12 things you should know about kitchen composting
Does it bother you when you have to pack your kitchen wastes into a plastic bag and sent them to a nearby landfill? Do the images from the landfill and people living around that place bother you. Then you would be thinking about setting up your own kitchen composting unit.
Good decision. But before you bring in the composting unit to your house, go through these 12 very important points on kitchen composting.
1. Can I make compost out of kitchen waste alone ?
If we add all kitchen waste, that would not be enough to produce rich compost. Organic household refuse is high in nitrogen and is known as “green” composting material. For successful composting, it is essential to add plenty of “brown” materials which have a high carbon content. Brown items include straw or hay, small wood chips, or sawdust. A readily available source of brown matter is dead leaves.
2. What Can Be Composted?
Fruits, vegetables, dairy products, grains, bread, unbleached paper napkins, coffee filters, eggshells, and newspapers can be composted.
3. What cannot be composted ?
Plastics, grease, glass, and metals including plastic utensils, packaging materials, plastic wrap, plastic bags, foil, silverware, drinking straws, bottles, polystyrene, or chemicals.
4. How to Stop Compost from smelling really bad ?
Too much green material in the compost pile will make it smell like sewage or ammonia. Adding brown materials like leaves, newspaper, and straw will help in controlling this situation.
Compost that is tightly packed will smell like rotting eggs. The best option to avoid this from happening is by giving the compost a mix with a shovel every three to four days. Compost that is too wet too will smell like rotting eggs and will look slimy, especially green material. To fix this cause add some dry brown materials to absorb some of the moisture.
Sometimes layering can lead to waste material to decompose unevenly. Giving the brown and green material pile proper mix is essential.
5. Should we shred the food waste before adding to the composting unit?
Smaller the food material is in size, faster it would break down. It is advisable to chop the food waste into smaller pieces using a shredder or so before adding to the compost pit.
6. Can You Compost Meat waste?
Some people suggest it is ideal not to add meat to the composting unit as it can attract pests like rats. If you have made up your mind to compost meat, make sure the compost is turned frequently and keep composting meat within the interior of the pile. Also, the amount of composting meat should only be a very small percentage of the entire make-up of the compost.
7. How to Set Up a Kitchen Compost at Home ?
1.Prepare a compost container. Make sure the container has lid on both the top and the bottom and air can pass in and out of it. (drill 4 – 5 holes around the container)
2. Fill approximately 1/3rd of it with wet shredded newspaper strips (not dripping) 3. Get some red wriggler worms and add them to the compost container with some soil.
4. Take some shredded food waste. Mix them up with paper strips gently and add to the bin.
5. Place your worm bin in a cool place without a lot of sunshine. Keep adding food waste to it along with dry leaves or wet paper strip and allow it to transform into compost. (Do not overfill the bin)
8. Can I buy readymade composting kits ?
You can buy a composter bin and microbe kit with a complete user instruction manual and description video from online sites like Amazon. In India, you can try Eco bin, TrustBin Indoor composter, Daily Dump Chomp Indoor composter, Greentech life smart bin etc
9. Is it ok to have flies in my compost?
Composting is a natural process and little flies, along with the other microbes, ants, worms and bacteria in the bin help to decompose the organics. You can reduce them by keeping the lid of the bin close all the time and by always covering the wet layer with a dry layer of leaves or sawdust.
10. What is the difference between Cold composting and Hot composting ?
In Cold composting you allow nature to do it decomposing at its own pace whereas in Hot composting we must ensure right materials are layered in the right proportions to speed the composting process. Always need to layer two parts ‘high carbon’ materials, with one part ‘high nitrogen’ material.
11. What is a Kambha or Stack composter ?
4 tier Kambha is handcrafted terracotta composter units ideal for individual homes to compost in flats, apartments, and tight spaces. 4 tier Kambha can keep about 30 kgs of waste per month. Place them on the balcony, terrace, or garden.
12. How to know if your compost is ready?
Compost will look like black, crumbly dirt
Great! Now you know all the basics about Kitchen composting. So go ahead and set up a kitchen composting unit at your home. Also, do share snaps of your composting unit with us.
