Composting

Due to popular demand (as many people have been asking lots of questions lately), this post is dedicated to composting.  I want to qualify this from the get-go in that the rules with regards to composting depend in large part on where you are situated.  For example, the cities of Denver, San Francisco and Santa Monica are much more progressive in that you can compost any food waste (whether plant or animal based) through the city's provided waste services.  If you live in rural areas, like Michigan,  where I am originally from, you have the liberty to dig a hole somewhere on your typically vast property and bury your compostable items.  Given that much of my audience is based in Los Angeles, I am going to speak primarily on what the dos and don'ts are here.  But you can easily research your particular area.

I want to start by talking logistics.  In L.A., the green bin that the city provides for your lawn trimming is actually you compost waste receptacle.  In fact, if you open the lid (assuming you haven't had it for more than 2-3 years), it lists many of compostable items.  In the home, I keep a countertop composter like this (found at Amazon.com) that gets filled and dumped into our green bin multiple times a week, but a large bowl works just as well if you want to take out to avoid the mess and attraction of fruit flies (which I have seen happen in the summer):

 

Now turning to the most anticipated answer to: "What can you compost?"  For L.A., it includes any and all plant based food and other scraps (think of the bin as being a vegan).  This means:

• Fruit and veggie scraps, Egg shells, Coffee/tea grounds and bags/filters

• Yard trimmings (including trimmings from trees, small plants and bushes in addition to mowed grass), natural/real wine corks (as opposed to plastic ones), untreated wood (such as chopsticks)

• Non-shinny paper/cardboard products (e.g., newspapers, paper towels, tissues, paper napkins, printer paper, shredded documents, etc.) - that do not have animal-based food waste or plastic tape on them.  The preference is for these items to be shredded, but its easier to simply wet them down as that causes them to break down.  Things like cereal boxes, which are made of the shinier cardboard, should be kept clean of food waste and recycled.

• Biobags (http://www.biobagusa.com/).  I use these for my counter composter.  You can get them at Amazon.com.

• Dryer lint and Meyer's dryer sheets (you can find them at Whole Foods or Amazon.com).  These are one of the few packaged items I buy because it's only cardboard that is 100% recyclable. 

Here's what you CANNOT compost in LA:

• Any animal-based foods (e.g., meat, fish, dairy, the insides of eggs)

• Any of the above "compostable" items that have animal based food waste in or on them.
• Compostable and/or biodegradable food storage items or bags made from plastic #7 (e.g., silverware made from veggie based plastics, the compostable veggie-based plastic cups many establishments are now using for takeout drinks).

• Treated wood (e.g., stained, painted or varnished)

So for example, if you have a pizza box with cheese melted all over it, you cannot compost, but if it is simply oils, it is typically OK.  

Many might ask, what is the point of having biodegrable or compostable items if they can't go in your municipality's composting system?  In my opinion, while these items are ultimately going into a landfill, it is still better than petroleum-based products (like plastic) which are very taxing to obtain, process and create as well as toxic.  I would rather have a plant based product that will inevitably decompose and that doesn't need to be obtained by drilled and processed creating pollution and waste.  

Personally, I am now opting for reusable/non-disposable items as much as possible.  I realize that when I am hosting a party for 30 people and using reusable plates that it creates more work for me in the clean up, but it gives me peace of mind that I am not creating a bunch of trash to send to a landfill.  I do have some items that I have purchased over the years like paper plates that I am still using up.  But once they are gone, I am not replacing them, which means I will save myself a lot of money and save the earth the energy and resources used to make them and dispose of them.