By: MG
Growing up there was always a silver tin sitting on my counter that my brother and I would never dare to open. It was sealed tightly to compose the smell and it was filled with eggshells, coffee grounds and rotting vegetables. Sound’s disgusting right? Don’t worry, when the silver tin would get too full my parents would empty it out into a bigger compost bin in the backyard. And as long as the tin was closed, there was no smell. My parents were putting our uneaten food to good use.
Surprisingly, there is a silver lining to food waste! You can actually turn certain uneaten food in the home into nutrient rich dirt for your garden or lawn. This will not only save you money on soil for your backyard, but it also saves that wasted food from rotting in a landfill. When food is thrown away it is taken to a landfill where it will decompose and release methane gas. Methane is harmful to the ozone layer and is a major cause for climate change. When we compost our food in a bin, methane gases fail to release from the food because there is oxygen present, unlike in a landfill. The United States Environmental Protection Agency or the USEP, encourages at home composting to reduce methane gases and create healthy soil instead of mass produced dirt.
How do you begin a compost at home?
Easy! Buy a small bin and test out how it goes for you. Package Free, a retail shop dedicated to reducing waste has a silver tin compost, (similar to the one I had as a kid) on their website for $17. The compost bin comes with a charcoal and cotton filter to conceal any bad smells and it’s perfect size to sit on a counter.
You can’t compost just anything- which is why we should still be mindful of the amount of food we let go unused in our home. Here are some things we shouldn’t compost: dairy products, meat or fish, coal or coal ash and any plants that have been treated with pesticides. Things that should be composted are organic matter that hasn’t been altered by chemicals in any way. Some surprising things that can be composted are newspaper trimmings, tea bags, cardboard, and cotton and wool rags! Save these items from causing harm to our planet and give them a new purpose!
While we should try to reduce our food waste through mindful shopping, portion control and self awareness, unfortunately we are still left with some. Food for Second Thought encourages you to make the most of your uneaten food and invest in a compost bin.
Edited by: CP
