Purpose
Doing a waste audit provides an idea of how much room is needed to for the compost area over a period of time best for you.
Materials
leak proof, sealed container(s)
This collection container will hold your compostable waste, so make sure it seals and holds liquids.
Example
Our house has:
*1 gallon bucket with lid (on kitchen counter)
*5 gallon bucket with lid in garage
*various other repurposed containers in garage
(old Tupperware, laundry soap containers, etc)
The extra containers are for when I’m lazy and don’t get to the compost weekly… yep, life happens and I don’t want my kitchen filling up with rotting stuff, so I shove it in a 5-gallon bucket in the garage… and some months I need two of them.
Bin for yard waste, if needed
Locate a spot to create a pile or an old trash bin to hold any yard waste that can be composted.
Example
Our house has:
* approximately 3 ft x 3 ft pile by our composter for extra yard waste.
Methods
Sort Organic Waste
First, determine what types of organic materials you would like to keep out of the landfill and communicate this with whomever is composting with you (family, coworkers, classmates, etc).
Next, for the set amount of time (ex. 1 week) instead of putting those items in the trash, put them in your collection container.
Determine compost area size–ish
Don’t worry, it is simple math. Take the amount of waste you collected to compost and multiply it by 3 (or add it 3 times, same-diff). This is the volume of waste you want to plan for.
To visualize better divide the number you came up with by 7.5. That gives you approximately the square feet of space you need to prepare for your compost area.
STOP.
Do not freak out at this number right now.
Remember, this is an optimal size if you have adequate space. Don’t have enough space? Check out the Compost Bin link to see about other space saving options.
If you don’t intuitively know why this much space is handy for composting check out the Helpful Hints.
Example
In the perfect situation, our house fills one 1-gallon bucket of food waste, 1 -gallon bucket of miscilanious paper waste (tissues, qtips, paper towel, laundry lint, etc.), 5 gallons of paper waste from our business, and 10-15 gallons of yard/pet waste. We have chickens, which is why our food waste is so low, but our yard and pet waste is very high. If you are interested in composting pet waste be sure to read this warning about zoonotic diseases and why many will tell you not to compost pet waste.
Our calculation then looks like this:
1+1+5+15 = ~ 22 gallons of waste per week
22 gallons x 3 = about 66 gallons of space for our compost area.
Well shucks, what the hell does that mean?
A good conversion is 7.5 gallons is about a cubic foot. Visualize a cubic foot as a box that is 12 inches x 12 inches x 12 inches… To go a step further, 66 gallons divided by 7.5 gallons = ~9 cubic feet. So our compost area should be 9 cubic feet in size. We use a 3-bin system so that 9 cubic feet is split among 2 different bins and there is an additional 3rd bin to mix into. Check out our home step-up for more information.
Discussion (The now what)
Now start composting!
Customize your compost space
Now that you know about how much space you need to start you composting journey, build or buy your composter. If you live out of city limits or have lots of space, a big ol’ pile will work or long trenches that are covered after filling.
Trenching can also work in the city too!
Did you decide on a tumbler? Perhaps a 3-bin system? Or maybe a chimney style?
Don’t have a clue what you just read? Perhaps refresh with the Composter Style information.
Start a Routine
My goal is to stir the compost once a week. When I do this, I take any new organic material from the house and put it in the bottom of the empty bin.
We use a 3-bin system.
Then I mix in some extra browns and make sure the new addition is moist.
Next, we dig/stir/transfer the older unfinished compost onto the newly added layer, also making sure that this is moist.
Finally, we mix/stir/transfer the older finishing compost into the now empty bin (which was holding the unfinished compost).
In the end there will be a compost bin that is getting new organic waste each week, a compost bin that is full of ‘finishing’ compost, and an empty bin.
Again, the goal is to do this every week… but yep you guessed it, that doesn’t always happen. That is why there is a backup system to store the new organic waste in our garage, and then it makes this adding/stirring step a little more tedious when we finally get around to it… but otherwise the compost just sits there rotting away:) It doesn’t judge, but the process goes faster if you do stir it weekly and keep it moist.
Words of Caution
Just a few warnings:
* Expect mistakes! Laugh it off and start again
*Dry compost is dangerous, especially in the hot months. This can become a fire danger, so make sure you keep it moist. Check out this link to learn how it starts fires.
*Compost will have an odor, but it shouldn’t be disgusting. Kinda like how that wet leave smell in autumn is a nice “decomposing” smell, compost should have something similar. If it flat out stinks, for example like rotten eggs, then the balance is a little out of whack. Try mixing in more browns, which will also give it an oxygen boost or drying it out if it is soppy wet instead of just moist. More anti smell tips here.
* still having trouble? Drop us a question or contact a local composting company or group for help!
What to do with Finished compost
Oh man, you did it!!! Awesome dirt has been made! But perhaps you’ve noticed some clunkers or things that aren’t quite done yet in the mix of some beautiful dirt…
It is not mandatory, but when I get to this stage, we sift the finished compost.
Check out a DIY sifter design here.
The now awesome dirt side of the sifter goes into the garden, lawn, or wherever dirt is needed. The chunks that are still too big go back into the active compost bin to have another go at feeding those amazing microbes and invertebrates!
Some people, especially those with bokashi systems, check their compost pH before putting it anywhere. This can be fun and helpful when you first begin because the pH will stabilize or become closer to neutral (pH 7) as the compost sits undisturbed.
Still a little confused?
Here are some other articles if you still have questions or just need a refresher:
Great, but I don’t want to do that.
Here are some additional resources if you’ve decided that composting at home isn’t in the cards right now…