Green Adventures: Transforming Trash

Green Adventures: a series in which we invite you into the adventures from our journey.

Transforming Trash

About a year or so ago I started to realize the overwhelming amount of waste that left our home every single week. Thanks to some of those programs where they show how much trash people accumulate and throw out over a couple weeks time, I was not only ashamed but felt compelled to do something more about our own waste levels.  Enter composting.

Composting was a way to significantly reduce the amount of trash sent to landfills and generate prime, organic fertilizer for our home garden.  For composting-newbies, composting is basically collecting organic matter such as your kitchen and garden waste and helping it decompose.  The end product is dark soil filled with nutrients for your plants.  So you begin with would-be garbage, cut out its trip to the landfill, wait a while, and find yourself holding the ultimate organic fertilizer.  And it’s free.  It’ takes minimal effort, saves money, helps your garden, and cuts your impact on creation.  It’s a win-win-win.

I was tempted to compost for a while but wasn’t sure how to go about it or get started.  I had looked up composters online but found them quite expensive to buy.  At the same time, because I did not really know what I was doing, I was hesitant to build my own.  While doing some other green research I came across a program where the sanitary district in my city offered a composter which was heavily subsidized by some grant.  Whereas I had been seeing composters for $70-80 for entry level composters and on up from there, my city was offering the Earth Machine (pictured above) along with a kitchen collector for a mere $20.  The appointed time had come and I sprung into action. 

After squeezing the composters (I actually picked one up for my church as well) into the back of my little Civic and getting it home, I immediately set it up, oozing with enthusiasm.  Sounds a little weird, I know.  I put the kitchen collector next to the trash and we starting diverting would-be trash.

Surprisingly, it did not take long to adjust to composting versus trashing.  My mind quickly switched to the mindset of asking first if something could be composted.  If not, then could it be recycled?  Only then would I open the trash can.  And with a kitchen collector (pictured below) right there, it didn’t really take any extra effort.  Once the collector was full I would take it to the composter out back.  Every so often I would turn it over to ensure it was mixed well and aerated.

Here is a list of some of the things I have thrown in:

• Coffee grounds and filters
• Food scraps (everything including fruit waste, pasta, vegetables, nuts, corn cobs and fruit peels but not dairy, meat, and large fruit pits)
• Tea bags
• Leaves, some grass, garden waste
• Paper napkins and paper towels (not all but quite a bit)
• Some newspaper
• Compostable cups

When I started we did not have a whole lot of leaves and other “browns."  [Note: in composting it is extremely helpful to have a good balance of greens (nitrogen rich items like vegetable waste and coffee grounds) and browns (carbon rich items like dried leaves and straw) in order to speed up decomposition and avoid a stinky pile.]  While the balance was good enough to avoid any stench, the pile did not get heated up too much and progressed slowly.

More recently however, I have noticed that my composter is really cooking (literally and figuratively).  As I was turning it the other day, there was even steam coming off of it in relatively warm California weather.  Because I keep adding more and more material and turning it in with the rest, I have not yet taken any out.  But when I do there will be a ton of good, decomposed, would-be trash.  How exciting!

In case you’re wondering here are a few things I would do differently from the start:

• I would work to achieve a better balance right away.  While we have always had a decent balance, it was more lacking at the beginning.  This had to do both with a lack of necessary inputs (i.e. leaves) as well as a casual attitude.  However, now I find myself wishing I had been more intentional up front.
• I would be more aggressive about collecting fodder for my composter.  This includes collecting my food scraps from meals out (which I wrote about earlier in The Strange Things We Do) and gathering leaves from our local park and neighborhood when needed for balance.
• I would be more careful about the size of garden waste. We made the mistake of throwing the remnants of our summer garden plants in without cutting them up small enough.  By cutting them smaller there is more surface area available which can be broken down.
• I might think about purchasing a composter turner to help with turning the compost. I have been using a 3-tine cultivator kind of like this one which has worked pretty well for me.
• I would not put compostable cups in my compost. I have had some in my composter for a few months now and they do not show any signs of breaking down.  There were not specific instructions on the package but I have come across notes elsewhere that say they will take at least 6 months and possibly over a year to break down completely.  I might consider guerrilla composting them by just digging a hole in the ground somewhere for them to break down on their own schedule.
• I would get a second collector for dry compost.  For Christmas I was given another kitchen collector.  Not the most common Christmas gift, huh?  What does that say about me?  Anyways, I decided to use one for things that would not mold or attract flies inside and another for the moist, attractive-to-bugs items like tea bags and banana peels outside. That has helped to keep bugs out and lessen the urgency to take things all the way to the composter right away.  Of course, in my situation this is aided by the fact that there is a kitchen window that opens to an outside counter which makes it super easy to use the outdoor collector.

The inside of my composter after a recent addition of leaves, grass, and kitchen waste.

Some final thoughts for you:

• It has not smelled at all.  Many people are afraid of the stink or of annoying their neighbors, but this is something that is easily controlled with good management.
• You may remember that I have previously talked about my composter when I did my post on the adventures of trying to bake my own bread. Then I showed you a picture of my failed first attempt to make my own bread sitting in the composter.  I’m happy to report that were you to (be weird enough to) dig through my compost you would not find it.  It is fully broken down or is at least unrecognizable.  How cool is that!
• At one point I went to add items to my composter and noticed that the contents were undulating.  A closer inspection revealed a swarm of maggots devouring the contents.  A little research revealed debate about whether or not this was a good thing.  I seemed to lean on the side of it being beneficial (like worms they quickly break the food down helping you out) and decided to allow them to stay.  Before I knew it though they left as quickly as they had come and have not come back since.  I kind of miss the ugly little things.  Just kidding, but (sort of) seriously.
• As I mentioned, I also picked up one of these for my church.  I installed it only to have it stolen a few weeks later (yes, with rotting food, coffee grounds, and garden waste inside).  How bizarre!  Seriously, who steals a (used and dirtied) composter?  Instead of taking the risk of having my heart broken again, I re-purposed some pallets that we came across and built my own (pictured to the right).  It actually worked pretty well until people started mistaking it for a trash can and garden waste collector (filled to the brim only with leaves and trash).  How?  I don’t know.  I am a bit discouraged but am planning on giving it one more shot while I wait for the leaves to break down.  For this, I hope to build a second one with some pallets I am hoping to score this week.  Perhaps I will have enough to put a lid on it or something.  Ps. if you happen to be the Costa Mesa compost bandit, please make your compost confession and stop.

Note: in our Creation Hope store we sell a rotating composter (which is much easier to turn) and a worm bin (which is a great way to compost). Note that these are expensive options. While we would love you to support us by purchasing one, I actually recommend that you first check and see if your city offers a subsidized composter like mine above. Also, if you are the adventurous type, consider building your own (there are a variety of ways you can do this). You can find instructions online or through the resources below.

Sometime soon I will do a full post on how to get started composting. In the meantime here are several resources for you:

• Compost Guide
• Compost Mania
• How to Compost
• Composting 101
• EPA – Composting

Also consider:

Green Adventures: All Aboard (Part 1) 

Definitions: Carbon Footprint

*Kitchen Collector image from Earth Machine

*Compost Turner image of Exaco Trading ECO Spyro Compost Mixing Tool as seen on Amazon

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