Recently, I got a comment asking about my personal experience composting. I thought I would tell you what I do and how composting can be possible for anyone because everyone needs to participate in it!
To begin, I will give you some backstory. I have been composting for as long as I can remember. Therefore, it was never a challenge for me to build a compost or build a habit of composting. I grew up privileged enough to already have my family doing the composting first and take care of all of it for me.
Secondly, I want to mention that composting can look very different in various situations. Many people who live in apartments or don’t own their land will also find it slightly more difficult to compost successfully. Food will break down as long as it is exposed to our air. Therefore, as long as you have air, which most of us do, you can compost. Often people in apartments freeze compost to store it and when they get a full bin of compost, they bring it to a composting location.
One way to do this and make composting a possible process is to work with your local representatives to either get access to a local composting facility to either pick up your compost or find one that you can bring your compost to. But again, I don’t do these things because I am able to compost in my own backyard.
For the most part, composting is a simple process for me and my family. We keep a medium-sized container by the sink and empty it daily to avoid the smell of rotting food. Quite honestly though, I have not noticed much of a smell. During the warmer months in the summer, we usually compost straight into the backyard to avoid fruit flies. However, during the rest of the year, we collect compost inside and when the bin fills (which is usually daily) we empty it in a much larger bin outside in our backyard below our deck. Then we fill that up over time and the organic waste breaks down. Once the much larger bin fills up (which is usually twice a year) we empty it into the woods and take any compost that has fully broken down to dirt for the garden.
This dirt is completely healthy and extra nutritious for the garden. What hasn’t broken down yet sits outside again until it does break down.
Quite that is just about it. That is mainly how I compost. However, before I go, I want to explain one more thing. Part of my “zero waste pet routine” includes me composting my cat’s poop. We buy compostable litter to make sure this won't do any harm. I also keep that compost separate from any compost that would be used to grow food in a garden. I like to make sure the poop is given at least a year to break down so it is not toxic. This is not fully fact-checked or researched but it has been working for us and is better than sending poop to a landfill. That is how I compost.
I hope this has given you some more insight into what composting looks like for me. If you enjoyed this blog, please make sure you are subscribed to both my website and YouTube channel so you can be the first to see my new content. For now, peace.