compost everything except meat scraps. It takes up small space and can be placed anywhere. Drill several small holes in a plastic garbage can, layer scraps including paper which you have torn into small pieces, cover with lid. Use in container gardening on your balcony.
I have a mother-in-law who would freak if you put anything into her trash cans. I'd say trash cans are private property and you should not put your trash in other peoples cans.
If freezer space isn't a huge problem, you can just stick your food scraps in a plastic bag (you can reuse one from the grocery store!) and put the bag in the freezer until you can take what you accumulate to a local farmer's market that accepts compost. It's a little annoying to open up the freezer and the bag every time you have food scraps, but I've found it to be worth it.
I've been using a worm bin for 3 years. They eat everything and adjust population based on how much food you put in the bin. Any odor problems you can cover with shredded newspaper on top. In addition you can dry egg shells and powerder them in a coffee grinder. This poured on top will take care of any odor. The worms are incredible, and the smell of vermicompost is very fresh and clean.
and if you use red wigglers you will have the best poop for your plants/gardens. RW double in population. every six weeks...then sell them or whatever
I used (and still use) a worm bin to compost my food scraps when I was an apartment dweller. They require no more care than a house plant, and provided that you don't overload the bin, the only smell you will detect is the smell of fresh garden soil. Highly recommended.
I noticed some of the other worm bin comments about not being able to process all of their food scraps. The capacity and throughput are dependent on the worm population. The worms will adjust their population according to the amount of food you regularly add, and you need to ramp up slowly. My bin was able to handle the food scraps of three adult vegans, so you know that's a lot of veggies. Just give them time and they will take care of everything.
Keiro is a compact food grinder that makes composting kitchen scraps a snap. Just throw in your compostable food waste, turn the hand crank, and Keiro will churn out scraps that are the optimum size for composting.
http://www.quirky.com/products/48-Keiro-Kitchen-Compost-Grinder?r=1051ea...
- Convenient size for kitchen counters, cupboards, and floors.
Curious how you managed to actually try this product as the link you provided is presale only at this time?
I couldn't compost in rainy Hawaii because of the fruit fly problem, but desperate for compost I got into the worm bin thing and it really paid off. I was able to compost everything plant-based, it was faster than a traditional bin, and never had flies. Good luck!
I have composted for over 2 years and live in San Francisco, where the city provides very large green bins to collect household organic material. There are many small kitchen compost bins that control odor using charcoal filters, into which I place the compostable waste. When it needs emptying, I simply take it to my larger bin, which is emptied weekly by our recycling service.
We have a large composting bin outside but we started a worm composter in our basement about a month ago. Really simple design - large plastic tote with holes drilled for aeration. Very easy to maintain and no odor. We can't put all of our produce waste in there - the worms wouldn't be able to keep up. But, the worms really go through the material we give them and make great compost. And, it cuts down on the number of trips I have to make (through the snow) to our outside bin.
I've also had a worm bin in my apartment and office at work for 3 years. Never smells if you don't overload it. I can't compost all my food scraps because my worms cant keep up with all of them. We eat a lot of produce in my household. Still, its better than having it all go in the trash and then to the landfill. There are commercial versions of worm composting bins too that make it easier.
Worms will work in Your apartment. My hint would be to purchase Worms Eat My Garbage by Mary Appelhof before you
start worm composting. Have Fun
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