All the food scraps you throw away do not need to go in a garbage can—they can instead be composted which leads to less environmental pollution associated with landfills. Through the convenient subscription services offered by YES Compost—who collect and process around eight tons of food scraps every week!—you can exchange a bucket weekly for a clean one at a local kiosk location, or leave it at your curb to pickup and replace it with a clean one. If you are interested in exploring composting on your own at home, read these helpful tips to start your trash-to-treasure endeavor!
01 Getting Started
Keep a small container on your kitchen counter to collect your scraps during meal prep and cleanup, then shuttle it to your larger bin. Your home compost bin can range from a fancy tumbler to a few pallets fixed together to help contain your pile. Choose a shady spot that is well drained to help maintain proper moisture and avoid excessive evaporation or waterlogging. Use a cover to help regulate moisture as well as discourage any pests.
02 What To Compost
Your mixture should consist of equal volumes of brown material (think dry leaves, shredded cardboard, hay/straw, or sawdust/woodchips) and green material (think kitchen scraps, fresh cut grass, or fresh animal manures). Add your greens, cover it up with your browns, and then keep layering in this order. Avoid food ties and produce stickers!
03 Maintenance
Grab a pitchfork and get to work by turning your pile. Digging in and mixing the materials helps introduce oxygen and speed up the process, starting with once a week. You're aiming for a wrung-out sponge in terms of moisture. Grab a handful and give it a squeeze and you should get a few drops of water to drip. Seeing worms or insects is a good sign!
04 Have Patience
Home composting is a long process but can produce some really great compost with time and attention. Expect to get finished compost about once a year to use on your own garden and make your plants the happiest and healthiest they've ever been! If you are not using the compost for yourself, YES can also help complete the cycle and put the compost to perfect use.
Visit YESCompost.com to learn more about their subscription services as well as more compositing tips and resources.