Here is a picture of my real kitchen collector bucket. I’ll be honest, it rarely looks this picture perfect. Most days you would see an embarrassing mess of overflowing asparagus ends, pineapple tops, and banana peels hanging out the top. Perhaps all accompanied by an additional bowl with even more food scraps awaiting the walk to the bin.So, who am I to suggest ways to tame the food scrap hoarding/ lazy-composters-r-us behavior?
I’ve made a resolution and you can too. We can keep our kitchen collectors tidy together. Composters unite!
Here are five tips for reducing or even eliminating mess and smells from your kitchen collector.
1. Empty Daily. Don’t think of it as a chore. This is a daily ritual, a meditative stroll through the backyard, bringing your food scraps to commune with nature and giving back to the Earth. (Or just 5 minutes to get away from the whining kids and pile of dishes, while pretending like you are actually working).
2. Use Liners. I’ve tried the “compostable” plastic liners and the origami newspaper trick. The jury is still out on the “compostable” plastic but both of these options will keep your kitchen collector clean.
3. Add Ventilation (a.k.a. holes). If you’re not taking out food scraps daily, allowing some holes in the side or top of your collector actually keeps scraps from getting too yucky. If fruit flies are an issue in your kitchen, however, you may want to skip this option.
4. Sprinkle Bokashi Bran. This Japanese import will semi-ferment food scraps if you sprinkle a little on top and allow you to go longer between emptying the material. (Check out Park + Vine or www.bokashicomposting.com/ if you want to give it a try).
5. Rinse Once Empty. Yes, I know you know that cleaning stuff makes it smell good. But this is a step I sometimes skip. A quick rinse will get any yuckiness out of the bottom and hopefully keep the bucket smelling fresher.
I’ve also heard that sprinkling baking soda on top of the food scraps or rubbing vinegar on the lid will help with smells. But if you’re going to take the time to do that why not just take out the food scraps?
My goal is to take out the bucket at least every other day which should be easier with spring here (spring is here, right? Right?). What do you do (or will start doing) to keep your kitchen collector in order?
Dang Michelle, you're more of a slob than me!! Hah. Hey when you rinse yonder bucket dump the slush water in the bin, waste not want not.
ReplyDeleteWe just keep a bowl in the fridge and empty it when it gets full. Then we wash or swap the bowl and repeat. Maybe adding cold things to a compost container is less than ideal but it works for us - no decaying food on the counter and trips to empty are every 4 or 5 days - unless we get lazy and just add another bowl rather than emptying one. ;)
ReplyDeleteThat's a great idea, Jamie, and don't worry about adding cold stuff to the bin, it warms up quick. I've heard of people freezing their food scraps too. The trick is finding room in your refrigerator or freezer. :)
DeleteI started using a kitchen composter recently and learned a lesson about letting it get too funky and the carbon filter getting moldy! I now am using the newspaper origami and it works great! I am vowing to empty it as soon as it is 2/3 to 3/4 full so it won't get too funky and get the filter nasty. The newspaper also helps to absorb liquids and seems to help with odors as well.
ReplyDeleteLove the blog by the way!
Thanks, Jeffrey. The origami newspaper does work wonders!
DeleteMy husband is not the die-hard recycler that I am. He got disgusted very quickly with my little kitchen bucket. Now I use a Tupperware bowl and keep it under the sink where we keep the garbage bin. I seal the bowl as I put stuff in it and empty it about every 4-5 days. No stink! What stinks now is the garbage bin. By recycling, we have less trash and I often have to take the trash bag out before it's full to keep that odor under control.
ReplyDeleteThat's a good idea to keep complaints down! I also have to take my trash out more often than we fill the bag, its a good feeling.
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