Collecting food waste for your home or office garden can reduce food waste and lead to lower carbon emissions by not sending this waste to a landfill. There are some general guidelines on what to, and not to, compost, as far as what comes from the kitchen. A later article will cover what happens once the compost leaves the kitchen and is moved to the garden area and put in bins. It should also be stated that this writing talks explicitly about compost from the kitchen to the garden, not to the municipal waste, which may have different parameters, depending on where you live.
Step 1: What to include in the compost bin from my kitchen?
The first thing to do when considering collecting compost is to make sure you understand what can be composted. The main things that you can compost are fruit and vegetable waste, such as skins or cores. You can also compost fruit or veggies that you were going to send to a landfill because it’s about to go bad—the purpose of composting.
Egg shells (crushed) can also be composted. According to Michigan State University’s Extension, the hot composting process, where temperatures can reach over 140-160 degrees Fahrenheit, can kill salmonella bacteria.
Coffee grounds and paper filters can also be tossed into the compost bin in your kitchen, as well as paper tea bags (don’t include the staples).
NOTE: Before we move on, it’s best to note that, again, you’re essentially collecting your compost from the food waste mentioned above. The process will be completed outside, which is not covered in this writing. There are also things like grass clippings and yard trim that can be collected outside (more later).
Step 2: What should I not compost?
Meat or bones or fish and fat or oil should not be composted in your home bin for the garden. According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, you should also avoid produce stickers and cheese and dairy products, along with pet waste and cat litter and glossy paper.
Step 3: How do I collect compost from the kitchen?
For this step, you can use any sealable container to collect scraps for transfer to the outdoors. It’s best to use a reusable (recyclable) container made of something highly sustainable such as glass, but you can also reuse non-recyclable food containers. It’s best to avoid using all non-renewable plastic containers in the first place. But if you have one available, it can be reused in this way.
Step 4: Collect the food waste from your kitchen
Before going off on your composting adventure, stick to the parameters set out by the federal agencies and educational institutions listed here. As mentioned already, this article doesn’t talk about what happens to the waste outside.
Generally, the next steps will involve purchasing a composting bin for outside or planning to use a raised bed to finish it off. See you next time.