we haven't been able to do this in our new place yet but it was my new years resolution to find a way to make it happen and it's so easy! even though i don't have anywhere to put it for my own garden i do some "urban" composting, take my little bucket of organic matter into the ravine and dump it there. sometimes i can cover it with leaves or snow but there's a lot of growth there so i usually just stick it in some bushes.
it's cut down our garbage so much too, i hardly put out anything these days! i can set out the garbage twice a month and the recycling once. my neighbour is cuttently setting out four full cans weekly. i feel good about reducing our household waste, i'd love to get it down to almost nothing. got any suggestions?

Is there a composting for idiots guide that anyone knows about? It's a great idea, I'd love to learn, but I know literally nothing. >.<

We are the say way since we started composting! I can't get over how little garbage we have now.

We burn any excess paper or carboard in the fireplace and reuse our own canvas bags and this cuts down on the trash even more!

Composting is great!

phanton, composting is super easy but the specifics depend on what you want to do. are you composting for soil to use in a garden? just want to get rid of kitchen scraps? do you have a yard or access to a wild area? you tell me and i'll tell you .

Coco,

Unbelievably I alone create about 2 gallons a day of f & v scraps. Have a small garden but am worried I may attract raccoons if I compost. I've seen them on the fence and I don't want them or my dogs to get hurt.

Will try to think of someplace I can dump some of it, hmmm...

I throw my compost from Juicing around my Grapefruit Tree. Every November it rewards me with very sweet Grapefruit.....same with my Tangerine Tree......WY

I've been doing vermicomposting which is great if you have a small space. All you need is a big plastic bin and some earthworms. It doesn't work so well with citrus scraps and unfortunately for me it also doesn't work for coconut husks, but for everything else it's awesome. Here's a link to vermicomposting.

Aloha Nui Loa,

Greg

A great many people think they are thinking when they are really rearranging their prejudices. - William James

There is no pill that can be swallowed,
There is no guru, that can be followed, - Michael Franti (Pray For Grace)

The only way to deal with an unfree world is to become so absolutely free that your very existence is an act of rebellion. - Albert Camus

i thought about the vermies but imagine trying to get someone to pet sit those little critters. hmmm.

dulset, you can use an underground compost with a secure lid, critters can't get in that kind. it's worth the research i think, there's nothing better for your garden!

I'd be interested in underground composting if it were something that didn't attract rats. I live in a city and they are so big around here that they sometimes take the lid off my trash containers. I'm not kidding.

If anyone has links for urban composting, please post them!

Thanks.

Lee

About half way down the first page on the link below is info about burying compost. Will try this in the spring. Thanks Coco.

[www.compostsantacruzcounty.org]

Excellent! check that out Lee. compost doesn't have to be a rodent attractant, the balance of "green" and "brown" matter can keep odour and decomp in check. if the racoons can't get into it, i think you're safe against your giant rats! good luck everyone.

I had given up on composting when a city inspector told me I had to remove my compost pile... soooo... I put it in a flimsy make-shift fenced in thing. The inspector came back a couple of weeks later and showed me how the rats had been at that too. He was nice but firm and told me I could not have an open composting system.

I checked out that link. It got me to thinking how any large container would do. I'm going to look into getting a couple of big barrels that I could drill holes in for drainage and aeration. I don't want to "consume" and go out and buy a lot of stuff to do this. I hate to throw so much stuff out though. I'm not a big consumer of anything, but I'm trying to have a smaller footprint.

Actually, my household throws out the least amount on my block. It's pitiful how much stuff everyone puts out every week. It really amazes me. I can't afford to buy enough to match the neighbors in refuse. ha ha -- I think I was the only one who didn't get a wide screen delivery by Superbowl Sunday. No Dominos or Papa Johns pizza boxes in my recycling bin.

Thanks for this thread!

lee says:
<<\
No Dominos or Papa Johns pizza boxes in my recycling bin.
>>

heh

We just started composting too and I'm really excited about it(I'm kind of a dork, lol). The city that we live in actually takes a recycling bin and punches big holes in it and calls that a free compost bin. Kind of cheesy but whatever..it's free. So with all the raw foods we are eating this four foot tall bin is filling up fast! My husband put some chicken wire around it so the dogs won't get into and luckily we don't have a problem with rats or anything where we live. Nothing stinky yet, but I will let you know!

I bought a mantis twin chamber composter last year. It was a great investment. I had an open pile before that and it did quite well. The mantis is by far better. I haven't bagged a leaf in 5 years. I put our my garbage once a month during the warmer months. I pretty much have not recycling. I love making dirt. I have used it to level sections of my yard,filled in most o the holes and made lots of plants happy.

Hello, coco )

Maybe some people in your area would like to use your extra compost for their gardens! I was composting apartment-style for the last two years until I moved into a house, and a few people I knew used my extra composted soil for their planting.

phantom, here are some online guides I used when I was setting up my most recent kitchen compost system. These are mostly for non-worm composting, since I am not set up to do that yet:


[www.compostguide.com]

[vegweb.com]

[www.composting101.com]

[www.planetnatural.com]


Cheers! Marley