Recently I've had several emails from people who would like to compost but have no garden and/or live in apartment blocks. Does anyone have any good ideas/suggestions for how people with no garden can recycle their food/organic waste? I know that there's a compost collection service Kai to Compost running in Wellington, we would love to hear about any other initiatives in other parts of the country.
Submitted by Sarah on 8 January 2008 09:51:07
Comments
Oddly, the Kai to Compost webpage says to compost meat... huh???
Submitted by cactuscat on 12 January 2008 17:25:31
How about a Bokashi bucket? You still need somewhere to store the buckets while they are maturing (eg a garage) and eventually you need to bury the contents, but the buckets are something that can be used in a fairly small space such as a kitchen cupboard.
Another option is to become involved in a community garden, and take your food scraps there to be composted. Not quite as convenient as doing it at home, but can be a lot of fun and you get the benefit of the community and the garden that comes along with it.
When I first got a worm bin I kept it in a corner of the kitchen (I had a big kitchen) and I never had problems with smell or anything. A well maintained worm bin shouldn't smell bad or attract ants etc. and can be kept inside or out on a deck, as long as it's not in full sun. The layers fill up quite slowly, and eventually you have lovely compost to give away to friends and family or use as mulch in patio pots. The liquid can be drained off, diluted and used for house plants.
Submitted by Lindis on 15 January 2008 15:34:24
I'd also suggest a community garden or even see if the local village/town would start a compost collection similar to how plastic/glass and paper is recycled maybe they would start a collection to pickup food scraps and other stuff that can be turned into compost. My wife and I have a pile in our backyard which we always add to and use in our garden. She loves being outside so much for mothers day i bought her a whole new set of tools for her gift.
Submitted by jason on 8 May 2008 06:44:00
Perhaps for apartment dwellers who live in a block, they could get together and work out a community composting system.
It would require a bit of patience on the part of the initiators of the scheme - I'm always surprised at people's general lack of understanding about composting.
Every time I set up a composting system for a common area I put up big signs saying "food scraps only" and explain to people how it works. Inevitably next time I look in there, someone has put their food scraps INSIDE A PLASTIC BAG into the bin. Happens every time! Do they really think the plastic bag is going to rot away with the food scraps?
Submitted by Lindis on 8 May 2008 13:07:16
I just came across the following small, indoor composter. I don't know if it is available here and it isn't cheap but it does look interesting!
http://www.treehugger.com/files/2008/05/compost-backyard-bin-indoor-bin-...
Submitted by Amy on 20 May 2008 16:10:19
Without wanting to hijack this thread at all, but if anyone knows of a company or organisation who will collect organic waste, at around 30Kg per week, in the Hutt Valley area, I'd be very keen to hear from them. Sure Wellington has kai to Compost and one or two other similar services, but having enquired to Hutt City Council, there is nothing of the sort here.
Cheers,
Russ
Submitted by phptek on 26 January 2009 09:08:15
Hi Russ,
Sorry I can't help you with your query. It's great that Wellington City is using the Kai to Compost system - I just hope it catches on and other councils start their own food scrap collections.
Meanwhile, have you tried any local options where people might have reasonably large-scale composting systems? How about a large community garden or similar? It won't be as convenient as a collection service but it's all I can suggest.
At times when I have been involved in large conferences here in Auckland we have found local places that are willing to take the kitchen scraps. At one time we used the composter at the Unitec horticultural training centre, and another time a contact at one of the large community gardens arranged to take our scraps. Of course we had to be very careful about our processes and make sure we could guarantee excellent quality raw material - no tin foil, plastic wraps or other contaminants in with the scraps!
Good luck with your hunt!
Submitted by Lindis on 1 February 2009 19:04:06