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Composting …it’s
easier than you think!
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by Kate Rachel Lozier
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Composting… Sounds messing
and diffi cult, right? Wrong! Composting is one of the most natural and
easy things to do, whether you live in an apartment or in a house.
“Composting is the aerobic decomposition of biodegradable organic
matter, producing compost” … “also known as brown manure [which] is the
aerobically decomposed remnants of organic matter.” (Wikipedia)
Composting promotes the circle of life as nature intended. Placing
these materials into a plastic bag and/or a garbage inhibits this
natural process.
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Why
compost?
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1.
Very inexpensive to do
2. Provides you with free soil amendments and mulch for your gardens
3. Saves you money as you throw less garbage away and reduces landfills
4. Recycles natural materials as they should be
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What
can you compost?
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1.
All vegetables and fruits, including nuts
2. Dryer and vacuum cleaner lint
3. Eggshells
4. Shredded newspaper, paper and cardboard produced with soy based inks
5. Manure and waste from healthy herbivores (pet waste from rabbits,
guinea pigs and other vegans), including their bedding
6. Saw dust, wood chips
7. Weeds, dead plants from your garden, dead indoor plants and flowers,
lawn clippings, leaves, straw, hay, grass, peat moss, shredded stems
and twigs
8. Fireplace ashes (no coal ashes)
9. Coffee grounds and filters
10. Cardboard rolls from toilet paper and paper towels
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What
should you not compost?
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1.
Chemically treated yard waste or plants
2. Meat and dairy products
3. Diseased items
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Where
can you compost?
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1.
Your yard in a sunny spot
2. Small container in your house
3. Your town’s location (many townships have community composting)
4. Join your friends and neighbors to make one compost
5. In a commercially produced activator or container in your yard
6. Place the compost heap or container in a convenient location (our
pile is just below a window from the house so it is very easy to feed
the pile).
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When
can you compost?
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All
year around — yes, even in the winter. During the cooler months you
will not be able to turn your compost heap, but you can accumulate the
materials.
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What
do you need to compost?
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1.
Separate space or container
2. Bowl or container to hold items from the house before it goes to the
heap
3. Cooperation from family members
4. Tool to turn the compost
5. A small amount of time and energy
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What
do I have to do with my compost pile or container?
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1.
The smaller the items that go into your compost pile, the faster the
decomposition time.
2. Turn your pile at least once weekly.
3. Add a lot of items to your pile less frequently, as opposed to
adding small amounts frequently — volume is better than frequency.
4. You can add worms to your compost to speed up the process.
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Where
can I find more information on composting?
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http://www.composting101.com
http://vegweb.com/composting
http://www.compostguide.com/index.html
http://www.epa.gov/epaoswer/non-hw/composting/index.htm
http://www.ehow.com/how_3541_begin-compost-pile.html
Google or Yahoo search engines
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