Eco-Friendly Kitchen: Composting
Welcome back to eco-friendly friday! This week we start our May: Eco-Friendly Kitchen series! I took a brief blogging hiatus last week to prep for my husbands birthday. We spent our time in the garden, playing games & cooking enormous amounts of food. Now I am back and stoked to talk to you about composting.
One of the first things my husband Will & I did when we moved out of our van and into our house in Asheville was start a compost pile in our backyard. It made more sense to us that our organic waste: like kitchen scraps & yard clippings should go back to the earth instead of rotting away in a plastic bag in our local landfill. I had been researching it for a long time and when we finally got down to it, I found it was insanely simple to do! I can’t believe I had been daunted by the idea for so long.
Composting is a practical & eco-friendly way use food waste and kitchen scraps that can then be used later as a fertilizer for the garden. If you have the space, you can easily start a compost pile in your backyard like we did.
Compost requires three main ingredients:
“Browns”: Items such as dead leaves, branches, clean paper products and twigs. Browns supply carbon to your compost pile.
“Greens” : The "greens" of a compost pile include grass clippings, vegetable waste, fruit scraps, and coffee grounds. Greens contribute nitrogen to your compost.
Water: Moisturizing your compost pile with water is important, since moisture is essential for breaking down organic products.
Things you don’t want to add:
Dairy products
Diseased plants
Meat scraps
Pet waste
Add your browns and greens first, tearing up or shredding any larger pieces of waste. Water your pile as you add more ingredients.
Thats it! It’s that simple!
kitchen compost keeper
We keep our food scraps in our Disney Annual Pass popcorn bucket (because it has a lid) and dump them onto our compost pile when it is full.
It may take anywhere from a couple of months to a couple of years before the scraps turn into usable compost but, turning your compost pile with a shovel or pitchfork every couple of weeks can help speed up the process. You will know your compost is ready when the bottom layers are dark, crumbly, and richly colored.
If you are working in a residential area, there are lots of different compost bin options available so that you can make the best decision for your living situation. Composting in a bin helps you keep out pests and, if properly maintained, shouldn’t produce bad odors. You can make one yourself or buy one from your local hardware store. You can even compost in an apartment! Find out more about how to compost in your apartment in this post here from the Going Zero Waste blog.
Composting was the first step we took in our journey to a greener kitchen. It gives purpose to our food scraps, nourishes our garden & keeps our trash can from stinking up! It was a simple change and it was certainly worth it.
While you are in the kitchen this weekend nourishing yourself & your loved ones, spend some time giving thanks for your mother & the chosen mothers in your life. Let them know you love them and appreciate them for the nourishment (physical, emotional, & spiritual) they provided over the years; over technology, in person, or in spirit.
I am incredibly blessed to know & love so many resilient, courageous & powerful mothers. This weekend I celebrate you all.
Happy Mother’s Day.
Sending all my love,
K.Ezzell
