5 Things I’ve Learned From My Compost Pile

Composting can be intimidating.  Where do you start? (A pile is fine). Is it going to smell? (Sometimes, but that just indicates it needs a little love). How can I get my (husband/wife/partner/roommate) on board? (See saving money tip below). It can be tricky at first, but here are a few things I have learned along the way:

1. Anyone can compost, including me, including you.

If you don’t want to that’s fine too (here’s an option for you). But once I got going I realized it was easier than I thought, and wondered why I waited so long! (I’m just renting, we don’t have a lot of space, I don’t have the time etc.).

2. It really reduced my garbage!

Once I got most of my food scraps out, and dialed in my recycling, my garbage was mostly made up of plastic packaging: clamshells, blister packs, aseptic containers and other un- recyclables.

3. Composting saves money $

Now this won’t be true of every house and every situation, but when I started composting I was able to reduce my garbage pick up to an on call status.  Yeah, you can do that! The downside is after 6 weeks when our small bin would finally be full, and it REALLY needed to be emptied, we’d forget to call and would be reminded when the 6am garbage truck rolled around. Oops, one more week it is.

4. You don’t need a fancy bin, just a pile and some worms.

I’ve experimented with a few different styles, and what I like the best (because it was the easiest for me) was to add red wiggler worms to a pile.  No more turning, no more worrying about ratio of browns to greens, the worms do the work for you.

5. It connects me to nature’s cycles, and laws.

There is no “AWAY”. “Away” is Knott Landfill on 27th Street. So when I provide the right conditions for my organic waste to become food for decomposers to turn into nutrient rich compost, I’m just letting nature do what it does best.

If you’re new to composting, get in touch, we’ll help you get on the right track.