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In No-Waste Composting, you’ll discover the hows and whys of composting and find over a dozen practical step-by-step plans for building both indoor and outdoor composting systems that require a minimal amount of space.
“I don’t have enough space to compost.”
“I don’t know what’s safe to compost and what isn’t.”
“I live in the city, so I don’t think I can compost.”
“Indoor composting systems are smelly.”
“I don’t have a garden, so I don’t need to compost.”
If any of these is your excuse for not composting, then this is the book for you! Small-space composting has never been easier, more efficient, and more eco-friendly. Composting keeps millions of tons of waste out of landfills and creates carbon-sequestering, nutrient-dense compost that can be used to help fuel plant growth (including houseplants!) and build soil health.
Build a DIY worm-composting system for a cupboard or garageCraft a layered, under-the-sink composting system from terra cotta potsConstruct a simple outdoor compost bin from repurposed wooden pallets Use upcycled wire fencing to build a mobile composting system on the drivewayLearn how to compost larger sticks and branches to build new food and flower gardensUpcycle a plastic bucket to make an indoor compost fermenting system
Plus, you’ll find plans to keep cat and dog waste out of the landfill by using a groundbreaking (and safe) DIY composting system. And if you don’t garden, author and composting professional Michelle Balz offers plenty of other ways you can utilize the wonderful, crumbly compost you create.
Whether you’re just starting your no-waste journey or you’re a seasoned recycling and repurposing pro, No-Waste Composting is an invaluable tool to have at your side.
This book is part of the Cool Springs Press No-Waste Gardening series, which also includes No-Waste Kitchen Gardening and No-Waste Organic Gardening.
From the Publisher
No-Waste Lifestyle and Benefits of Composting
When you think about how much garbage we create in our everyday lives, living a no-waste or zero-waste lifestyle may seem impossible, but hear me out. I see living with no waste as an aspirational goal: I take small steps, making changes in the products I buy and what I do with materials once their useful life with me is over. Striving toward zero waste just means you are trying to use our natural resources in the most efficient and smartest way possible, so we can conserve and preserve the planet we all love. Incorporating composting into your life gives you a huge leap toward living with no waste.
Reuse provides another leap toward no waste. In the 3R hierarchy you may have learned about in elementary school—reduce, reuse, recycle—reuse ranks higher than recycling as having a stronger environmental impact because it uses fewer resources. Composting technically falls into the “recycling” definition because we (or, rather, our microbe friends) transform one material into something new.
You can jump on the reuse bandwagon in multiple ways, and this book is full of reuse projects. Intentionally reusing everyday products and packaging appeals to the frugal, pennypinching aspect of our personalities and to our inner environmentalists. Consider shopping for your lumber and other supplies at a building materials reuse center.
These are like thrift stores for building supplies, and you can have a lot of fun just walking through the place and discovering treasures. Reuse surplus materials you have lying around your house and garage to construct the bins featured in this book. Instead of purchasing a fancy new kitchen collector, just use an old butter tub or coffee canister.
FEEDING YOUR LANDSCAPE, NOT THE LANDFILL
Yard trimmings, food waste, and paper could make up between one-third and one-half of your garbage. In the United States, about 30 percent of the garbage a household creates could easily be composted in the backyard (about 1,234 pounds, or 560 kg, per year). This doesn’t include the newspaper and cardboard that we could compost but generally recycle.
By composting the material in your backyard, they do not take up space in the garbage truck. The truck will pick up more houses per trip, reducing the fuel needed to collect the route. Your materials also do not take up space at the landfill, extending the life of that landfill and delaying the need to build another. Composting means you put less waste at the curb, leading to lighter garbage and yard waste trucks, longer life at the landfill, and smiles all around.
Composting Basics
A QUICK PRIMER
When you plant a garden, you control (or try to control) which plants grow and where they grow. When you compost, you attempt to control what materials decompose and where they decompose. In the process, you create a valuable soil amendment, reduce household waste, and start an avalanche of other personal and environmental benefits.
Home composting can involve a structure or a container, or you can integrate composting directly into your garden. You can put as much or as little effort as you choose into your composting, depending on how quickly you want a finished product. Backyard composting is very forgiving, so even when you make mistakes, you end up with pretty darn good compost.
In nature, there is no waste—everything decomposes and continues in a circle to nourish new life. Humus is the organic component of soil formed by decomposition. Humus is the organic component of soil formed by decomposition.
Nature takes decades and sometimes centuries to create beautiful, humus-filled topsoil: Trees release leaves that naturally decompose where they fall. Animals contribute manure, regularly adding a rich, nutrient-filled material to the cycle. Decomposers, such as earthworms, help break everything down and slowly build the topsoil year after year.
When you compost in the backyard, you’re replicating what happens naturally, but in a concentrated and controlled manner. You’re creating that humus material you find on the forest floor. You’re just not waiting hundreds of years to get it done.
Low-Maintenance Outdoor Composting
COMPOST IN A BACKYARD BIN
Perhaps the easiest and most common type of home composting is designating a small space in your backyard for an enclosed composting vessel. One project in this chapter may appeal to you more than the others, depending on the space you have, the materials you need to compost, how quickly you want finished compost, and how attractive a compost bin you desire.
Manufactured compost bins usually work well, so if you are not inclined to make your own bin and have a little extra cash, don’t feel guilty about forgoing the DIY projects to buy a bin. You can even find used compost bins on social media and online yard sale–like platforms, sometimes even for free.
CHOOSE THE RIGHT COMPOSTER FOR YOU
This chapter goes over four basic DIY backyard compost bins. If you do not have a backyard space, skip to chapter 5. To integrate composting into your garden rather than using a bin, skip to chapter 4. Or you can read this chapter anyway and appreciate all of the snazzy projects.
The Reused Pickle Barrel Composter (page 43) creates a low-cost plastic bin that functions like the composters you buy in the store at a fraction of the cost. This works perfectly for someone with only a few square feet of space who wants to compost kitchen scraps and a small quantity of leaves or other yard debris.
Publisher : Cool Springs Press (April 27, 2021)
Language : English
Paperback : 128 pages
ISBN-10 : 0760368708
ISBN-13 : 978-0760368701
Item Weight : 12.8 ounces
Dimensions : 6.7 x 0.7 x 9.7 inches