To Do: Compost!

To Do: Compost!

San Francisco – our funny city – just started the nation’s first mandatory composting program. Which meant a brand new compost bucket courtesy of our apartment manager. Not as cute as this copper version, but free and fun!

My mom has been a great composter for years, so I’m used to the separation process. It’s nice to be able to compost without having to have a garden of my own.

Get this: we’re on our way to keeping 90% of our trash out of the landfill (we’re already at 72% – so high!) here in the city.

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There are 10 comments for this article
  1. Jessica at 6:59 pm

    I need to get back on top of my composting. I desperately need a new compost pail, after I broke the handle on my first one. My compost pile went so long ignored during our weeks of rain that when I finally got out back to tend to it it was growing potato plants!

  2. Haley v. at 7:27 pm

    that is so cool! we should have that here on maui, but i think the critters would be too much to handle.

  3. Kim at 7:27 pm

    I tried composting for a month or so, but none of my neighbors did it (I live in a 4-unit apartment building), and I was the only one putting food scraps in the big green "yard waste" bin. It was so stinky and attracted so many fruit flies that it just became too disgusting to bear (the big bin sits right next to my front stairs).

    Sadly, I am no longer composting, but someday when I have my own place, I will.

    Any suggestions for composting in an apartment building where nobody else is doing it and you don't want to create a big stinky mess?

  4. mrsem Author at 8:32 pm

    Our cold climate in SF probably goes a long way to avoiding bugs and smells. But I would also make sure you have a recycling bin with a lid and that you're also mixing paper and other "dry goods" in with food scraps. They say to also avoid dairy and meat.

  5. Kim at 8:55 pm

    Mrs. Em – Yeah, the East Bay is warmer than SF for sure. The bin has a lid, and I was adding in paper goods, but it just wasn't enough to fill the BIG bin (one of those tall ones) on the curb! And every time I'd empty my little kitchen bin into the big one, it was an army of fruit flies! Eeew. That can't be good for the neighborhood…where do those things come from anyway?

    I would LOVE to compost on my own and use the compost in my garden…someday.

  6. teresa-bug at 9:14 pm

    I heard about this on the radio and just love the idea! My city is still working out the basics of recycling! I compost in my backyard and what a difference it makes.

  7. Jesse Lu at 8:15 pm

    Wow… I didn't know this. Good thing we're already composters! 🙂 72%, aye? That's awesome!

  8. Anonymous at 4:41 pm

    A bit late, but a worm compost would work in an apartment building where no one else composts.