Composting Cleanly, Way Reducing Ick

Recently, we started participating in the community composting program. At the lead-off seminar, we received a specifically designed compostables pail for indoors. About a week or so later, outdoor carts arrived in the neighborhood. It took a few days to gingerly get with the program.

Although the seminar literature didn't help ease the ick apprehension, the Q and A session planted some ideas to "neaten" compostables. Actually implementing them was less messy than anticipated. Reduce ickiness possibilites by avoiding fouling both containers:

• Use castoff food boxes to line the indoor pail, additionally helped if you initially use paper towels for spills/cleanups then toss into the boxes. Toss in items like egg shells, coffee grounds, fruit cores, post-meal wipes, etc.
• Use newspaper to wrap food scraps, produce (fruits, veggies) trimmings, melon rinds.
• Prepare the outdoor cart with a layer, maybe half-can full, of tree debris (leaves, small branches). Compress by pressing down with dustpan or similar item if you want.

When disposing of castoff food boxfuls and wrapped compostables, place them into the prepared cart instead of overturning the pail into the cart.

My video, less than 3 minutes, has four main sections with captions:

1. Cart for compostables, intro and prep
2. Pail for compostables, preparations and fill
3. Kitchen wrapping preparations (some examples of produce)
4. Compostables into cart

Pizza boxes are a type of castoff that the seminar emphasized as fine to compost. Also OK, meat-based tossouts. Visit top level info at "Curbside Composting Collection Program". Get smaller info bites at "How-to-Guide" and "Curbside Composting FAQ".