If you like the idea of composting your kitchen scraps, but can’t bear the thought of them rotting under your nose for any length of time there are a number of options that you can use in order to stay earth friendly!
The first is an odor-free electric composter is a great solution. You can add most common perishable food scraps into the upper chamber, where they are slowly processed and transferred to the lower chamber. This chamber only needs to be emptied every couple of weeks. The system uses relatively little electricity. You end up with clean, aerated compost that can be used in flowerpots and garden beds, or simply scattered over your park lawn. This is especially great news for ecologically minded tenants who don’t want to deal with the traditional method of indoor or outdoor food scrap collection.
The second option is garbage can composting. To use this method you must start with three garbage cans. Drill approximately 50 holes into two of them (including the lid). Use the third can to hold your bulking material, or bedding (e.g. saw dust, newspaper, peat moss) mixed with garden soil or compost (inoculates bedding material with soil microbes).
Fill the first can with your composting worms and approximately 12″ of moist bedding mix. Gradually, add kitchen waste by placing it on top of your bedding mix. Cover your food waste with another thin layer of bedding mix. Once the worms have digested most of this food, repeat with more food scraps and bedding. Since red wigglers are surface dwellers, they will feed on your kitchen waste and continue to move upwards in the bin.
Eventually, the first bin will be full. However, this can take quite a long time depending on how much kitchen waste your household produces. Once full, you will transfer the upper 4″-8″ of material (including all of your surface-dwelling worms) to the second garbage can. Now, repeat the feeding process using the second bin.
We suggest you let the first worm composting bin sit for another month to allow any remaining worms to finish digesting all of the food scraps. After about a month, you will have 20-30 gallons of worm castings – one of nature’s most incredible garden fertilizers.
