Sami Grover
DCL
Compost has long been a staple of the green, treehugging lifestyle. As Josh explained in his post about seven reasons to compost (only seven?!), making compost reduces waste, cuts methane emissions, builds soil, promotes biodiversity, and gives you free, nutritious fertilizer. But while there are many ways to make compost, from vermicompost and wormeries to high-speed hot composting, many people are still intimidated by the process. Concerns about smells, slime and mess can be a very real turn-off for those not yet initiated in the joys of home composting.
TreeHugger's Green Basics: How to Compost is as good a place as any to start, but in the meantime here is one tip to help fledgling composters along the way: compost with cardboard, and lots of it. You see, proper compost relies on a good balance between nitrogen and carbon—and most kitchen waste is high nitrogen. Without the appropriate amount of carbon in the mix, kitchen waste collapses into a smelly, gooey mess which soon starts releasing methane due to a lack of oxygen.
By adding large amounts of crumpled up newspaper and cardboard (or leaf clippings or hay or other high carbon items), you can keep a good structure to your compost, allow all the little critters in the heap to breath, and bulk out the end result too! This type of composting is sometimes referred to as high-fiber compost. According to the Center for Alternative Technology in Wales, if you gradually build a high-fiber compost heap over time, the average households' paper and cardboard waste is just about the perfect balance for that same households' kitchen waste.
But what about recycling? As someone who will be buying in compost from the garden center, and who has to drive to the recycling center to recycle paper and cardboard, it seems only sensible that I first use those resources at home to create zero-fossil fuel fertilizer for my garden.
Got a tip or a post idea for us to write about on Planet Green? Email pgtips (at) treehugger (dot) com.
