Apartment Composters

I had my good friend over for lunch on Sunday. We laughed, we noshed and, yes, we briefly talked about compost.

I'm going to take a big guess that this kind of thing doesn't happen at everyone's house. But at my house, especially if I'm cooking, it's kind of hard to avoid noticing -- I have a compost pail under my sink for collecting food scraps. Once a week (or two depending on how lazy I am), I dump the collected food scraps into the compost tumbler on my back patio.

My friend is a busy business owner, who doesn't have the kind of time, or the space, I have devoted to composting. But, like many an aware, intelligent, progressive individual, he wants to do more to live more sustainably. Thus, the conversation about compost bins.

For those folks who don't have a large patio or back yard, there are options.

First, and foremost, I'd recommend taking the time to write to your city councilperson and express an interest in city-wide compost programs. San Francisco has such a program and Los Angeles began a pilot program in certain parts of the city this past Summer.

Here are a couple, compact composting options that are easy to maintain and can fit under your kitchen sink:

1. Worms or Vermicomposting. Yep, I am hereby proposing that, if you have the stomach for it, you keep worms in your kitchen. It's true, the thought of them in your kitchen is not at all appetizing. But the fact is, Red Worms, if taken care of properly, do quite well in a small bin, where they eat your food scraps, reproduce and poop. The latter creates worm castings, which are an excellent fertilizer for your plants.

I found some very helpful websites, and a blog, that detail how to make a worm compost bin for your kitchen, with hints and troubleshooting info:

Worm Composting Blog
Vermiculture Manual.com
City Farmer.org
What.com

If you don't want to make your own, there are vermicompost bins that would fit on a patio or balcony (or large under-sink cupboard). And, at Uncle Jim's Worm Farm, you can get the worms, and the outdoor bin.

2. Bokashi Composting. Bokashi is an additive you sprinkle on your food scraps that speeds up the composting process. You can buy a kit to get started and then you'll have to continue to purchase the Bokashi itself.

According to the Isabella website, though, once the small under-sink bin is full, you need to let it sit for two weeks, and then bury it in your garden. If you live in an apartment building, this could be problematic. If you don't have a shared garden where you live, do you then drive around until you find a piece land and when no one's looking, bury it? Hmmm... Do you bury it in someone else's yard, a friend or neighbor? I guess this might be an option, though I'd recommend asking first.

A final note...why compost? 'Cause it's smart, dummy! Those of you are still on the fence, read this:

"Food scraps comprise as much as 20% of the waste sent to landfills. The methane produced by food scraps in landfills is quickly released into the atmosphere. In fact, it only takes between 28 and 100 days for landfilled food scraps to release methane — long before [a methane gas] collection system is required to be in place. For every 1 ton of food scraps separated from the trash before it gets to the landfill, the equivalent of 6 tons of carbon dioxide (CO2) is prevented from being released into the atmosphere." -- Zero Waste Inc./Environmental Protection Agency