MythBusters: Composting Edition

Five lessons we have learned since starting to compost.  Let's bust some myths.

 

Guys, I have an announcement to make.

We have been legit composters for 1 1/2 years now.

Can you believe it?

 

And not only are we legit, we have actually been successful too.  Damn, it feels good to be a ganster composter.

 

 

For people who haven't done it before, it seems like a lot of work, but in all honesty, it really isn't all that hard.

Basically, you throw together any green and brown waste into a bin, then sit back *brushes hands off*, and let nature do its thing.

And over the past 18 months, I can definitely say that we have learned a thing or two about this whole composting thing.  As we were just getting started, I constantly heard a lot of things that made me worried that I couldn't handle the truth about composting.

People would constantly ask questions or say things like:

 

Don't you need a lot of space?

You're gonna need a big composter so you don't run out of room.

Get ready because it will start to smell.

Where are you going to find all your brown material living in a city?

It won't take long for you to give up because composting is hard.

 

I'll admit, I was a little apprehensive.  I didn't want to mess it up.  But after a few months, I had some realizations.

Maybe these were just myths after all.

So let's jump into it  (the myth busting, not the compost).

 

Myth 1: You Need A Lot of Space

 

First off, there are many ways to compost.

Some composts require large plots of land (hopefully where the resident's quarters aren't too close to where the compost magic happens), while others can involve just a small barrel.

Being that we live in a city and do not have a ton of space, our composter is not of great size.  It is easily placed on the side of a house and doesn't take up all that much room.

 

 

And after a short scroll through Amazon, it looks like there are even smaller composters, like ones that you can have on your kitchen counter or under you sink.

Over the past few months, I've seen numerous posts about composting in FIRE Facebook Groups and honestly my take away from them is that there is not one right way to compost.  If you have a lot of space and land, great, but if you don't, that doesn't mean you still can't have a composter.

 

Result of Myth 1: You need a lot of space

 

Myth 2: You Need a Big Composter Because You Will Run Out Of Room

 

When I first got my composter, I worried that it wasn't big enough.

It was 37 gallons, split into 2 sides.  One side was marked with a "+" and its where you add your ingredients to and the other side was marked with a "clock" and that's where where you wait for it break down.  Seems simple enough.

 

 

But, it just seemed too small and I figured it would fill up within a few weeks and then I would be SOL.  But since it was a gift and because I didn't know any better, I just went with it.

Well to this day, it has never filled up.

Why you ask?

Because even as you add to it, it continues to break down, obviously enough.

We had one time that we got close to full on one side, so I just started adding to the other side and within a few days, it had gone back down on the original side.  There was no reason to sweat.

 

Result of Myth 2: You will run out of room if your composter is small

 

Myth 3: It Smells

Being a relatively new composter and living in an area where most people do not value composting, I got a lot of strange looks when I'd tell people of my new hobby.

A common questions I would hear is, "Doesn't it smell?"

Now, I've never actually put my nose in the open compartment and taken a big breath, but I regularly take the green and brown waste out and open the compartment and to my surprise, I've never noticed a smell.

Being inquisitive like I am, I do sometimes peak in to see what all is happening.  I'll get the occasional worm or other creature that is relishing in its glory of being surrounded by rotten food, but never a smell.

And let me tell you, I am super, duper sensitive to smells.  I have an extremely active olfactory sense so I'd notice even the slightest smell.

The only thing I have really noticed an increase in sometimes is fruit flies, but I've learned that when that happens, it means the compost needs a little more brown material.  So I just add in a little shredded paper, egg carton, or cardboard and voila, problem solved.

 

Result of Myth 3: It smells bad

 

Myth 4: Brown Material is Hard to Come By

 

Another aspect that I was worried about in the beginning was coming up with enough brown material to equalize the components in the composter.  I had this feeling that living in the city, where there's not a lot of trees or plants, might make finding adequate brown material rather difficult.  But in actuality, it hasn't been.  I've just had to be creative and store up some brown material to be used when needed.

Here's a list of items that can be used as brown material:

• leaves


• grass clippings/ pulled weeds (note these need to be dried first)


• tea/ coffee grinds


• egg shells*


• paper & newspaper


• cardboard


• wood chips


• corn stalks


• dryer lint

As far as the leaves, grass clippings, weeds, and dead flowers, sometimes I'll add a few directly into the composter right when I pull them from the garden, but most of the time I'll just place them in a bin to let the dry out for a few days, weeks, even months before adding them to the mix.

 

 

Being that Mr.Wow and I drink loose-leaf tea every day twice a day, our compost gets plenty of tea supply on a regular basis.

Many websites mention that egg shells are great for compost, while others say you should refrain from putting them in your mix.  I actually bake mine and them crush them up and throw them directly into my garden.  But point being, if ever in a pinch for more brown material, I could easily throw them in.

Paper and newspaper is also easy to come by.  As long as it is not glossy or super colored, I just toss it into the shredder and pop it straight into the composter.  I will also throw in ripped up paper towel and toilet paper rolls.  My neighbor has even donated her big box of newspaper so I have stuff to pull from when my pile runs low.  Let's just say that I have barely made a dent in her box, since I never tend to run low from paper I already have.

Additionally, dryer lint can also be easily put right into the composter.  And unlike the Countdown to FI family, we still use a dryer to dry our clothes so that means plenty of dryer lint to be used as brown material.

 

Result of Myth 4: You won't find enough brown material

 

 

Myth 5: Composting is Hard

 

Since starting this endeavor, I always had the impression that composting is hard and that if done wrong, I could really mess it up.

But in all honesty, I have dedicated very little time to my composting hobby and have had great success so far.

A typical composting session includes picking up the small bin we have in our kitchen which collects food scraps, walking it out to the composter just outside of our house, opening the compartment, dumping contents into the bin, closing the lid, walking back into the house, rinsing out the kitchen bin, and then washing my hands.  When all is said and done, it probably takes about 1 minutes.  Much like compounding interest, the rest just happens as I work, sleep, or blog ;o).

 

Result of Myth 5: Composting is really hard work

 

Summary of Results

 

So as you can see of the 5 myths I thought were true when first starting to compost, I quickly learned that none of them held any water.

You do not need a big composter or a lot of land in order to compost correctly.

It shouldn't smell, but just add in some more brown material if it starts too.

Brown material is not hard to come by, but sometimes you might need to be resourceful depending on where you live.

Composting is NOT hard.

 

If you're still not convinced, here's a little video for your viewing pleasure.  Thanks Mr. Tako for inspiring me to produce my own little short clip.

 



 

There you have it. The 5 lessons that I have learned from composting over the past 1 1/2 years.