So much food goes to waste unnecessarily and I realized that I was a part of the problem. I live in a household where we throw out the trash every single night. In Miami, it's easy to get some adventurous roaches roaming around your house if you leave your trash sitting around. And we don't want that.
I came to the realization that the main reason we were throwing out the trash every day was because there was food in it. So, when I first learned about composting I was really excited because I've always felt like there must be a better way to dispose of food!
And there is!
But, there are so many different guides online on how you can get started with composting that I don't want to repeat the same information that you will read out there. If you're looking for a quick tutorial on what composting is and how to correctly compost, you can check out this 5 steps tutorial.
Instead, I want to share with you how I started composting and what suggestions from the online world I've followed.
Let me start by saying that composting is easy once you get started and understand how to do it, but it definitely has a learning curve.
When I was doing my research, I was mainly focusing on how to start composting in an apartment. Through my research, I stumbled upon back2earth, which is a local organization that collects composts. They have a pick-up program and also several drop-off locations available.
I fell in love with the idea that I could just go to a place I trust and drop off my compost.
So, my first advice is to find out if you want to do the composting yourself (if you live in a house) or if you prefer dropping it off somewhere. And you don't have to be searching for an organization. Before I found back2earth, I was also searching for different farms in my area. You can also reach out to community gardens. There are tons of options out there for you to drop off your compost. It's just a matter of you finding the right one for you!
The most important thing is to find a method that is convenient for you! Convenience is often seen as something negative and it shouldn't be. Just because we're seeking convenience doesn't make us bad or lazy. It makes us humans. We're all busy and all little inconveniences can add up to lots of time being wasted.
Next, I wanted to be smart about my food waste. Obviously, I read the guidelines back2earth has as far as what can go in the compost. Once I figured that out, I decided to make a list for myself.
I knew that much of my food waste could be reused before being composted. For example, I wanted to make veggie stock from my veggie rests. I've seen some people who literally use ALL veggies to do that. However, I've found that the taste of the stock can be greatly impacted by what veggies you use. So here is the system I came up with...
I freeze my compost to avoid any funky smells in my kitchen. I have two small containers in my freezer. One is for all final food rests that will end up being composted. The other one is for the veggies I want to reuse for stock before composting them.
To be honest, this is all you need to get started with composting. There is nothing complicated about it. Just simple two steps...
1. Find out the perfect method for your composting (at home or drop off at a location).
2. Learn what to put in your compost.
Maybe you feel intimidated to get started. Maybe you feel weird having "trash" in your freezer. But as soon as you stop seeing food as "trash" and begin seeing it as something so resourceful, this entire process will become so easy for you.
No, it is not an inconvenience. No, it does not take more time. The only change I've made is that instead of tossing all my food rests in the garbage, I toss it in a container and freeze it. The drop-off location I use happens to be right next to the farmers market I visit, so it's not out of my way to drop off my compost once a week.
It may sound cheesy, but I feel so fulfilled ever since I started composting. I feel like in one way or another I'm giving back to Earth what belongs there.
I would love to hear about your journey of getting started with composting. Let me know your trials and errors and what you've learned from composting so far!
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