If you live in concrete canyon land, you may think that composting is out of your reach. Well think again! Urban composting is within the reach of anyone, and you will be doing the environment a huge service. DIY composting is for everyone!
When potentially compostable material goes to a landfill, the damage done is two-fold.
First, the landfill just gets fuller.
Yuck! This is bad and we don’t like it.
Secondly, that biological material is no longer available to be recycled back into food production. We don’t have an endless supply of nutrients to support agriculture, and composted material is as good as it gets when it comes to nourishing the things that we eat.
Compost in the City
So it’s settled then, you must compost, even if you live in a 400sq foot apartment you share with six people in Manhattan.
Just tell your roommates that it’s for the good of the planet, and all of the life on it. They are sure to understand, but just in case, have some pics on your phone of bunnies or baby deer. Pictures of baby deer always help.
Hopefully You Live In Portland
So, if you live in a more progressive city, there may already be urban composting programs in place. All you have to do is get an airtight container, and start storing all of your compostable material.
You will be shocked at how fast it fills up, and just think, all of that material is going to be saved from the landfill, and put back to good use.
Ok, for all of you that don’t live in Portland, and don’t have access to a local pick-up service for your compostables, you will need to do a little more work.
Let the Veggies Lead You
Perhaps the easiest option is to go to the local farmers market, and start talking to the farmers. I will guarantee you that they compost.
Ask around, and you are sure to find someone to take your weekly scraps, and you may even score some veggies in trade.
Ask for the ugly ones if they give you the choice, ugly veggies taste better. It’s a fact.
Think About Growing
If you have a little bit more space to play with in your urban dwelling, then you have some great options. Also you won’t have to haul rotting kitchen waste to a farmers market once or twice a week.
If you are blessed with a small outdoor area, you have it made!
Get some window boxes, and put your compost outside on the ground. You can start your own little farm, right there on your balcony!
Options You May Not Have Known Existed
Another great option is a worm farm. You can keep it inside or outside, and as long as you can sell the people you live with on having hundreds of worms in the apartment, you are good to go.
For those of you that have more money to play with, check this thing out:
http://www.naturemill.com/compostbin.html
They call it a Nature Mill and it is an amazing machine that you plug in…and it makes compost. I suspect that there are Elves involved, and that is why it costs 400 dollars.
Whether the Elves make the machine, or live in it I don’t know, but it only uses fifty cents worth of power a month, and it makes compost.
You CAN Compost
So no matter where you live, you CAN compost, in fact, I think it is an obligation that we all have.
Clearly the Elves are helping us out, though they could be a little bit more reasonable about what they are charging for their handy work.
If you are pressed for time, and you need to sell your roommates on a worm farm or something of the sort, I have included a picture of a baby deer.
By the way, we will not get any money or anything from the Elves if you buy a Nature Mill, I promise that this is not some sort of tricky Elven affiliate marketing.
