Gloss How-To: Composting 101

It was such fun stumbling upon the Compost Collection at Union Square Green Market while in NYC recently! What a fantastic idea – the Compost Collection basically encourages apartment dwellers to recycle their kitchen scraps into “Brown Gold.” Four days a week you can schlep either your kitchen scraps, which they suggest you stash in old milk/juice cartons or plastic bags, and bring them down to Aurelia. She’ll then feed them to her red wiggler worms and that’s that! You can also do your own composting if you have a patio/balcony, or small yard and then bring the compost down to Aurelia, who’ll be sure to make very good use of it.

Composting is much more of a no-brainer than most people think. I’ve had quite a few emails about it recently – so here’s my attempt to really simplify the matter. First thing to get out of the way – composting doesn’t have to be smelly, nasty, gross or just for hemp-wearing sandal types. It’s actually one of the most efficient ways of getting rid of much of your food waste and is takes away much of awful guilt that comes from stuffing your trash can with yet more food. I can’t bear to send scraps to the landfill, which could otherwise be fertilizing my yard. The key is finding the right composting bin for your home.

My Favorite Composting Bins

The Garden Gourmet

Love this bin and you may well find that your local city sells this kind of bin at a discounted price. What I love is that it’s huge and has the door at the front, so when the compost is the bottom of the bin is ready, you can lift the door, shovel it our and start using it, while the upper layers are still processing. I use this model at my daughter’s school, where we have 3 of them on the go all the time. This model is perfect if you have a small to mid-size back yard and you don’t typically get rodents.

I actually had to abandon my Garden Gourmet, because we live quite near a creek, which runs through the city. What I didn’t realize was that a lot of rats hang around in gangs down by that creek and apparently got wind of my yummy gourmet bin. I’ll never forget the day I went down to empty some scraps in it. I flicked open the lid and quick as lightening, an enormous rat leaped out towards me. I nearly had a heart attack and from that day on (until I switched bins,) walked down with a 6-foot pole, which I would whack the bin with (rats don’t like to be disturbed) and then would flick the lip open with this pole, before running and chucking it’s contents from a distance. I carried on with this charade for a while, as I didn’t want to admit to my husband that there actually were rats down there (he’d warned me about that before getting the bin, but I was “la la la – I see your lips moving but don’t hear anything!!!). It was only when mom, a women whose phased by nothing, came to visit and said she didn’t fancy going near that bin, that I looked for model #2.

Don’ t let the rat story put you off though – many of my friends in LA have the Gourmet and LOVE it.

How to use: It’s easy to install (1/2 hour) and then you are good to go. Just start throwing in scraps. Have a bin or pile nearby of brown/dry matter (dead leaves, garden waste, saw dust,) and make sure that for every layer of scraps you put in, you add a layer of this dry matter. Don’t get neurotic about the layering – if you can’t be bothered one or two times, it’ll be fine. Every couple of weeks, turn the whole pile with a garden fork to ensure it’s well oxygenated. Finally, make sure that the pile doesn’t get too dry in the summer. When turning, just check that it looks a bit damp – if it doesn’t throw on a bucket of water.

Ecomposter

This is my current model and I just love it. It’s a spherical design – like a huge green ball, which sits atop a metal base and can ostensibly spin around, while aerating your compost. What works for me is the fact that it’s rodent-proof. Nothing and I mean NOTHING can get inside this baby – a fruit fly perhaps, but that’s it! The downside is that when it’s full, which will take half a year anyway, you’ll need to leave it for a couple of months (depending on outside temperature) while the scraps decompose, and before you can harvest the compost. The other downsides are that it’s actually incredibly hard to spin around when it’s more than half full. It’ll take two strong people to get that heavy ball to turn! Also the idea is that once ready, you take it off it’s stand and roll it to where you want to empty it – fine in theory, but you’ll need 2 or 3 strapping lads or lasses to get the thing off it’s base and roll it.

How to use: It takes a while to install, as the whole thing comes in small parts, which have to be assembled like a giant 3-D jigsaw. If you have kids or anyone in you’re house who is good at putting things together – tell them you’ve got the project for them! Once assembled, it’s really easy to twist the top off, as it comes with a handle thing that you press onto the lid to turn. You then just dump in your scraps with no fear of any furry friends jumping in your face!

Here’s a simple list of what can/can’t go in:

Can: Fruits & veggie peelings and pits, non greasy food scraps, rice, pasta, bread, cereal, coffee grounds with filters, tea bags, egg and nutshells, cut or dried flowers, houseplants and potting soil without disease.

Can’t: Meat, chicken, fish, greasy food scraps, fat and oil, dairy, dog or cat feces, kitty litter, coal or charcoal, diseased plants.

So why not have a go if you’re not already doing it. You will get so much satisfaction from not sending all those scraps to the landfill. It’s also become rather trendy — ever since my pal Julia Roberts shared that she’s very into composting!

About the Author

Sophie Uliano is a passionate environmentalist who has developed an earth-friendly lifestyle that appeals to women who don’t want to compromise their glamour and style. She is the New York Times Best Selling author of “Gorgeously Green”, “The Gorgeously Green Diet,” and the newly released “Do It Gorgeously.”

Read more amazing tips from Sophie at GorgeouslyGreen.com