Alternative title: How We Compost. Easy Composting.

Do you compost? You should. It’ll open your eyes to how much food waste you toss out. I thought I’d write about how we compost. I’ve tried it different ways, and this is my favorite version of easy composting.

The Kitchen Waste Bowl

Let’s start at the beginning of the composting chain, in our kitchen. This is my waste bowl. Onion skins, carrot tops, the hard bit on the end of a cucumber, the white part of celery. It all goes right here.

in kitchen compost bin easy composting

You’re probably thinking, Hey, that’s gross girl. Why not get a bin with a charcoal filter? Answer: because they look like mini trash cans (which, they are) on a counter. This bowl is conveniently located next to the stove (where I do all my veggie chopping) and it’s small enough that it requires dumping at least every other day. Larger bins take a while to fill up and I’ve found the scraps often start to decompose before I take it out. Been there, done that, much prefer the open bowl that keeps me accountable. We haven’t had any smell or bug issues with it (though I think strawberry tops and other sweet summer snacks would probably cause ant issues, but a charcoal lid wouldn’t stop that anyway).

Keepin’ it real with dirty dishes. The compost bin is tucked away in the corner.

The Exterior Receptacle

Once the bowl is full, we empty it in this little trash can right outside the back door. I bought this from Ikea (I think it was $15) intending to use it as a receptacle beneath the sink, but it had the scraps-composting-too-soon issue. Not something I wanted inside the house, so it made its way on the back porch.

ikea compost bin easy composting

This bin is really just a middle man that makes it convenient to dump scraps when it’s raining or at night when we don’t want to walk to the main composting bins. This gets the food out of our house. We haven’t had any wild animal issues with it, but we could always put a brick on top if it became a problem.

The Compost Bin

Eventually, the scraps make their way to a compost bin outside.

plastic bin easy composting

What? Plastic? Huh? Yeah. That’s right. We do it cheap style. I bought two plastic storage bins at Target for like $5 each then drilled a bunch of holes in the sides, bottoms and lids. I even referred to a plastics chart to make sure the plastic’s number (the number inside the recycling triangle symbol) was food safe (since the compost will end up in our garden). Check!

The bins are stowed away under our deck. They’re small, so it’s easy to shake them around to stir the food waste. The lids clip on so there’s no worry of animals going to town. We bought two bins so once the first one gets about 3/4 full, we can move on to filling the second bin and let the first one decompose fully (which it’ll never do if we keep adding food waste).

Oh, um, ignore that giant dirt patch. I’ll get to that some other time.

What Can I Compost?

Everything! Okay, not everything. Here are some things I regularly put in the compost bin.

  • All scraps from prepping produce for a meal
  • Produce that was left in the fridge too long (we all do it, sigh)
  • Edamame shells, orange peels, strawberry leaves, corn husks, avocado skins, etc.
  • Bread product leftovers (rice, moldy bread, baked goods that sat around too long)
  • Basically anything edible, but not meat. It will rot and be horrible. Same goes for dairy. But there are ways around it.
  • Egg shells and coffee grounds
  • Grass clippings, saw dust, leaves, waste from the paper shredder

There are plenty exhaustive lists around the web just a search away.

Keep in mind that spring and summer are ideal times to compost because the heat makes the waste decompose faster. Bins should have good ventilation for oxygen circulation. Not all yard waste is good – weeds often take kindly to the environment and thrive.

That’s about it. It’s REALLY easy. We used to have the big, black $50 plastic compost bin but found that the stuff on the bottom would just get packed in and refuse to decompose. Plus, it was a huge eye sore in our yard. But if you want to research other composting methods, I’d recommend checking this out.

Eventually, the compost will be churned into our garden – probably in the next planting season.

Do you compost? How do you like to do it?

6 Responses to Saving The World One Banana Peel At A Time

  1. Rebecca says:

    I was talking to my husband about doing this but he was concerned that it would smell. Do you find this specifically from the tubs?

    • Paige says:

      Not at all! Just no meat or dairy products. It smells earthy. If it gets a little waterlogged, it’ll smell a bit ripe, but otherwise, we don’t even notice it.

  2. Hi Paige! never thought of composting before, it’s great how you explained it in your post! Like Julia; coming from “decorandthedog” link party hosted by Michelle! 🙂

    • paige says:

      thank you! if you have any questions about it, let me know. we’ve tried different methods over the years and this one is easiest for us, but there are plenty of different ways to do it.

      i highly recommend it. no food waste in the garbage = no smelly garbage!

  3. Hi Paige and Ryan, nice to meet you! Coming over from MIchelle’s linky party!

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