DB’s Kitchen Scrap Corner

Separating your kitchen scraps is literally the easiest thing you can do for the environment. It’s as simple as moving your food-filled hand away from your normal trash can to one that you designated for scraps. So, so easy! Remember, this is different from composting. The city or an NGO will do that for you. Once you start doing it, you’ll see how much or little of your landfill garbage is packaging. I take that trash out once every four weeks now that I separate my scraps and divert them AWAY from the landfill. Incredible. Simply incredible!

Did you know: at a landfill, food piles up, rots, and releases toxic methane gas. This is called entombment, a biological process that led to 15.1% of total methane emissions in 2019. According to the World Wildlife Organization, methane from food loss and waste generates the equivalent of 32.6 million cars' worth of greenhouse gas emissions. Source: my article on food waste

So, the goal here is to DIVERT food waste from the landfill to a composting site where it will turn into magnificent compost/soil.

Get a bucket

All you need is a bucket or bin (with a lid) for your scraps. Place it under your sink, or if it’s real cute like mine (see above and link here), you can keep it on your counter! You’ll be walking to your green bin once or twice a week, so it shouldn’t get stinky.

Get compostable bags

Line the bin with compostable bags, like these. Or don’t, that’s really up to you.

Get seperating!

Depending on what pickup service you use, you can pretty much throw everything edible or natural into the bin. Otherwise known as “organic materials”

  • coffee grinds (so, so good for soil)

  • peels

  • eggshells

  • cores

  • leftovers

  • tops

  • bottoms

  • rotting produce

  • stale cereal or other stale things you want to throw away

  • paper, napkins, (if they aren’t lined with some dumb coating or used to wipe down counters with chemical sprays), toilet paper or paper towel cardboard tube thingies

  • products made to be compostable, like bamboo forks, or baggies and cling wrap: here’s a company doing this: Compostic. Also, Target has a section of compostable house products now. It’s small, but mighty.

  • meat, lard, bones: MAYBE! this is where things can get confusing, so just check with whoever, whatever service is picking up your treasures.

If you have a green bin for yard clippings, bing! put them in there. Otherwise, google “[your city] compost pickup”…I’m sure someone is leading the charge in your area, like Soil Cycle in Missoula, MT. If so, they’ll most likely provide you with a bucket and instructions. Couldn’t be easier, my friend.

Get them outside

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