Mystery Revealed: Composting Comes Home

For a while, I’ve been passively interested in composting but always felt intimidated by the “mystery” that seemed to surround composting: special materials, carbon/nitrogen ratios, odors, plenty of space, and so on.

But after I saw that my hometown of Nashville was selling Earth Machine composting bins, I took the plunge. What I quickly learned was that all those obstacles were fabrications of my own mind. The bin snaps together in 5-10 minutes, takes about as much space as a garbage can, and is easy to use – because you literally just throw stuff in there.

There’s so much that I didn’t realize was great for your compost pile: coffee grounds still in the filter, paper towels, eggshells, dryer lint (yes, dryer lint!). You can keep a bin under the sink and then just toss its contents into the outside bin, stir and sprinkle some leaves over it. Bacteria and other natural processes do the work for you.

Many estimates put the average household waste saved at more than 500 lbs. per year. Between recycling and composting, our family of four is down to a bag or two of trash a week. When our kids are out of — don’t think poorly of us– disposable diapers, I bet we can get our trash down even further, and likely not even roll it to the curb every week.

Another misperception I had was that you had to have a garden to enjoy the end product – the compost itself. The reality is that trees, shrubs, landscaping beds and even hanging plants love the stuff.

There’s plenty of free information available online and in print about composting. My method is just one of many options. I’ve seen everything from countertop methods for apartments to large-scale backyard bins. So do yourself and the earth a favor: shed your ignorance and your trash, and let the bacteria work away.

Do you compost? If not, what’s stopping you?

About the Author:

Richmond Williams is a father of two young children, a Nashville native, and a marketing professional. He can be reached at richmondw@yahoo.com.