Living Sustainably: Everything You Need to Know to Start Composting

May 29th marks National Composting Day. You may already be familiar with Chatham’s extensive composting initiatives—if you’re not, you can learn more here—but have you ever tried composting for yourself? Everyday food waste provides all the materials you need to create nutrient-rich compost. If you’re thinking about starting your own garden this summer or just want to try something new, composting is an easy, sustainable place to start. Check out our suggestions for kicking off an at-home composting practice below:

“First of all, what are the benefits of composting?”

Good question! Every day we have a chance to make small changes to our daily habits that contribute to a more sustainable future. Composting is an easy way to repurpose food waste that, according to the EPA, would otherwise sit and release methane gas in an overcrowded landfill—a major culprit in global warming. But beyond its macro-environmental benefits, composting has plenty to offer your home ecosystem as well.

As your compost components break down, they create a nutrient fertilizer perfect for houseplants, gardens, flowers, and lawns. It’s an opportunity to reduce food waste, give back to the earth, and achieve something mildly gross but wildly cool.

“Okay, so how do I get started?”

First, you’ll need to select your compost container and location. There are multiple options here, but for ideal temperatures and minimal effort on your part, we recommend letting the composting happen outside. If you live in a small apartment with little to no yard space, check out a community garden near you. Or if you’re feeling determined you can try composting indoors with worms.

You can buy specific composting bins at home and garden stores, but this NPR article recommends a little more creativity: work with what you have, an old garbage can or bin at home, or if you don’t mind getting a bit unruly, create a free pile in your yard. If you want to store food scraps in the house before you transfer them to the compost pile, you can keep them in a small garbage can with biodegradable bags or just freeze them until you’re ready.

Whichever container you choose will need to be aerated throughout to allow oxygen inside, which according to Live Science will control the temperature, destroy pathogens and parasites, accelerate the composting process, and regulate odor.

“What should I add?”

Generally speaking, you should be adding organic food waste that won’t attract pests. For starters, try: fruit and vegetable scraps, eggshells, nutshells, coffee grounds, tea bags, shredded newspaper and cardboard clippings, yard trimmings like grass, leaves, and branches, and houseplants. Avoid adding bones, meat scraps, dairy products, food cooked with oil, and pet waste.

“That’s it?”

Alright, if you want to get a little wilder you can throw in hair and fur, lint, wood chips, sawdust, and fireplace ashes. There are other compostable household products but do a little research before tossing them in. If they’re only industrially compostable, hold off on adding them in.

“What are the ‘browns’, ‘greens’, and ‘wet’?”

Inevitably amid compost research, you’ll come across the three key components to making the compost magic happen, sometimes known as the ‘greens’, the ‘browns’, and the ‘wet.’ ‘Greens’ are typically food scraps that add nitrogen and water (‘wet’) to the pile. ‘Browns’ are carbon-rich materials like cardboard, newspaper, and dead leaves; they are generally dry components that help air and water flow through the pile. You need all of the above to make a compost pile work, woven between each other in one to two-inch thick increments. The EPA recommends lightly moistening the ‘brown’ components before adding. You’ll want to keep the compost moist but not soggy; keep in mind that the ‘green’ components will also provide water as they break down.

“So I’ve got greens and browns evenly layered, what am I supposed to do now?”

Patiently tend. Rotate the pile with a stick or spade every few days to ensure airflow. The more you add, the faster the process will move, aka the more frequently you’ll need to till the components. Periodically check the pile’s moisture levels with gloves to see if more water needs added.

“How do I know when it’s ready?”

There is a distinct look and smell to complete compost. Bad compost smells like rotten food. Good compost smells “woody, earthy, but also sweet,” like the earth itself. It should be rich, brown, and crumbly like soil, plus, you should no longer be able to recognize the organic materials you put inside. There is no harm in adding a lot: as your pile composts, it will shrink to half the original size.

Depending on the size of your pile, the process could take anywhere from a few weeks to a year. It’s a commitment but the reward is worth the work and wait.

“Then what do I do with it?”

Use it! Add compost to your garden, your house plants, or any soil in your yard and reap the benefits: increased nutrients, improved water retention, balanced pH, and helpful soil organisms. Feed your flowers, spread across your lawn, and dress your garden beds. Whether you’re working in the solar high tunnel at Eden Hall Campus or just tending to your own little garden, the possibilities for composting are endless.

“What if that’s just like…way too much effort?”

We feel you. Check out organizations like Shadyside Worms, which offer compost exchange—you provide your food scraps, they provide compost and seed starting mix in exchange. Did you know Chatham partners with a company called Ag-Recycle to compost all of the food waste generated in our kitchens? Even sustainable superstars need help sometimes. 😉

The Falk School of Sustainability & Environment students are dedicated to driving choices that help people live more sustainably on a global, local and personal scale. Master of Sustainability students take courses like SUS640: Sustainable Community Development, where they explore how people can engage with more environmentally, socially and economically sustainable communities. By looking at change systemically, Master of Sustainability students recognize that even a seemingly small environmentally conscious change to our daily behavior like composting makes a difference.

Resources:
How to Compost at Home via NPR
The Science Behind Composting via LiveScience
Composting at Home via EPA
An Easy Guide to Start Composting at Home via Good Housekeeping