Each month we do a easy and free challenge to become better at a zero waste lifestyle 1 more month at a time. The challenges can be modified for all levels of zero wasters, from beginner to advanced. Every month, you can also choose how much you want to participate. You can do the challenge every day of the month, you can do one task, or you can take only what you need.
One thread that runs through all the challenges is to be more mindful and aware about the waste we create with each monthly challenge. If you only take a new awareness of what waste you create each month, you are succeeding in these challenges!
In April we are talking about food scraps and learning how to compost! Composting at it’s simplest definition is letting food scraps, yard scraps, and other organic waste rot and turn back into dirt. Home composts are most often kept in a container orpile kept in the back yard or garden, and allowed and encouraged to rot down into a nutreient rich siol, then used in the yard, garden or house plsnts. There is also industrial comoposting which is a whole other story. For this challenge we are mainly concerned with our home or community compost systems.
Step one to starting your own compost pile is to assess what food waste you are creating and reduce it.
Next is to research what is the best avenue of compost for you. Do you have a space in your yard for a pile or a compost container? If not, how else can you compost? can you put a bucket on the stoop or fire escape? Can you save your food waste and drop it off at the local farmers market? Does your city or town have a compost pick up program?
After you have figured out where to compost, you can start saving scraps and composting!
Do you have a compost pile? Do you use one of the other methods for keeping your food waste out of the landfill?