How to Compost Indoors

If you do not wish to compost food scraps outdoors, you can successfully compost food scraps indoors instead. This guide will lead you through the easy-to-follow steps of how to compost indoors.

Composting is a natural process of breaking down and recycling decomposed organic materials into compost which is a rich soil. Humans can harness this natural process of returning nutrients into soil by composting outdoors and indoors. If this process interests you, read on.

Even if you live in a less-than-spacious urban apartment, there is no reason to skip out on the joys of composting. A proper container will take up little space in your home, and you'll be able to turn all those pesky food scraps (taking up valuable space in your trash and our landfills) into rich, organic fertilizer.

Whether you want to start a small compost bin under the sink or get some creepy crawlies to help you tackle that mound of apple cores, you can easily start composting in your home and keep composting year round! Just continue reading to learn the details of indoor composting.

• With indoor composting, you'll need to be careful about the container you choose and be sure you carefully maintain your compost. There are a few ways to compost effectively indoors, depending on how involved you wish to become. Read below to find the different techniques.

• If you plan to simply recycle your household compost at a community program, one small container to keep by the sink or underneath is all you'll need.

1. To contain potential odor, you'll want a composting container that has a tight-fitting lid and carbon filters to reduce pungent smells.
2. Try this stainless steel container or this ceramic one to hold food scraps. Both of these are good-looking enough to keep out on the kitchen countertop.
3. Or try this plastic compost container that uses charcoal filters to combat odor.
4. If you'll be able to empty your kitchen container frequently enough, a simple coffee can (with lid) will work well, too.
5. To determine if your local recycling program takes compost, find your nearest program's contact information using Earth 911's locate a recycling center feature.

• Technology has arrived on the compost scene. With a proper kitchen composter, you can easily compost extra food waste in your kitchen and avoid the traditionally smelly composting process.

1. To do all of your composting indoors, a container like this indoor kitchen composter will do the trick. It can fit under your kitchen sink and has a tight lid to reduce odors.
2. You can also try this indoor compost bin, which uses an internal computer to determine ideal compost temperatures, mixing, and air flow. It produces viable compost every 10 days or so, transferring it to a "cure tray" you can empty easily.

• You can buy or make your own bin to which you'll add worms, who will proceed to munch their way through your food scraps.

1. You can learn how to make a proper worm composting bin out of a simple plastic container and a drill with Martha Stewart's handy advice. This container will take up very little room, which is why some people like this method for the winter (and a backyard compost pile in summer).
2. Also see the guide to how to compost with worms.
3. Red wiggler worms are the composter's favorite and can be found on gardening site Planet Natural or often at your local garden center.
4. You'll need about 1/2 pound of worms, or about 500 of them, for every cubic foot.
5. Martha Stewart suggests "feeding" the worms daily or weekly, and notes that 2000 worms can eat through 7 pounds of food scraps each week.http://www.organicconsumers.org/organic/compost.cfm

• While a backyard compost pile thrives on yard waste including leaves, trees, and all kinds of organic matter, the composter in your kitchen will do better with simple kitchen scraps.

1. Avoid meat scraps, fish bones, dairy products, potato peelings and garlic, which often cause odors or are hard to break down.
2. Watermelon rinds can be difficult, and also avoid anything sprayed heavily with pesticides (like grass clippings or some banana peels).
3. The following kitchen scraps are ideal for indoor composting: fruits and vegetables, including peels, cores, and some leaves, tea bags, coffee grounds and filters, breads, rice, pasta, and beans.

• Once you've successfully created healthy compost, you'll need to use it:

1. Determine your compost is ready when it looks like real soil: dark, rich and crumbly.
2. It can take as little as a few weeks to generate compost, or up to a few months, depending on the combination of scraps and your method. Watch your bin carefully until you are familiar with its cycles.
3. If you've been composting with worms, simply move your fresh compost to one side of your bin and place new bedding on the other side. Then bury fresh food into the layers of new bedding so that worms will migrate away from the compost and toward the new food source.
4. Your new compost is an excellent source of fertilizer to be used as a top layer of soil in potted plants.
5. Or you can try making the popular compost "tea," adding 2 tablespoons of compost to 1 quart of water and using this as a rich drink for all your household plants.

Composting is known to be an environmentally friendly way to dispose of waste matter, as well as a "green" way to grow a garden. There are numerous benefits to composting, including:

• Composting can help to minimize disease to plants
• Composting is a way to help control pests
• It can contribute to healthier yields from crops
• It can actually get rid of industrial volatile organic chemicals (known as VOCs) that are polluting the air
• Chemical fertilizers, which may be toxic, are not needed when compost is used and thus overall pollution is reduced
• Composting can also cost less than half as much as traditional farming and gardening methodshttp://www.epa.gov/epawaste/conserve/rrr/composting/basic.htm

• Compost Guide Store: Indoor Kitchen Composter

• Clean Air Gardening: Stainless Steel Compost Pail

• Clean Air Gardening: Ceramic Compost Crock

• Planet Natural: Indoor Compost Bin

• Planet Natural: Kitchen Compost Container

• Planet Natural: Red Wiggler Worms

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