Composting is fun!

We have been recycling for some time now.  The only need we had for trash services was to get rid of food waste.  Well, we didn't think that was so green, so we decided to stop that.

We canceled our trash service and ordered two composters.  We chose the Soilsaver composters because they have great reviews and are also very affordable.  We were able to purchase two of these (including shipping) for $80.  That's less that what we would spend in trash service for a year.  I can't begin to tell you how great it is to be saving that money and watching the trash man drive right on by our home every week!

When we decided to start my husband did all sorts of research about what composters were good, what to put in them, what to do with them once we started them, etc.  He loved it!  He even wrote us up this handy list of what's compostable to put on our refrigerator.  I would like to share it with you :)

It's a PDF for easy viewing and printing: Compost List

When the composters arrived we were so excited to get them put together.  My husband got out all of the parts and headed straight to Lowe's.  These composters are 100% recycled plastics (very sturdy!) and so are the nuts and bolts.  We wanted something a bit stronger for those, so he picked up some outdoor nuts and bolts in the same sizes (any store employee should be able to help you out!).

After my husband got them all put together he did a little photo shoot!  Check it out, we compost kids!  The one on the left works fast too ;)

As soon as the snow cleared and the ground thawed, my husband took them outside to set up.  We chose this spot at the back of our home.  Close enough for convenience, far enough for comfort :)

These really aren't big, they are roughly 2.5'x2.5'.  If you have a yard at all, you have enough room for one of these!

To install, my husband dug down a little (a few inches deep in the general shape of the composters).  He then set some pavers (patio stones or bricks) in the ground and then made sure everything was level :)  Then he placed the composters on them and put the dirt back around it to keep it snug.  What you see around them is mulch.

Below you can see the door of the composter. We faced the inwards for easy and least messy access.

 He then filled up the bottoms with a few inches of leaves.  We did this because we started composting in the winter.  From what I've read, you don't need to do this in the summer time.

While I was out I couldn't help but take a picture of my Vinca Vine :)  It's in bloom and I just adore it :)

Once we got our composters in, it was time to compost!  We now toss in all of our food scraps (that are are on the OK list).  We keep a little container on our counter and dump it daily.  Actually, our son loves doing this.  We have a bucket on our back porch (just off the kitchen/dining room) to dump it into, and then when it's full, we take it to the composter.  I realize this step could be left out, but it works for us :)

Based on our reading, we should turn our compost (with a pitchfork, turner or shovel) at least a few times during the summer.  No more than every other week is what we've read.

We are very excited to have our own compost for our garden.  Next on our list is a rain barrel!

Why the deer love us - and yours can too!

First off, thanks to Amanda for letting me guest blog on her awesome site. I have never seen so much great eco-info all in once place. I try to be as green as I can, taking into consideration cost and practicality. But happily, there more ways to save than to spend while being eco conscious. I’m here to tell you about one of them my husband and I do.

Composting. Sounds messy and gross, but actually it can be a lot of fun. And it’s a real conversation starter - “Oh, please don’t throw your food away. Put it in this bowl on our counter. We save it and throw it outside in our bin.” You should see the looks we get. But most of our friends become really interested once we start telling them what we plan on doing with all our “trash” outside. I’ve had people actually save things like egg shells (which are wonderful for compost) from their kitchens to give to me when I visit. It can be a little awkward accepting food scraps at first from friends - you want to assure others you are not homeless or in desperate need of a meal - but it’s become wonderful to get and know they feel like in a small way they are helping the environment too.

My husband and I first started composting after seeing a really cute bin in a Williams Sonoma catalog. Too bad the thing was like $200 to throw food and leaves into. We passed and ended up finding one in Home Depot for around $50. It was a cinch to put together, like a little house with 4 plastic sides and a pop up lid. Since it was summer, we started to fill it with our grass clippings and old food.

However, we live in a really windy place, so one night we heard a huge bump against our house and both looked at each other in horror. Racing outside, we found… nothing. The bin had blown away. All the way down to our neighbors home where it smashed up against the side of her house. Grass clippings everywhere. We picked it up, silently praying she wouldn’t come out and ask what on earth we were doing. The next day, we stuck iron stakes all around it. It’s never moved since.

We plan on using the compost for our garden this summer. We live in a rocky soil area, so having soil rich in nutrients will help tremendously with plant growth. In other words - everything we put in the ground dies. Or is eaten by deer.

Speaking of which, the deer often stop by our home to look into the compost bin. I will forget to shut the lid and they can smell it. So I’ll see them prance across our lawn and the next thing you know there’s a small herd all gathered round eating out of it. Because it’s illegal to feed the deer, we really should keep it closed. (Sometimes I feel bad when they look skinny so I “accidentally” keep it open. I love deer.)

Composting creates it’s own natural heat to break down the food and organic material you throw in. We try to avoid tossing in things with pesticides or any type of chemicals, because it affects how the soil feeds the plants later on. Also, don’t put in things like meat, fish, plastic, metal - because, um, well metal and plastic don’t break down, and meat and fish make it stink. And rot. So unless you’re a fan of maggots, meat stays in the trash.

There are surprising things you can put in, like dryer and vacuum cleaner lint. Hair - both human and pet. (We put cat hair from when we clean up the couches, but I pass on human hair. Weirds me out.) Coffee and tea grounds, and wax paper. There is a bowl on our counter where we throw in the food scraps during cooking, and keep them until it’s full. Sometimes one of us will forget to empty it and when I wake up in the morning it causes me to search throughout the house looking for the animal that died. That only happens after a few days of putting things in though. It was amazing to me the amount of food scraps we just tossed. Even though it still bothers me when we find something in the fridge that went bad a month ago, at least it can be used to help us have more soil.

Being eco friendli-er doesn’t have to be hard, or costly. It can pay off later on when things you would have tossed out anyway save you money on buying expensive dirt. It’s little changes that can make a big difference in your life and the world around you, and you just might end up having the most popular house on the block - according to the deer anyway.

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Hey, Amanda here!

I just wanted to give a great big thank you to Diana for this great and entertaining post :)

Please head on over to her blog for more great posts on a range of topics, product reviews (giveaways too!) and more!