You can follow some simple steps to make compost at home. Compost can help bring back elements we use in our daily life to earth by degrading them at a faster pace. Everything that comes from the earth is biodegradable, however, the faster it degrades makes it compostable. 

Step by step

man sorting food image

Step 1

The first step is to learn how to sort our waste. If you are familiar with recycling you are halfway through. If not, start by sorting between food waste, recyclables, reusables and what definitely has to go to the landfill. According to USDA, Americans dispose of 30 to 40 percent of the food supply, so food waste is a big part of our trash.

Learn how to make compost

Step 2

The next step depends on the space at home. If you have a backyard you can put a tube or make a compost heap to store what will become compost. If your space is too small, you can contact your local farmers market or city’s trash/ recycling system and ask if they have a compost collection site. Make sure you ask how frequently can you send them food scraps and leaves.

compost food

Step 3

In your backyard, you can collect green and brown materials in your new compost collection site. Green materials tend to be wet, and include your fruit and vegetable scraps, coffee grounds, and tea leaves. Brown materials are drier, like sawdust, newspaper clippings, and trimmings from dead plants. Every week, turn your compost pile with a shovel so oxygen can be added to the mix and add water to moisture. Make sure to avoid any pests or diseases. Let nature do the trick and after a few months, you will find that the compost turned into healthy soil for your plants.

Compostable cups for hot and cold drinks

Why it is so important to include practices such as a making compost at home?

There are many ways you can help reduce the consequences of climate change and one of them is through composting. By including compostable practices in our daily life we reduce the amount of waste that goes to landfills and therefore, the amount of methane released to the earth. 

After doing it for the first time, try to help others do the same. Change is in the power of many people and we just have to change our mindsets and have good sorting practices to help us reduce waste.

Living Balance earth logo