anaerobic composting – Crazy About Compost

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.…

Anaerobic Composting – Is It Worth It?

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZPQ4U4vtWd4 Anaerobic composting is a simple and fun alternative to the usual ways of composting, which include using a compost bin, a tumbler, or worms. While it may be the easiest method, it takes a really long time to finish and it has different environmental consequences...more on that in a moment. A popular method I've read about is to use two thick black garbage bags, a bucket to measure out the contents and some water. Add equal parts shredded food scraps (no meat/dairy/seafood), soil+some finished compost, and "brown" materials (shredded leaves, shredded paper). Add some water to get the material damp, but not completely soaked. Tie off the bag, then put it inside the other garbage bag and tie that off, too. All done! This process is often said to…

Anaerobic Composting Update

Ahhhh, the weather broke... kind of. I went out on the balcony for the first time since the Fall and checked out the garbage bag, it was stuck to the deck a little bit. Back in November, I opened this bag the first time around and the material was definitely breaking down in there, but it wasn't finished. I wanted to give it another six months and take a peek, so when May comes around we'll see how it went through the winter months, and if the cold had a serious effect on the process. An aside: I was collecting the last of the leaves off my street yesterday to use for my next compost pile, and I decided to try a biodegradable garbage bag since I had some different…