My Winter Compost Bucket (plus security, compost style!)
alternately titled, "How I Avoid Carrying Compost Out Into My Cold Backyard Every Day" or, "The Lazy Composter".
In the summertime, I don't really mind taking the compost out every day...I just have to throw a pair of flip-flops on and take a quick trek out to the backyard (well, it's sort of quick. Our kitchen is on the upper story and our compost bin is on the ground, so I have to carry compost through the house and out the back door. Have I mentioned I am not a fan of the split-foyer house design??)
In the wintertime, especially this winter, because we have actually had snow that's stuck around for a while, I do mind taking it out every day.
So, I keep an old spackle bucket on my deck.
And I just let it sit there until it's filled to the brim, at which point I take it downstairs and out to the bin. In the summertime, this would never work, because 5.5 colonies worth of fruit flies would be hanging out in the bin by the time it was full. In the cold of winter, though, fruit flies are NEVER a problem.
Anyways, this simple solution makes me much less tempted to throw compostable material into the trash can while the weather is cold.
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Also, I was thinking that someone who is super worried about information security, and is concerned that even shredding isn't enough, would feel better if they composted the shreddings. Because when you turn your shreds into compost...
and use the compost to grow vegetables in your backyard...
it'd be pretty darn difficult for anyone to steal the information on the papers. 😉
I have been composting for years and I never thought about putting my shredding in the compost. great tip...thanks
Ah,,,but what the peppers and tomatoes discussing ? Giggle!!
I always learn something new when I visit. I would never have thought about composting my shredded documents. Thanks for the clever thinking!
Funny. 🙂
I've been considering composting, but since I have never had any success gardening., what can I do with the compost? Give it as gifts?
Maybe adding compost to your soil will increase your gardening success. If nothing else, it decreases the amount of rotten food going to the landfill, (which builds up into methane gas.)
Katy
You can add it to any soil:
- mix it into garden beds or soil for potting
- put a layer on top of garden beds or soil in pots (almost as thick as you want - some people like 3" or more)
- rake it thinly over grass
Note it doesn't have to be *your* soil or grass. If you don't have neighbors or friends or a local school with greenery, put it in public spaces.
What Katy said - it'll probably help your gardening efforts. A note, though: compost helps plants grow leaves (because of all the nitrogen). If you're growing roots (like potatoes) or fruits/veg that aren't leaves, I recommend you use a layer no more than about 1" deep.
Give it away to people who garden. They'll be very grateful.
Do you have any trouble composting the grapefruit peels left as halves?
Nope...they do end up getting broken up with the shovel when I turn the compost, but I haven't had to cut them up before putting them into the bin.
You could always offer compost on Freecycle. 🙂
Great idea about the shredded paper, I've always been a bit dubious about putting it in the recycling bin.
I know! Me too, esp. because they want us to bag it up, which seems wasteful.
I wouldn't use shreddedd papers for composting unless you are not worried about the toxic ink and chemicals to treat paper in the paper making process leaching into your food.
Great blog! Read it every morning with my cup of coffee.
Hmm...I had not thought about that before, but I read that Mrs. Green from My Zero Waste composts printed paper and cardboard, and I found this link also: http://earth911.com/garden/composting/13-common-myths-of-composting/ which says that the amount of hydrocarbons from the ink are minimal and that the composting process actually degrades the hydrocarbons anyways. And the article also says that paper itself is safe. So yay! We can happily compost our bank statements.
I was worried about that also, since shredded paper is my main brown now. My research got the same results as Kristen's - nothing to worry about, the inks aren't toxic and the paper is safe. Same is true for newspapers, even the glossy stuff.
For more info, refer to the Soil, Compost, & Mulch forum at http://www.gardenweb.com
I worry about raccoons with this? I try to keep them away, but they love my neighborhood. I just trek across the yard much less frequently if the compost on the counter is stinking.
Have you done a post on the ins and outs of composting? I would be very interested in hearing your full process.
And Kristen, I would love for someone to gift me some compost. Its expensive to buy the stuff!
I was admiring your compost bin (yes I covet peoples' compost!) and was wondering how well things break down in the winter. I'm in OH and it's cold most of the winter and wasn't sure if stuff would break down or just sit there.
I'm in MI near Detroit and things do very well. When the weather thaws I have my husband shake or mix the compost to help it breakdown in the winter.
Thanks! You guys are no doubt colder than us most of the time so if it works there it should work here.
Do you have a problem with pests, of the animal variety, in your compost? We do here in WI during the winter, even if we bury it.
Thank You! I was wondering if I could use regular shredded printer paper for my compost bin......... YIPPEE!
What a great idea. Do you have photos of your composting bin? I would like to start composting, but our backyard is tiny! (14' x 47') and I'm convinced the rotting smell would drive me insane while I try to grill or relax.
Tiffany,
I have been composting for years, and there's no bad smell at all. The key is to not just add food, but also leaves and grass, as well as mix it up every now and then. Once you have it set it, it's a real no brainer.
Katy
Tiffany - If you have the spare money, there are composters that you can bury in the ground or ones that you can turn by hand that are enclosed completely that may take up less space. A search on amazon.com will bring up ideas for you and if you are handy or have handy person around they could recreate something for you.
Ive struggled with this issue all winter. Im just too lazy to go out each day to the compost bins. Mine are located on the side of my home and its just too much work for me. I do have my compost in my home but it fills quickly. My dog it outside too so maybe I need to come up with your idea and a new bucket....with a lid. Maybe a lid with lots of holes. This way the dog wont try to eat it. Hmmm your very clever
Much hand clapping for you from Texas. The only thing I might suggest is to get an actual list of what is compostable. Having your soil tested as well will tell you if you need the acid content of the citrus peels. At our house we don't need the acid so citrus is excluded from the compost. Also you might want to check the tea bags you use for staples and plastic content. One of my fave teas comes in a plastic triangle like you have pictured.Having no pets, we also just throw ourstuff out on the lawn in a chaotic pattern, as the sun will help break things down just as fast as the heat built up in a pile.It also encourages birds to come around which means less bugs in the long run. ^_^
LOL. this is so weird, i just got on the site to see if you had tips for composting (and you posted this today...you must have read my mind))b/c every year i plan to garden and i don't know anything about it. so i don't do it. i am going to now though because it saves so much money to grow your own food.i have bought seeds (even organic ones) year after year &then waste them. (not very frugal) and this year i am determined. (thanks to you :))
I started a bin much like yours. Right now I have a piece of wood on the lid so I don't have to chase it down the yard on windy days. It also keeps the animals out. (The same animals have plenty of accessible food with all the trash cans in the neighborhood so my bin still looks good.)
I use a Johnson's Popcorn tub at the counter. It is plastic and has a nice lid that seals smells. My backdoor is off the kitchen so I don't have the same issue you do, but it gets emptied every other day or so. My son is of the age that trash, recycling, and compost is a great job for him and M,W,F are his listed job days.
if you had a smaller container maybe you could make J take the hike down the yard. 😉
Compost in the Winter.
Works fine. If the weather gets so cold that the pile freezes, the stuff will compost just fine when it eventually thaws.
Smelly Compost:
Avoid it by mixing in enough browns. A regular, plain jane home compost pile is made of "greens" (things with lots of nitrogen, ie, that get stinky when they get old) and "browns" (things with lots of carbon, ie that get dry when they get old). If your pile gets too stinky, add more browns and mix it up. Common browns are shredded paper (including newspaper), shredded leaves, straw and hay. (The smaller your stuff, the faster it composts, so unshredded leaves will compost eventually but will take a lot longer than shredded leaves.)
What can be composted:
Just about anything that came from a living thing. The most common inputs for home composters tend to be food scraps, cut grass, used coffee grounds (plus the filter if it's natural), plant trimmings, shredded leaves, shredded paper. This includes harder scraps such as egg shells and corn cobs, and cage sweepings from birds and small rodents. Using dog and cat poop is universally recommended against but I haven't pinned down why. Bones *can* compost but they take forever. Most BBQ briquettes can't be composted because they contain petroleum products - either as binder or to make it light easier.
Varmits:
Easiest way to avoid varmits is not to put meat in your pile, as it tends to be more attractive to varmints than fruit and veg and grass. Please note that proteins compost just fine. Some people also avoid using dairy for the same reason; my experience is that dairy isn't as attractive as meat, but it's more attractive than produce.
Wow, what a great post today! And William, thanks for expanding on it. I don't shred or compost, but you all make the composting part seem super easy and worth it. Planning to start now. Thanks!
Laurie - The ultra-simple version is: throw greens in a pile, add the same volume of browns; wait.
We only started composting last year and we have the compost bin far enough away from the house that we don't take the kitchen waste. The snow is too deep to go out without getting all bundled up, so we put it all in a big bucket outside the back door.
If the weather lets up and we can find the garage we might get it out to the bin before spring appears again.
Great idea! Do you have a summer compost bucket? I guess the spackle bucket would still work under the sink, and wouldn't start to smell if you dumped/rinsed it everyday... inducement to go and empty it, and then turn the compost, I guess. 🙂
One Question: what about the toxins in the ink on the paper from the shredder? Any info on that? I don't think the black ink is edible, do you?
Interesting post! One question about composting shreded paper though - Wouldn't it be better to recycle the paper? It would take MUCH longer to grow a tree using your compost, and then turn it into paper, than just recycling it. Of course both options are better than throwing paper in the trash!
I do one of three things with paper. In order of preference:
1. Use the clean backside as printer paper. Only works if paper is standard size, one sided, not crumpled, doesn't contain personal information. Even with these caveats I haven't bought paper in years; last time I "bought" new, it was free for returning printer cartridges to Stapes for recycling. Those 5 reams are going to last me a decade at this rate.
2. Recycle the paper. Only works if it doesn't contain personal information.
3. If it contains personal information, then shred and compost.
I put my shredded paper in the compost too. I don't have many browns so I have to add what I can when I can.
I started composting when my son was in middle school. Its been almost 20 years now and started as an assignment for him. I have kept it up all these years and been lazy about it. Its in the back of our yard with a little fence around it. I toss all kinds of stuff in there, food, paper, leaves, nut shells, corn cobs, seeds and pits, etc. For years we didn't garden so the compost was used around the yard to fill in holes and low spots. We also would put it around the trees. So even if you don't use the compost for gardening it can be used in other ways and I like that all that stuff gets better use than the trash. Also in the kitchen I put my scraps in a old Tupperware canister, when its full out to the compost it goes.
I have my compost pile in my backyard far from the house. It is a pain in the winter to go out and throw it in the pile. Kristen, I like your idea of a bucket on the porch. I will try that!
I just have mine in a heap in the back yard. It works. I have noticed that I have alot of deer tracks around the pile. I have a feeling they are eating some of my "fresh" additions.
I do the same thing. But what does happen is it freezes. I was alllll the way to the compost pile, lifted the bucket and it wouldn't budge. So I left it upside down until our January thaw. Now it happened again. Good thing I have more than one bucket.
I can do you one better on the shredded paper use. . .use it as animal bedding. No one will ever want to steal your private information after your pet hamster pooped on it, and then, once soiled*, you can still add it to the compost bin. Really saves a lot of money if you have pets because the cost of litter and bedding adds up fast, but fortunately not as fast as the mountain of old bank statements and junk mail builds up. You can add a little baking soda to keep the odors down, and baking soda is perfectly safe for composting.
*Supposedly you shouldn't add cat litter to the bin because of the bacteria found in cat poop, but if your compost pile gets hot enough, and you flush the cat poop daily anyway (who can stand that smell?), you're probably ok to add the peed on paper shreds.
Hmm...you all have gotten me curious about composting, but I live in a townhouse - as in no backyard. The compost would have to been in my garage...would this still work?
Great idea to recycle paper shreds. Tasty way too, those peppers looked great 😀
What kind of shredder works best for using the shreds in your compost? Crosscut or strip cut?
Thanks, great article.