Although it's becoming easier to recycle food
and beverage packaging, most of our domestic waste still goes into the trash.
Reduce the amount of garbage you throw away by composting your kitchen food
waste.
Food waste sealed
in a plastic bag on a landfill site doesn't decompose properly. Instead, it
produces methane, a greenhouse gas, which contributes to global warming, as
well as a liquid, leachate, which can contaminate water supplies.
Composting your
kitchen food waste is easy and requires little time, effort or space, depending
on which system you use. The compost is invaluable for the soil in your garden
or potted plants: It's a complete and natural food for the soil, helping to
improve its structure, water-retaining abilities and overall health.
Worm
Composting
Worm composting
is small enough to keep on a balcony, patio or in a porch, so it's ideal if you
don't have much outside space. It's also one of the cleanest, neatest and
easiest composting systems to use. A ready-made kit provides both the bin with
its lid and the worms. As you fill each layer with small amounts of scraps and
leftovers, the worms work their way up through the layers, eating the waste
(they consume up to half of their body weight a day). It's this action that
speeds up the composting process, leaving you with rich, dark compost in the
lowest tray after only a few months. After you've emptied out the compost, the
empty tray can be placed on top of the stack and filled with more food waste.
The liquid that collects at the bottom of the bin should be siphoned off
regularly, but it makes a wonderful tonic for your plants when diluted 1:10
with water. Store it in screw-top wine bottles until you need to use it.
If you regularly
add a few handfuls of chopped food waste and shredded dry fiber (cardboard is
best), ensure good air circulation, a fairly constant temperature and prevent water
logging, this efficient composting system should last for years.
The
Best Waste for Worm Composting
- Raw or
cooked fruit and vegetable peelings
- Pasta, rice
and bread
- Dried and
crushed egg shells
- Teabags and
coffee grounds
- Dry fiber,
such as torn-up egg crates and empty toilet rolls, to make up 25 percent
of the contents
Avoid citrus
fruit and onion peelings (which cause acidic conditions), plant seeds, meat,
fish, dairy products, dog and cat droppings, spent tissues, grass cuttings and
leaves, diseased plant material and anything in excess.
Conventional
Composting
You can recycle
both kitchen and garden waste if you keep a compost heap or bin in your garden.
An insulating box or bin is essential: make your own from pieces of wood or buy
a readymade wooden or recycled plastic version. A lid or covering, such as a
piece of old carpet, keeps the contents of the bin warm and the rain out.
Position the bin on an area of soil so that composting creatures such as worms
and soil micro-organisms can help to break down the organic waste in the bin.
If you want to pre-compost your food waste and accelerate the composting
process, add Bokashi active bran to the food waste and leave it to pickle for
two weeks in a bucket before adding it to the compost bin.
Kitchen waste is
high in moisture and has very little structure once it has decomposed. Add a
supply of dry material, such as cardboard, scrunched-up paper, coarse twigs and
stems to stop the compost heap collapsing in on itself and becoming slimy. Wine
corks, party hats and streamers can also be added to the compost heap, as can
tissue paper, which biodegrades quickly. Cardboard packaging from food and
gifts can also be composted.
Check the base of
the heap after several months and dig out any dark, well-rotted compost. Mix up
the remaining matter with a fork, and water it if it seems dry; if the heap is
too wet, add some dry, bulky material. Acidic conditions inhibit decomposition,
so occasionally add a little ground limestone or gardener's lime.
Organic
Material to Compost
- Vegetable
and fruit peelings
- Tea leaves
and coffee grounds
- Crushed egg
shells
- Grass
cuttings and weeds
- Paper, paper
towels and newspaper
- Leaves from
non-coniferous trees and shrubs
- Woody
prunings
- Straw, hay,
wool, sawdust and pets' bedding
- Vacuum dust
- Wood ash
Avoid meat, fish,
and cooked food, weed seeds, diseased plant material, disposable diapers,
glossy newsprint and coal ash.
Food
Waste Facts
It is estimated
that five million tons of waste is generated over the festive period in the
United States, but only a fraction of that amount will be recycled. Families
can reduce their festive waste with careful planning and recycling practices.
The average
American family throws away 14 percent of the food it purchases each year. This
translates to approximately $600 per year spent on wasted food.
Composting food
helps reduce the amount of material in landfills.
