General – Page 148 – Crazy About Compost

Get Your Leaves!

Now's the time of year to start collecting all the leaves you can. With winter right around the corner, having a steady supply of leaves to complement your food scraps is super important to keeping the pile cooking as long as it can. While cold temperatures can bring composting to a complete stop, don't worry- as soon as the temperatures begin to climb again, the pile picks up right where it left off as if nothing happened. I keep adding materials through the winter, but the key is to have enough brown material to keep the food scraps covered. Between sawdust (non-pressure treated wood) and shredded leaves, you're good to go!

Massachusetts plans to ban commercial food waste in 2014 (article)

If you don't clean your plate at a Massachusetts restaurant, the scraps may not go to waste when a commercial food disposal ban goes into effect. They will be turned into clean energy, officials with the state's Energy and Environmental Affairs said. Energy and Environmental Affairs announced a proposed plan that would require any entity that disposes of at least 1 ton of organic waste per week to donate or repurpose the food starting July 1, 2014. The ban will affect large restaurants, hospitals, universities, hotels and other big businesses and institutions. The plan calls for food waste to be shipped to a facility that uses anaerobic digestion to covert food waste into a biogas that produces electricity and heat. Or, it can be taken to composting or animal-feed operations.…

Compost Toilet Dust Suppression Tips

The only unexpected challenge I've encountered since I started using a compost toilet is making sawdust not dusty. Luckily I figured it out pretty quickly, and using a spray bottle is not the easiest way. I used to sit on the toilet, spraying down my sawdust supply in the bucket in front of me...too much effort! After spraying the sawdust seemingly forever, I'd still get to back to the dry, dusty mess after just a few scoops. Now, each week before I bring in my sawdust supply, I use my watering can to soak the bucket of sawdust first. Works like a charm! Simple change, major improvement.