CasaSugar

Mandatory Composting Begins in San Francisco Today

CasaSugar — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 06:15:23 -0700

Beginning today, the city of San Francisco will require both businesses and residences to compost food scraps and biodegradable products or risk a fine for not properly sorting their garbage. While other cities require recycling service and participation, the law, which Mayor Gavin Newsom signed into effect in June, is the first nationwide to require the collection of food scraps and other compostables.

A study by the Department of the Environment found that 36 percent of what San Francisco sends to landfills is compostable, primarily food scraps, and 31 percent is recyclable - which is mostly paper. Seeing that SF already has an impressive 72 percent recycling rate, the legislation could send that rate soaring to 90 percent.

To facilitate the program, the city will offer free green compost carts to apartment buildings and businesses, as well as free kitchen pails for renters. Fines will be capped at $100 and are meant primarily to raise public awareness and encourage compliance. Has your city or town made any moves to require composting? Has your city had success with any recycling fines or mandates? Tell me by commenting below!

Source: Flickr User MayorGavinNewsom

Primer: Vermicomposting

CasaSugar — Wed, 03 Sep 2008 08:30:20 -0700

Vermicomposting, or vermiculture, is a method of composting that uses worms, either red wigglers or red earthworms, in addition to bacteria, as a catalyst for the decomposition of organic waste. It can occur on a large (tons) or small scale, but it's particularly suited to kitchen composting, where space is limited. To set up a vermicompost, you first must find a bin, anything from a reused plastic bucket to a retailer compost bin, that has holes in the sides to allow air to flow, and a spout that can be opened or closed or holes in the bottom to drain into a collection tray. The type of bin you use will fall into one of three categories: non-continuous (undivided container), continuous vertical flow (vertically stacked trays), or continuous horizontal flow (horizontally stacked trays). To continue the lesson, read more.

You'll add moist bedding to the bin, such as dried leaves, sawdust, hay or shredded paper, which mimics the worms' natural habitat and serves as a food source. Then, you add the worms to their new digs, and toss in your organic food waste. You can compost practically all of your food waste, aside from animal leftovers, including coffee grounds and filters, tea bags, plate scrapings, rotting fruit, vegetable peels, leftovers, moldy bread, etc. The worms will chew through the material, and their excrement will in essence be a nutrient-rich fertilizer. You can then mix your fertilizer with potting mix at a one-to-four-part mix, and your plants will eat it right up!
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Crave Worthy: Vermicondo

CasaSugar — Tue, 03 Jun 2008 05:30:47 -0700

Levitt Goodman Architects, known for their fab prefabs, decided that worm composters posed an ugly problem for modern apartment dwellers, who lack access to backyard gardens. So, they designed the Vermicondo ($1,500), a multilevel condo for worms. Vermicondo consists of a series of shelves, an element that eliminates the need to muck through worm leftovers. When the upwardly mobile worms have finished eating everything they can find, they move up a layer, leaving behind a tray of beautiful organic soil. The top layer of wheatgrass just looks pretty, and serves as a "garden" of sorts for city dwellers who don't have one, mimicking the growing trend in real-life architecture of rooftop gardens. The structure's modern design, slick back-painted acrylic sitting upon a stainless-steel colonnade, doesn't just look pretty either — it protects the little wigglers from light and arid conditions. This is most definitely the only time you'll find the words "worms" and "crave worthy" within a mile of each other; the Vermicondo proves that "good design will save the worms." If only Levitt Goodman could design a price tag that's more palatable for moi . . .
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Composting 101

CasaSugar — Mon, 12 Nov 2007 10:28:23 -0800

We've talked a little about composting in the past. Take this quiz and test your compost knowledge!

Take the quiz

Would You Use a Composting Toilet?

CasaSugar — Fri, 02 Nov 2007 15:45:58 -0700

As you may know, I'm a huge fan of green living practices. And so is my good pal FitSugar, who made me start thinking again about composting toilets.

I've used composting toilets many times in the past. In fact, my brother's house has one. Composting toilets use no water, so you don't have to flush. How does it work? Since your waste is mostly made up of water, a composting toilet helps evaporate that water, and what's left gets broken down into soil.

In case you were wondering (I know I was), a correctly installed and operating composting toilet shouldn't smell at all. Check out this video to learn more about them.

You can purchase composting toilets for your home or cabin. Want to see what they look like? Then read more

Check out these made by Sun-Mar. Some are self-contained, meaning they just contain the seat and an opening to a drum below that holds your waste. Others called central units, have seats in the bathroom, and shoots that go down to a separate holding tank.

Here's another video by a happy composting toilet user. This self-contained composting toilet holds all the waste, evaporates the water, so you're left with soil your lawn and flowers will love.

Do You Compost?

CasaSugar — Thu, 06 Sep 2007 04:20:06 -0700

Yesterday, I gave you guys a brief introduction to composting, so I'm curious how many of you separate your organic yard waste and food scraps.

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Definition: Composting

CasaSugar — Tue, 04 Sep 2007 15:21:22 -0700

Composting is the act of turning organic waste - i.e., all plant- and animal-derived garbage - into mulch that can be used as fertilizer. Composting can be accomplished in several ways: Some people keep compost piles in their backyards and use the mulch in their gardens, where the nutrients provide food for important micro-organisms. City-dwellers often use odor-reducing compost bins, such as this Kitchen Compost Crock, since many cities now offer sidewalk compost pickup.

Why should you compost? Because according to the EPA, yard and food waste together make up nearly one-quarter of all U.S. waste. Almost all lawn trimmings can be added to a compost pile, as can most of the trash produced in your kitchen, including apple cores, veggie scraps, and the like. It is best to avoid putting dairy or meat products into a compost, since they can be very stinky and attract rodents.

Garden Therapy: A DIY Compost Bin

CasaSugar — Mon, 20 Oct 2008 13:00:32 -0700

Craftster member Gwydion has inspired me to use the extra lumber left over from some home projects to build a new compost pile. I'm tired of wrestling with my flimsy plastic composter, which seems to never stay in place and whose top always folds into the compost itself. Yuck! Gwydion DIYed her compost pile for a fraction of the cost of one she'd buy in a store.

To find out how she did it, read more.

Gwydion writes, "It's a pretty simple design. The front of each box has slots where you can drop in additional 1-x-8 boards, depending on the height of your compost. Makes it easier to turn the compost from one bin to the other and to rescue the finished product. My husband saw something similar online for about $200, plus shipping, plus assembly, so naturally I had to try to make it. Constructed from 1-x-4s, 1-x-8s, and hardware cloth, with 2-x-4 footers (which you can't see in the picture). It's about 3-x-3-x-6 feet. I built it in panels in the living room and then assembled it on the patio (because that's where the outlet was for the drill . . .). This was a rotten idea, as I then had a miserable time moving it to the corner of the yard. It's waterproofed with about six coats of linseed oil and is holding up well to the elements."

I love the fact that even though Gywdion's husband was the one that spotted the composter online, Gwydion was the one who built it. (This is how it works at my house, too.) Nice work!

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Cool Idea: Composting Bags

CasaSugar — Wed, 08 Apr 2009 05:00:52 -0700

According to the US Environmental Protection Agency, yard trimmings and food residuals make up 25 percent of the total waste sent to the dump. By composting, you can help to reduce the amount of garbage sent to landfills.

SunChips, which is an advertiser on our site, is one of the companies working to green its business practices, and I wanted to highlight its good work in this area. The company is working to develop the the first 100 percent compostable chip bag of its kind, currently planned to launch in 2010. So, instead of throwing an empty bag in the trash and sending it to the landfill, consumers will be able to toss it directly into a home composter. As a first step toward the goal, the company is making all 10.5 oz. bags of SunChips snacks with 33 percent renewable materials. This step, as well as the company's solar field in Modesto, CA, helps to reduce the company's carbon emissions by 1.7 million pounds every year.

There are actually a variety of biodegradable home cleaning products on the market right now, including biodegradable garbage bags and sponges. Check them out below.

Scrubby Sponges - $4.99	Kitchen Scrubbers - $14.00
Twist Naked Sponges, Set of 6 - $9.00	simplehuman™ Biodegradable Liners - $15.00
BioBags - Kitchen Compost Liner - set of 3 - $18.00

To check out a video of the SunChips bag biodegrading before your very eyes, read more.

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Does Your City Compost?

CasaSugar — Mon, 23 Jun 2008 11:00:57 -0700

Of course, you can always start composting at home, but it's nice to have the option of putting your compost in a green bin on the curb once a week. Here in the Bay Area, we can compost curbside. Does your city have this service?