I'm talking about composting.
This new frontier is foreign, a little scary and the road ahead is uncertain, barely paved by municipal infrastructure or private enterprise. It is exciting.
Assuming my audience is a tiny bit familiar with the concept, I'll leave the Composting 101 to EarthEasy (one of my new favorite sites!) and move right into a "How To in LA" portion.
Urban Composting has two sides. On one hand, if you have a balcony or a yard, you can compost on site and keep your pile outside in a container like this. That one I linked is made out of recycled plastic so you score double environment points! This site here has an easy tutorial for a DIY plastic bin. If you're adventurous, try vermicomposting with this 5 tray system. The process uses worms to accelerate the process of composting! The little friends leave casings behind as they break down your food waste that are extremely beneficial for gardens and house plants.
On the other hand, if you are less inclined to have rotting food in your apartment, consider collecting your food waste and storing it in the freezer until drop off day, and physically bringing your compost materials to a drop off center that will compost it for you. This container is perfect for keeping your food waste neat amongst the other contents in your freezer, and should be compliant with LA's laws against transporting food waste in an open air container like a trash bag. In LA, we are still missing the infrastructure to drop off green food waste. The infrastructure to do urban composting needs to be built up and drop off points established. For now, I'm collecting my food waste. It's important to start somewhere, even if it's not glamorous! I'm researching where I can bring my green waste, saving up for my own composting bin, and in the meantime, the food waste lives in the freezer.
One solution available in select areas of LA is offered by a local organization called LA Compost. Their bike-powered pick up service, where they come to you and collect your food waste, saves you from the long-term composting process or taking trips to the drop off center.
Currently LA Compost is serving Whittier , Baldwin Park, Covina and West Covina. They are expanding into new areas in LA and I certainly look forward to the addition of my neighborhood. Currently they are really the only people in our area collecting food waste and their presence is much needed.
These Very Conscious People can be found online at: www.wastetofood.com and contacted directly by emailing info@wastetofood.com. They would love to speak with you to set up a pick up routine for you and offer their additional services, like free leaf removal from your yard!
No matter how you get there, the best part of composting is definitely the end result. The end product, called humus, can be used in gardens, lawns and potted plants. This rich soil additive is highly sought after and can be sold. It is often packaged like coffee and sold at farmers markets. Do we have any entrpreneurs in the building? Composting has potential for big conscious business. Is there one among us with some open outdoor space that would like to venture into this beautiful new world? We can easily pool our food waste to create a large pile worth mucho dinero! Let's create anew from what others consider waste and let's use our creation to enrich our plants, and our wallets.
Do you compost? Please take a moment to comment about your process and any successes or obstacles you've faced!
Mucho Love,
Farrah
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