#How to Compost Food Scraps

Professor Rot says:

Compostable food scraps are one of the best and readily available sources of organic materials for home composting.

In fact, you're a fool to not compost your food waste! What better way to return to the Earth than to recycle your food waste in your own yard!

Composting food scraps at home is one of the most important aspects of home composting . Why? Because food scrap items such as vegetable and fruit waste, meal leftovers, coffee grounds, tea bags, stale bread, grains, and general refrigerator spoilage are an everyday occurrence in most households.

One of the great waves in municipal and home recycling is the concentration on what to do with the enormous amount of food waste generated in and out of the home, by businesses, or as a result of surplus farming. On the grand scale, it is estimated that about one-half of all food that is produced or consumed in the U.S. is discarded. The main culprits are spoilage and overproduction/surplus.

A typical household throws away an estimated 474 pounds of food waste each year. Put another way, that is about 1.5 lbs per person a day in the U.S. Food scraps generated by all households in the United States could be piled on a football field more than five miles (26,400 feet) high!

Up to 90 percent of waste thrown out by businesses like supermarkets and restaurants is food scraps. In fact, food scraps are the third largest segment of the waste stream with nearly 26 million tons generated each year. Of the overall wastestream, about 12% is food-related, behind paper and plastic.

CHECK WITH YOUR MUNICIPAL WASTE MANAGEMENT DISTRICT TO SEE IF YOU ARE ALLOWED TO COMPOST FOOD SCRAPS AT HOME!

Believe it or not, some cities have issues with the home composting of food scraps. Why? Because there is the concern over attracting rodents and other vermin (racoons, opossums, scavengers, etc.) to an inadequately secure compost bin. Therefore, a community may desire more control over food waste recycling.

Some communities are exploring curbside food waste disposal, using specially designed receptacles. They believe they can control the food wastestream better. Unfortunately, such food disposal has a flaw, from our perspective. Very often, food waste that should not be composted (see chart below) is comingled with appropriate compostable food scraps.

WHAT HOME FOOD WASTE CAN YOU COMPOST?

Not all food waste is created equal. You should know this or else you may have problems popping up in your compost bin or pile. BIG PROBLEMS! Actually, once you look at the chart below, commonsense will be your guide.