The Joys (and Benefits!) of Home Composting

News from a composting “newbie” ~ This fall, I joined with my neighbors the Posners to share home composting. We have a simple set-up: an “Earth Machine” compost bin set at the edge of the woods in my back yard, alongside a trash barrel filled with shredded leaves (providing the “brown” to mix with the “green” from our kitchen compost buckets). As soon as we began composting, we were surprised and delighted to see how much less trash we were taking to the transfer station. Suddenly our trash bags were so much lighter! But just how much lighter, we wondered – and this led to our December investigation. All month we kept track of the weight we diverted from trash basket to compost bin. The total is in: a grand total of 51 pounds! That’s 51 pounds of food waste kept out of the landfill – and 51 pounds of food waste that will instead be transformed into rich nutrients for our gardens this spring …. Many of you already compost at home, and many of you have been composting for decades. But if you’re not yet composting, now is a good time to plan ahead for the spring. Paige Wilson, Solid Waste Planner at Lakes Region Planning Commission, presented an informative two-part webinar on home composting last year, co-sponsored by Tamworth Recycling Project and Cook Library. This is a great resource for learning the ins and outs of home composting. Here’s the link: https://docs.google.com/document/d/142IgtRMsQW88k6UVUAck6H8E5lqWb6xQYxnoAqvsvgs/edit And if you’re already composting, perhaps you’d be interested in weighing your compost for a month and sharing your results. A fun project to do with your kids…. Happy composting! Maud Anderson Tamworth Recycling Project - Tamworth, New Hampshire