From Scraps to Soil: How to Turn Your Food Waste into Usable Earth for all Your Plant Needs

Collin Kramer, Colorado State University, International Exchange Officer for National SAVMA

What is composting?

Have you ever wanted to reduce your carbon footprint while saving time and money? Well, now you can from the comfort of your own home! Turn your leftover or unusable kitchen scraps into nutritious soil for all your planting needs by setting up a composting system. Composting is the natural breakdown of organic material into smaller particles that can be further used as fertilizer for plants. Composting is nature’s very own recycling system that has been perfected over millennia and can now be harnessed for your everyday use.

 

How does composting work?

For composting to work effectively, it needs three things: water, green organic material and brown organic material. Green organic material consists of kitchen veggie and fruit scraps, lawn/landscape clippings, and used coffee grinds. Brown organic material includes dead leaves and plants, sticks, and twigs. Paper-based products such as paper towels, coffee filters, to-go containers, and napkins can also be used as brown organic material for composting; however, these paper-based products should not be contaminated with any chemicals or have plastic lining on them. Chemicals and plastic can take decades to break down and adding that to your household plants or gardens would not be ideal for the safety of you or your plants.

What does it take to compost?

To set up your own composting system, all you need are table scraps, a composter, and a small space to start your system. Ideally, a sunny to semi-shady spot outside works well as heat and pressure speed up the composting process. Depending on outside factors and the natural breakdown of the organic material you are using, the ready-to-use soil from your composter can be ready in as little as a few weeks. The hardest part about composting is getting into the habit of doing so!

 

Types of composting.

There are three types of composting systems that can be utilized, and these include: self-turn piles, vermiculture (composting with worms), or tumbler/drum turning bins. Self-turn composting requires a small space to start a pile of organic scraps that requires turning, typically with the assistance of a gardening tool, once every week. Vermiculture, or composting with worms, requires a holding bin in which organic waste is added and worms are used to naturally break down the material. Mechanical turning is not necessary for this type of composting system as the movement of the worms breaking down the waste acts as a natural turning mechanism (pretty cool, right?!). Tumbler or drum turning composting bins are set up to spin so that once food scraps are added, a quick rotation of the bin once a week is all you need to have compost in no time.

If you still need more convincing, check out the EPA’s website for guidelines on how to compost!

https://www.epa.gov/recycle/composting-home