How to Compost in Your Kitchen!

According to the United Nations Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO), about one-third of the world’s food goes to waste every year, amounting to over one trillion dollars in waste. Food waste is the largest component of solid waste that reaches landfills and incinerators.

A lot of that waste is due to poor buyer agreements and letting food go bad before it can be consumed.

We can start to make a difference, at least in our own homes, by letting our food waste go to good use by turning it into compost and using it to add nutrients to our soil and nourish ornamental and food plants.

You don’t need a huge yard to compost your kitchen and home waste. You can easily set up a small compost spot indoors in only a few simple steps.

Materials You Will Need:

• Metal bin of any size with a lid
• 2-inch wooden blocks to keep the compost bin lifted
• Drill (1/8-inch bit)
• Newspaper
• Rubber or anti-slip mat
• Potting mix (ideally organic)

You might want to have two of everything for when one of your bins fills up and you wait for it to turn fully into compost.

What you need to do:

1. Drill a few holes into the bottom of the bin to help aerate the compost. If you don’t want to risk have any funky smells in your kitchen just remember to shake up the bin regularly.
2. Set the bin on the cubes over the mat.
3. Shred some newspaper and put in in the bottom of the bin
4. Add a layer of potting mix
5. Add the food scraps you have laying around.
6. Cover with newspaper.

Continue this process until you run out of food scraps and close it up. Every time you have more food scraps to add, go ahead and open up your bin and add some more. When it fills up, set it aside and keep on shaking it regularly. Within a few weeks, you will have fresh compost to add to your garden.

You can make your compost bin more attractive by making it a family project and painting and decorating it. Place it next to or in front of your garbage so you don’t forget to use it and it will soon become a centerpiece of your kitchen.