Steps to turn kitchen waste into Compost

Did you know your kitchen waste can be useful or even how to make compost from kitchen waste?

Than disposing of your kitchen which makes ends up in the landfill, you can make your waste useful by turning your waste into compost.

What is compost?

According to Wikipedia,

Compost is a mixture of ingredients used to fertilize and improve the soil. It is frequently made by recycling organic materials and decaying plant and food waste.

The resulting slurry is loaded with plant nutrients and helpful creatures like worms and mycelium from fungi.

What to Compost?

Fruits and vegetables
Crushed eggshells
Coffee grounds and filters
Tea bags
Nutshells
Shredded newspaper
Shredded cardboard
Shredded paper
Yard trimmings
Grass clippings
Houseplants
Hay and straw
Leaves
Sawdust
Wood chips
Hair and fur
Fireplace ashes

What Not to Compost and Why?

Black walnut tree leaves or twigs
– Releases substances that might be harmful to plants
Coal or charcoal ash
– Might contain substances harmful to plants
Dairy products (e.g., butter, milk, sour cream, yogurt) and eggs*
– Create odor problems and attract pests such as rodents and flies
Diseased or insect-ridden plants
– Diseases or insects might survive and be transferred back to other plants
Fats, grease, lard, or oils*
– Create odor problems and attract pests such as rodents and flies
Meat or fish bones and scraps*
– Create odor problems and attract pests such as rodents and flies
Pet wastes (e.g., dog or cat feces, soiled cat litter)*
– Might contain parasites, bacteria, germs, pathogens, and viruses harmful to humans
Yard trimmings treated with chemical pesticides
– Might kill beneficial composting organisms

What Is Composting?

The process of biologically degrading heterogeneous solid organic materials in controlled wet, self-heating, and aerobic environments to produce a stable substance that can be used as organic fertilizer is known as composting.

The natural process of turning organic waste, such as leaves and food scraps, into a beneficial fertilizer that can improve soil and plants is known as composting.

Organic waste, such as food scraps and plant matter, is naturally broken down by fungi and bacteria during the composting process to produce compost.

Composting merely expedites the decomposition process by creating the perfect habitat for bacteria, fungi, and other decomposing organisms (such as worms, sowbugs, and nematodes) to carry out their functions. Everything that develops eventually decomposes.

Compost is the term used to describe the final decomposed material, which frequently resembles fertile garden soil.

Compost, affectionately known by farmers as “black gold,” is nutrient-rich and useful in agriculture, horticulture, and gardening.

Food scraps and yard debris make up more than 28 percent of the trash in landfills and combustion facilities, according to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

The amount of food that is thrown out in the trash might be decreased through composting.

Additionally, composting produces a nutrient-rich soil enhancer that can aid in the growth of plants.

Compost or humus, the finished product, is a dark, soil-like material that can be used as mulch, in gardens, on farms, and in other landscaping projects.

The health of the world, people, and animals may all benefit directly and indirectly from composting.

Benefits of turning Kitchen Waste into Compost

There are certain advantages to composting, and these include, even though many people choose to do it for health and environmental reasons.

1. Able to Save Money

It is a natural and organic procedure to compost it. There are no chemicals, fertilizers, or pesticides needed. Because of this, it is a cheap hobby that can help you save a lot of money.

2. Beneficial to Soil

It can be quite beneficial for the soil’s general health. Additionally, composting can increase soil fertility and protect against certain plant diseases.

3. Reduces Pests in the Garden

Pest control in your garden can be very difficult. The compost itself contains a variety of micronutrients that act as insecticides, therefore effective composting can assure a minimum number of pests.

4. Strengthens Soil Structure

It is well known that composting enriches the soil with beneficial bacteria and fungi. These bacteria hasten the composting process, one of the greatest ways to care for your plants and one that can help improve the soil’s structure.

5. Ideal Exercise

While composting has many advantages for the soil, it can also keep you healthy and fit. It is the perfect form of physical activity since it keeps you active and gives your body and mind a solid workout.

6. Recycles Household Waste

Composting is a great way to recycle close to 30% of household waste. This includes food waste from the kitchen and other leftovers.

Recycling this waste will provide high-quality compost for the soil and will lessen the overall environmental pollution.

7. Beneficial to the Environment

The majority of our household waste is dumped in landfills, where it rots and releases carbon dioxide and methane into the atmosphere. Organic waste composting can help to lessen the environment’s overall impact.

8. Water Conservation

The ability to compost to help the soil retain water is one of its most significant advantages. This lessens the need for continuous plant watering while also giving the plants in your yard a consistent stream of moisture and nutrients.

9. Cost-Effective

According to research, every Indian household wastes close to 50 kg of food annually. Composting can let us understand exactly how much food is wasted, which will help us organize our grocery shopping much better.

10. Encourages Social Contact

When you have others to assist and direct you, composting at home can be enjoyable. Since many of us have gardens at home, you can talk to these people about the full composting process and its advantages.

11. Reduction of Waste in Landfills

Waste in landfills is decreased through composting. One can compost some foods or yard debris instead of tossing them in the trash.

This lessens the amount of rubbish in landfills and enables it to naturally return to the ground. It might also enable someone to reduce their waste collection expenses.

12. Cuts CO2 and other greenhouse gas emissions

Compost may benefit human health since it can improve soil quality and lower greenhouse gas emissions.

According to one article, rising atmospheric carbon dioxide levels may cause zinc deficiency in people.

13. Good for Human Health

Additionally, composting may have unintended positive effects on human health.

A person’s home garden may produce more fruits and veggies and have healthier plants if they utilize compost.

Growing healthy crops at home might be more successful with composting.

Lessening the use of chemical fertilizers and pesticides could also be good for human health.

According to some data, pesticides may be related to cancer. Because pesticides have such negative consequences on human health, several health professionals believe that there is an “urgent need” to develop alternatives.

Composting can lessen the need for toxic pesticides, making it a financially sensible and environmentally responsible approach to contribute to the improvement of human and animal health.

According to the EPA, composting as:

Lowers methane, a greenhouse gas produced by landfills.
Decreases or completely replace the demand for chemical fertilizers.
Encourages farmers to produce more crops per acre.
Enhancing deficient soil helps restore forests, wetlands, and habitats.
Aids in the soil’s recovery from hazardous waste pollution.
Enables soil moisture levels to be maintained, reducing the need for watering.
Lowers the atmospheric concentration of carbon dioxide.

How to make Compost from Kitchen Waste (Step by Step with Pictures)

It’s time for you to start one now that you know everything there is to know about composting kitchen garbage. It may sound difficult to make compost from kitchen garbage, but it’s rather easy. To get you started, follow these simple steps:

1. To begin, select green (nitrogen-rich) and brown (carbon-rich) items to combine with your compost.

Banana peels, leftover peels from vegetables and fruits, and other similar goods are examples of “green” items.

The brown objects, on the other hand, can be sawdust, wood chips, dried leaves, shredded paper, cardboard, or hay fragments.

2. Make sure to use scissors or, if you have a shredder at home, a shredder to chop your green materials into tiny pieces.

By reducing the size of the particles, the soil can more easily break them down and absorb their nutrients, hastening the composting process.

3. Once your green and brown mixtures are complete, you may try pit composting, which involves digging a hole that is about 14 inches deep and burying your green and brown materials together.

Since it speeds up the breakdown of nutrients, it is strongly advised to place the nitrogen-rich components before the carbon-rich ones.

4. After the burial, anticipate that microorganisms would gradually degrade everything.

Additionally, you can speed up the process if you have the necessary materials, such as earthworms.

5. It often takes three weeks to three months to receive handmade kitchen waste compost.

You just need to wait during this time. You have two choices after observing that the food fragments are gone and the materials have already decomposed:

You can either grow a crop immediately on top of the compost pile, (1) dig out that dirt, and use it as fertilizer for the plants in your backyard, (2) or both.

Conclusion

Composting your kitchen waste is a simple technique to reduce the amount of trash your home generates and is a good place to start when trying to live more sustainably.

The best thing, though? You end up with a wonderful soil amendment that gives your plants everything they require to thrive happily and healthily!

How to make Compost from Kitchen Waste? – FAQs

What is Compost used for?

Agriculture and the construction sector use a large portion of composted debris as soil conditioners Top-dressing turf and creating growth medium, topsoils, and subsoils are two further uses. Markets that employ mulches also use some fractions.

Is Kitchen compost better for a home garden?

The ideal compost for gardens ought to be nutrient-dense and composed of a good mixture of green and brown organic matter. Additionally, it must be free of hazardous bacteria or pathogens. Since kitchen compost is organic, affordable, and typically chemical-free, it is favored.

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Providence Amaechi

A passion-driven environmentalist by heart. Lead content writer at EnvironmentGo.
I strive to educate the public about the environment and its problems.
It has always been about nature, we ought to protect not destroy.