6 Ways To Compost in an Apartment — This Green Lifestyle

Nearly 22% of the municipal solid waste (MSW) that ends up in the landfill is food waste, according to the EPA. A large proportion of this (about 25%) comes from the industrial sector. In other words, from homes like yours and mine.

Although it might not seem like a big deal to throw away a banana peel here and an apple core there, when vegetable scraps and other kinds of food waste end up in the trashcan and ultimately the landfill, they aren’t able to decompose naturally. That is to say, in the landfill food waste is broken down anaerobically by bacteria that produce methane, a greenhouse gas 28 times more potent than carbon dioxide.

It’s not just the methane that makes food waste an environmental concern, however. Approximately one-third of all food produced for human consumption is estimated to be wasted, representing a huge loss of resources used in growing, processing, and delivery.

That’s why diverting food waste away from the landfill, whether through composting or other methods, is a critical step in fighting climate change. Other important ways to reduce food waste include eating leftovers and produce before they go bad, or repurposing food scraps by making your own broth.

Finished compost (black gold) boosts your plants

One of the more accessible benefits of composting at home is the finished product: compost, or black gold. For example, studies show that soil amended with compost helps retain and deliver more nutrients to plants, boosting their overall health, productivity, and nutritional content.

Unlike fertilizer, compost is diluted and can be added liberally to all kinds of soil without risk of burning your plants, whether on the farm or in potted houseplants. Just make sure that you’ve given your compost time to finish; unfinished compost, or compost that’s still decomposing, can tie up valuable nitrogen in the soil, making it unavailable to your plants.

By composting your own food scraps at home, not only do you have easy access to a great soil amendment, but you can rest assured knowing exactly what “ingredients” you’ve been putting in there all along.

It’s easy and affordable

Buying tons of compost from a garden center can get pretty expensive, pretty quickly. When you compost at home, you can use the finished compost on your plants, saving you money that you would otherwise be using to buy bags of compost, fertilizer, or potting soil.

While composting in an apartment may not yield a ton of quantity, you probably don’t need much compost anyway. In fact, if you end up with excess compost, which is possible, you can choose to donate it to a community garden or perhaps even a friend with a garden (make sure to ask first!).

“But,” you might ask, “isn’t it expensive to buy an indoor composting system?” It depends. Yes, there are some nice set-ups that you can buy online that make composting indoors seem very glamorous. But the truth is, you can get started with very little to no initial investment.

Plus, composting in an apartment is super easy! If your compost bin is in the kitchen, you’ll never have to go very far to get rid of your food scraps. And with a smaller indoor system, you don’t have to spend as much effort turning or managing the system as you would with an outdoor one.

It doesn’t take up much space

If you live in an apartment, it’s likely that one of your biggest concerns is space. You’ve only got so much room for furniture–how are you going to fit in a compost bin, too? Luckily, you don’t need much space to compost in an apartment.

For example, if you choose to bring your food scraps to someone else, all you need is a small bin or ziploc bag on your counter, under your sink, or in your freezer for storing scraps. For your own compost system, you can keep a small bin under the sink, in an unused corner, or on the balcony.

But that doesn’t mean you have to go small. If you have the space, and produce a lot of food waste, you can always go bigger! Ultimately, a smaller system will only be able to process so many food scraps, but even diverting just a percentage of your food waste is a big step in the right direction!

Your system is unaffected by weather

Unless you keep a compost bin on the balcony, one of the key benefits of apartment composting is that your system is virtually unaffected by weather. This means that you can compost year-round. In areas with severe winters, outdoor composting is halted, and no new compost gets produced for a large portion of the year (though you can always continue collecting scraps).

In addition, composting systems designed specifically for indoor use are inconspicuous, non-odorous, and rodent-free.

It’s convenient

If your compost bin lives under the sink, it’s just as easy to compost your food scraps as it is to toss them in the garbage. This convenience can make all the difference between someone composting or not.

Over time, composting becomes a habit, and you’ll start to wonder why you ever threw such valuable materials in the trash, when they could instead be turned into black gold!