Now is a great time to start composting! Composting is beneficial for the environment and repurposes food scraps. Learn how to compost at home or in an apartment as a busy mom.
As moms, we wear many hats in our families. For most of us, we’re the primary caretaker of our children, we’re working, homeschooling, and doing all the things! Despite the fact that we’re busier than ever, making decisions to protect the environment has never been more crucial.
This blog post is all about the best ways to start composting:
Ways to Start Composting for Busy Moms
Recently, a report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change expressed our need for immediate, rapid, and large-scale reductions in greenhouse gas emissions (source). Without making these reductions in greenhouse gases, we may be leaving our children with a world that we no longer recognize.
About 40% of food in America is wasted. Food waste is bad for the environment because food in the landfill contributes to methane. Methane is one of the three major greenhouse gases contributing to our climate crisis.
Composting helps to reduce the amount of methane emitted into the atmosphere by preventing food from going to the landfill.
How to start composting – materials needed
1.Find a spot
Do you plan to start composting indoors or outdoors?
2. Understand what goes into the compost bin
3. Educate your family on what goes into the compost bin
Check out this blog post on how to teach your children how to compost.
4. Have a plan
- Where you will store your compsot
- How often will you take out your compost
Compost pile versus compost bin
I’ve had both a compost pile and a compost bin. Currently, I have a bin. A compost bin is my preference, but here are some pros and cons to consider when you start composting.
Compost pile pros
- No real start up cost
- Easy to maintain
- Easy to access
Compost pile cons
- Can be smelly, if not properly maintained
- Possibly attact rodants/pests
- Can be unsighly
- Not always approved by cities/HOA
Compost bin pros
- Asthetically pleasing
- Easier to turn
- Conveient
- Protected from elements (weather) and pests
Compost bin cons
- Some cost to purchase bin or DIY bin materials
- Not as hands on
What items can I start composting?
To start composting, you actually don’t need much! You’re surrounded by the main ingredients for composting every single day – organic matter. You can get extremely technical with composting if you’d like, but the best way to start composting as a busy mom is to focus on the necessities.
Composting is a natural process that breaks down organic material into rich, usable soil for your potted plants and garden. Your compost will need air, moisture, nitrogen (greens), carbon (browns), and adequate temperature.
Air
Organic items break down to become soil via microorganisms. They’re so small (micro), you can’t even see them without a microscope but they are the key to creating compost.
Like all living things, organisms need air! One of the reasons items do not break down in landfills is because they lack adequate air circulation.
Moisture
As with everything you’ll discover with compost, it is all about balance. You don’t want too much of anything, including moisture. When compost is too dry, the microorganisms slow down. When compost is too wet, it stinks!
To put it simply, your compost should always look hydrated. It should not be visibly wet or soggy and it should not look dry.
If your compost is dry, use a spray bottle to add some water.
If your compost is too wet, add more carbon (browns) and give your compost a good turn.
Nitrogen (greens)
- Grass clippings
- Fruit and veggies scraps
- Cofffee grinds
- Egg shells
- Tea bags
- Coffee filters
- Old flowers
Carbon (browns)
- Leaves
- Twigs
- Newspaper
- Cardboard
- Pine needles
- Sawdust
- Toilet paper/ paper towel tubes
- Paper napkins/paper towels
Composting and the Environment
Now that you’re ready to start composting, you’re probably wondering what does compost have to do with the environment? Have you ever asked yourself, where does my trash go? For almost all of us in the United States, the answer is a landfill. While some trash may not stay there – some trash is incinerated and used for electricity – it sits in a landfill for some time first.
The trash in landfills creates methane, a powerful greenhouse gas. Methane is one of the major contributors to global warming causing our climate crisis. Although global warming is a natural phenomenon, human actions such as landfilling items and creating methane, have sped up the rate at which the Earth is warming.
What’s more, the way that methane is created in landfills is when organic waste (like the waste you can compost!) begins to break down. This is because organic waste is suffocated in landfills, lacking oxygen to allow the proper breakdown of materials. Instead, methane-producing bacteria begin to decompose the waste and generate methane (source).
Some benefits of composting:
- Less methane to be generated in landfills
- Provides rich, organic soil
- Reduces the need for chemical fertilizers
- Repurposes food waste
Yes, you can start composting as a busy mom. Composting requires little time commitment and little maintenance. Simply add the organic materials to your indoor bin (I use an old Tupperware container. You can use a fancier one here.) and place it into the fridge until you’re ready to take it to the compost. Once you add the materials to the compost, turn the compost and let it sit! Remember to adjust to keep your compost balanced, but the microorganisms are doing all the work. In 6-9 months, your compost should be ready to use.
Download a FREE compost guide here:
This blog post is all about the best ways to start composting:
Do you compost? What items do you add to your compost at home? I’d love to hear from you!
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