REDUCE TRASH AND LANDFILL TIPS 1: COMPOSTING

COMPOSTING

Composting sends less trash to the curb and to the landfill, while producing a soil amendment that helps your garden thrive.

• Kitchen scraps, yard clippings and shredded paper can all go into the compost bin.

 
Backyard composting involves combining fresh "green" ingredients such as food scraps, with "brown" ingredients, like dead leaves and shredded paper. The compost is placed in an open-air bin or simply piled in a corner of the yard. Over time, microorganisms break down the materials into soil.
When using this composting method, all plant-based kitchen scraps are safe to add to your compost bin or pile, including all fruits.

• For the best results, you should plan to include about twice as many brown ingredients as you do greens.

Compost should not have an unpleasant odor and if you add too many fruit scraps or keep them too close to the top of the pile, it may start to stink or attract gnats, flies and other pests. Controlling these problems doesn't mean tossing your fruit scraps into the waste bin, though.

• Instead, bury fruit scraps several inches below existing compost and make sure that you have enough brown materials in the pile. 

It is important to compost. Sure it takes a lot of time, energy and educating oneself; but when you start to see the change in how much waste and spending gets reduced you will be glad you stuck with it. So compost early spring is on its way!