La Jolla Composting Tips
Composting is one of the simplest things you can do to immediately have a positive impact on the environment. It reduces carbon emissions by reducing waste on landfill. The fresh soil that is produced will also contribute to healthier soils. It is a simple choice that everyone can make, which brings immediate benefits.
There are different options when composting, and the choice of what route to go will depend on your space and other needs. The following are a few considerations to get started with composting:
Indoor or Outdoor?
If you have space for outdoor composting it is an easy way to compost. Effective and environmentally friendly composting, known as aerobic composting, requires heat and oxygen (the waste guzzling microbes need oxygen to survive). Outdoor compost should be turned frequently and food waste should be mixed with garden waste and cardboard or paper to help the microbes break down the waste. One issue with outdoor composting is that wild animals like raccoons and coyotes may be attracted to outdoor waste. When wild animals are attracted to human habitats they are more likely to cause a nuisance and be targeted by animal control authorities. To deter animals you may want to build a ventilated house for your compost.
“The soil is the great connector of lives, the source and destination of all. It is the healer and restorer and resurrector, by which disease passes into health, age into youth, death into life. Without proper care for it we can have no community, because without proper care for it we can have no life.”
― Wendell Berry, The Unsettling of America: Culture and Agriculture
Vermiculture, or using worms to help break down compost, is a fast and environmentally friendly way of generating compost. It produces more nutritious compost and doesn’t require turning.
If you don’t have a lot of outdoor space, or if you would prefer not to haul your compost outside, composting can be part of your vegan kitchen design. If you do have outdoor space or use composting services, you can use countertop pails to collect your food scraps. If you are redesigning your kitchen to suit your vegan lifestyle, vegan cooking design provides many innovative options such as pull out drawers or nooks to stash your compost pail.
Choosing the Right Containers
It’s important to choose the right materials for your compost containers. If you are composting indoors your compost bin should have ventilation holes. Stainless steel and ceramic compost bins are good materials to use as they are not as harmful to the environment as plastic. Wood is generally not a good choice as it absorbs moisture from the compost. Using a compost container with a charcoal filter can help reduce odors.
La Jolla Composting Methods
Aerobic composting is generally a better choice than anaerobic composting. Aerobic composting relies on ventilation and heat and releases only small amounts of carbon dioxide and heat. Anaerobic composting, which often happens on landfills with compacted or buried waste, eschews oxygen and generates methane gas, the most harmful greenhouse gas. Anaerobic composting can be used to break down materials that wouldn’t break down as easily in aerobic composting but it is not the most environmentally friendly method. If you are using a composting service be sure that they use an efficient and environmentally friendly process.
What Can Go In the Compost in La Jolla?
Aerobic composting is the most accessible method for most ordinary composting needs. Most food scraps can go in the compost and not disrupt this process. One way eating meat and dairy can harm the environment is that it can encourage bacteria that disturb a healthy composting process so that waste takes longer to break down. Cooked vegetables are OK to put in the compost but they should be balanced with other scraps. Eggshells, coffee grounds, garden waste and scraps of paper may be OK to put in the compost. Putting garden soil on the compost encourages the composting process. If you are composting a wide variety of materials, make sure to monitor the ratio of green waste (vegetables and things that were recently growing), to dry waste like leaves, wood scraps etc.. A higher proportion of brown waste, (which contains carbon and allows oxygen to enter the compost), to green waste is recommended.
When you are transitioning to a more earth-conscious lifestyle, this often starts with vegan design, conscious interior design and ecosystem design that encompasses your entire living space, including your outdoor space. At Earth Science Design we have been studying conscious design solutions for over 10 years. Conscious design solutions often integrate new processes or ways of living that are in line with principles of non-violence and the circular economy. It could involve changing the way you access energy or process food waste. This often requires adaption within your indoor and outdoor spaces. Our conscious design consultants apply our experience and knowledge of sustainable living design to any design problems our clients may have. We love to find innovative ways to help people solve these problems, which may include knowledge sharing about sustainable practices like composting. Please contact us to learn more about our sustainable design practices.
