Instead of putting trash in the landfill, many Memphians are putting it in their yards — as compost.
Midtowner Theresa Rich and her family started composting two years ago to make their garden more fertile and to reduce the amount of trash they produce. "Composting is a cheap, easy way to organically fertilize your garden," she says. "Another bonus from our compost is that it volunteered many of our tomato plants we grew this year."
Rich's husband built their first compost bin out of hardware cloth and wooden stakes. "It is round, about 2 feet in diameter and 2 feet tall," she says. "He built another last spring that is 2 feet by 3 feet. They are covered with a round plywood top to keep the critters out."
The building of compost bins coincided with the building of their chicken coop. "We compost the bedding of the coop when we clean it out, but it cannot be placed directly in the garden because it will burn the plants up. It needs to sit for about a year," Rich explains. They compost the chicken waste along with toilet paper rolls, paper towel rolls, used paper towels, coffee filters and grounds, newspaper, dryer lint, all fruit and vegetable scraps, yard clippings, leaves and eggshells.
"We water the bin when it gets dry and leave the top off when it rains to get it wet," Rich says. "We use a pitchfork to turn it about once a month."
The Riches save old coffee cans for compost collection inside their home.
"When they get really funky, we replace with another one we would have recycled," she says.
Since they started composting, Rich says, the family has decreased its trash by a bag per week.
"That doesn't include the yard waste we no longer bag to be picked up," she says. "We don't have yard waste every week — maybe a bag a month."
Scott Henley, who lives in East Memphis with his family, has always had an affinity for do-it-yourself living. He learned to work on and fix things from his grandfathers.
"They were more apt to tackle a repair job themselves rather than call in a repairman, and they both had gardens that I helped tend when I was a kid," he explains. "They always composted leaves and some kitchen scraps."
When he and his wife bought their first home in 1995, Henley planted a garden. At the time, he was working at the Squash Blossom natural foods store, a job that validated his desire for holistic and simple approaches to everyday necessities. The owner of the store gave him his first composter, and he has been composting ever since.
"Currently, we have a closed bin that rotates for speeding up the process," Henley says, "and it provides almost enough for our small veggie garden, mainly in the spring and fall."
Henley describes compost as recycled food waste and plant scraps from the yard that are piled up or mounded for a period of time until they are broken down by bacteria and organisms to become organic fertilizer and soil conditioner. The bacteria feed off the waste and convert it into usable nutrients for plants in the form of humus or compost. The compost is added to the soil at the time of planting and sometimes later on to add nutrients during the growing season.
"Basically, anything that is plant- or vegetarian-based is OK. No meat or grease or dairy. Eggshells are OK, as well as fish bones. No yard waste with doggy doo or chemicals added," he says. He added that compost starters/enhancers, which introduce the ideal bacteria and microbes to speed up decomposition of organic matter, are available.
There are tumbler-style and stationary-type compost bins available at hardware stores and wholesalers like Costco and Sam's, Henley says.
"They keep the mess to a minimum, but also limit the size of the pile. If you build your own, you can build any type of simple three- or four-sided structure or fence, then pile up scraps and periodically turn the pile with a pitchfork to aerate," he says.
Turning over the organic matter regularly aids in decomposition by mixing and aerating the actively composting material with the newer uncomposted matter.
"The tumbler makes turning easy, while a pitchfork is best for turning over a simple compost pile," Henley says.
Small temporary holding bins for use in the kitchen can also be bought.
"They have vented lids to keep down mold," Henley says. "I personally wouldn't do full-scale composting in the house, but I'm sure somebody does it."
Cathy Palmer and her family in East Memphis started composting as an experiment to reduce their garbage.
"We had several trials on exactly how to do it, especially on what kind of container to put it in. We're too cheap to actually buy a composter," she says. Their solution is a large garbage can with a lid. The lid has a large hole cut in the top.
"We just throw our veggie scraps in, along with grass clippings and some leaves," she says. "Every once in a while, we roll it around to mix it all together. We use it for gardening, mixing it with soil during the planting stage."
Their garbage is significantly reduced.
"With two kids, we never, ever fill up our green bin. In fact, it is usually less than half full on garbage day," Palmer says. "Recycling helps, too."
In the kitchen, the Palmers use a small compost container. "It is a stainless steel pail that is about 1- to 2-gallon capacity, Palmer says. "It also has a filter in the top to keep the odor down, but it mostly helps keep the gnats from getting in there."
The container sits on the countertop, so when they cook, they just toss scraps into the bin.
"We take it outside 1-2 times per week," Palmer says. "It can get gross in there, so sometimes we use compostable bags to keep the mess down. But they are expensive, so we usually opt to just clean the thing regularly."
The Palmers' garden is minimal. "We just grow outdoor flowers, plants and herbs," she says. "We've grown some vegetables in the past, like tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers and lettuces, but haven't recently due to traveling in the summer."
Palmer likes using compost because it cuts back on the potting soil she has to buy. "I just use a little potting soil, dirt dug up from the corner of the backyard, and the compost. We mix it all together and plant. It saves money and works well," she says.
With the proper collection containers, composting is pretty simple. "I like the idea of putting nutrients back into the soil rather than a landfill," Palmer says. "Once we made it a habit, it became easy to do."
More information
Composting tips: Treehugger.com.
Green materials to compost: Vegetable and fruit scraps, coffee grounds and filters, tea bags and leaves, fresh grass clippings, plant trimmings from your garden, houseplants.
Brown materials to compost: Dry leaves, straw and dry hay; wood chips and sawdust from untreated wood; dried grass clippings; shredded paper; egg and nut shells; hair and animal fur; paper; shredded newspaper (printed with soy ink to be safe); paper towels and paper tubes.
Do not compost: Meat, fish, eggs, dairy products, oily foods or grease, bones, cat and dog waste, diseased plants and seeds of weedy plants, anything treated with pesticides.
Composting tips: Chop your materials into small pieces, which will break down faster. Always cover your layer of green material with a layer of brown material to cut down on flies and mask any odors. If you want fine compost, run over it with a mulching lawn mower.
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