AnaLeftover fruit and veggie scraps, paper, coffee grounds and egg shells… together they make the best compost for your garden! Who would have thought that rotten banana would be good for your salad? Well, it’s good for the growing of the salad veggies, anyway. We started a compost pile a few months ago, with hopes that come the spring we can have a nice bunch of compost for gardening etc. I gotta say, that’s the best pile of rotten produce I’ve ever seen! We even have little bugs now that seem to be thriving and helping the pile along. It’s also grown into a fun chore for whenever we want to whack and stab something, since we have to turn the pile and mix it up real good. The best days are when we get to flip everything around because then everyone wants a turn.
Small space or large space, you can benefit from having a compost bin, even just a small one. We have a small countertop bin for the kitchen, and every few days or so I take it out and dump it, mix up our pile etc and we are good to go. Sometimes if there are a lot of scraps we do it more often but for the most part it’s a couple times a week. I love the one we use inside, since it has a lid and a small filter it doesn’t really stink. Every week or two I rinse the filter and let it dry in the sun according to the manufacturer and it’s supposed to keep it fresh and last a few months.
This is the one I have in my kitchen – perfect for the countertop or under the sink, whatever. You will also want to get some extras filters to have on hand so you can change them out as well. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases, so be sure to use one of my links here if you are looking for some composting materials!
I also have these compostable bags. They are made out of corn-based materials, so they are biodegradable. We get a lot of wind so right now I don’t mix those into the compost, but essentially if there was no way to dispose of the trash it would work out fine because of the materials they are made of.
If you decide to start your own compost, you don’t need much to get started! Just start out by separating your scraps, and educate yourself on what is and isn’t compostable materials. You can use a bucket or container, and then figure out an outdoor setup. There are compost bins you can purchase too, anywhere from a small patio size to a large bin, and there are even ready-made materials you can use to build it yourself if you don’t want to create it completely on your own. The options are endless!
Here are some options for outdoor compost bins too. I have not used all of these myself, but have heard great things about them from others. Please feel free to share your own composting experiences and what works well for you in the comments section, I’d love to hear from you!
If you’re feeling super motivated and want to really get into the composting mood, try out one of these shirts… you’ll fit right in with the composting crowd… or you can keep telling yourself that anyway…. but hey, there’s one for everybody and the whole fam can join in the fun!
You can compost quite a bit from what you would usually throw out in the trash. Whatever you do, just don’t throw meat out there. I mean, yes we need protein but the meat isn’t going to break down into the soil in the same way the veggies will… so that goes without saying, I know we love the fun of whacking and tossing things, but no people, okay? Otherwise, enjoy your composting fun.