Many people in the United States live in apartments, especially those who dwell in cities and in urban areas. This makes for convenient living, but can be very inconvenient for composting, a pastime of concerned environmentalists everywhere. Access to the outdoors is scarce (and sometimes nonexistent) for those who have apartments. However, even with small space constraints, and little access to the outdoors, apartment composting is a project that can be quite successful.
Many of us don’t want to waste materials that can be turned into beautiful soil and fertilizer, so we at OutsideModern have put together this handy guide to looking at everything there is to know about composting while living in an apartment.
What is Composting?
At its simplest form, composting is the process where organic material is left to break down, or rot, to create nutrient-rich material. Many people participate in this process because it reduces the amount of waste that goes to landfills, provides a reliable source of fertilizer, and helps the environment in a variety of ways. It can also save money, as the need to purchase soil for gardening is reduced.
To compost, most people use a compost bin like the Aerobin, compost pile, or compost tumbler to produce compost. Typically they insert their unused kitchen scraps and yard waste into the receptacle, and with a little time and work, compost is produced.
Some common compostable items include leaves, weeds, vegetable peels, and paper. This is then left to break down over a period of weeks or months, and produces a nutrient-rich soil at the end of the process.
Why Compost?
The main advantage to composting is to avoid needlessly throwing organic material into a trash bin to be hauled away to a dump or landfill. By composting at home, one can process waste in the local environment, and can create healthy soil at the same time. This healthy soil can be used to grow plants in the garden, and removes the necessity to purchase new soil.
Apartment Composting
To many individuals’ surprise, composting can be done quite successfully in an apartment. Once someone knows the basics, it’s easy to set up a composting operation virtually anywhere.
There are two major paths to take if you want to do apartment composting, both with advantages and disadvantages. The most popular, and most well-known path, is worm powered composting (vermicomposting). The second path is bokashi composting, which has the major advantage of not needing worms to be used, but it comes with its own set of drawbacks.
To start with, let’s take a closer look at what makes up compost.
The Ingredients of Compost
Compost-able materials are commonly separated into two major categories, known as browns and greens.
Browns (Carbon-rich materials)
Browns are non-growing, non-fresh materials that are high in carbon content. Examples of these materials are fallen leaves, sawdust, eggshells, cardboard, paper, etc. Those who have a significant tree canopy in their yard will often have large sources of browns, but they can be difficult for those who live in apartments to acquire.
Paper can be a great source of browns — shredded newspapers, junk mail, etc. Colored inks are fine. Just be sure that there’s no plastic in the junk mail, and that the paper isn’t glossy. And be sure the paper is shredded with a high-quality shredder like this one from Amazon Basics.
High carbon brown materials should make up roughly 3/4 of the compost mix.
Greens (nitrogen-rich materials)
Greens are rich in nitrogen, which provides proteins for the microorganisms. For those who live in apartments without much outdoor yard space to work with, often the primary source of compost materials are greens. This which isn’t as beneficial as individuals would think. Some common items include kitchen refuse like fruit and vegetable peels, grass clippings, pine needles, and fresh leaves that haven’t started to decay.
The downside to many items being greens is that it can be difficult to gather enough browns to get the proper ratio. Depending on the composter (and the user), most ratios call for at most 25% greens, with some calling for a much lower quantity of greens.
Indoor or Balcony Composting
We hope you don’t mind a few creepie-crawlies since the most common way to compost in an apartment is with a worm bin. These can be purchased online or made as a DIY project.
The general idea is that compost materials, excluding citrus peels, dairy, and meat, can be added and a group of worms will break down the material.
The worms produce “worm tea” during the process, which gathers in a bottom container. Most gardeners use this worm tea in their gardens as a form of fertilizer, since it contains the waste products and nutrients worms don’t need.
The most popular type of worms in a worm bin are red wigglers. Red wigglers, such as these Uncle Jim’s Red Wigglers can be found on Amazon. They can eat half their weight in compost materials a day and help break down regular kitchen and yard waste.
In most cases, a worm bin should NOT be placed outside on a balcony or porch because the worms will die if the temperature is too warm or too cold. The compost bin will produce a slight odor, but can be kept indoors and out of the way in a closet or far corner of the apartment.
Potential Worm Bins to Buy
There are many indoor worm compost bins available to purchase. Some of the most recommended include the following:
- Nature’s Footprint Worm Factory 360 (see our Worm Factory 360 Review for more information)
- VermiHut 5-Tray Worm Compost Bin
- Hungry Bin Flow-Through
How to Pick an Apartment Compost Bin
There is a broad price range for indoor worm bins. Some can be as cheap as $50 and are small and easy to store. Others might be more expensive at up to $120 or $140. These bins tend to be large, more streamlined, expandable, and perhaps more secure (which is certainly a good thing, when dealing with worms!).
When choosing a bin for composting, be sure to pick one made from a sturdy material. Any bin that additionally comes with some sort of mechanism to handle the scent of compost breaking down will also be a solid investment for apartment living.
Finally, people who choose to go the worm route will want to ensure their bin has enough holes for the worms to receive air. These holes are usually along the bottom, and will help the produced “tea” drain into a container below the bin. They should have mesh spread over them so the worms don’t fall out.
Bokashi Composting
Bokashi Composting is the second path one could follow to achieve apartment composting. Bokashi Bins do not require worms to achieve a high quality finished product, which is a big relief to many budding apartment gardeners!
The Bokashi system was invented in the 1980s in Japan, and functions by combining a bran inoculated with microbes with kitchen waste. The bran breaks down the waste, and a compost material is produced.
Advantages to Bokashi Composting
Bokashi composting can break down a wider variety of kitchen scraps than other composting methods do, including meat, cheese, and the like. All without producing vile smells! Because the Bokashi bucket is sealed and the environment inside is anaerobic, there is typically little to no smell produced, and what smell is produced smells more like a pickling process as opposed to a composting, rotting process.
No worms, no horrid smells, focused primarily on kitchen waste, composts most all kitchen scraps. What’s not to love about this system?
Disadvantages to Bokashi Composting
The issue many apartment gardeners run into with Bokashi composting is that it essentially only half-composts your waste. After the Bokashi Bin sits for a couple of weeks, it will complete its cycle, and the next step is to take the finished Bokashi compost, and mix it with some soil, where it needs to be left to complete composting, which typically takes a couple of more weeks.
If you have an outdoor space, then this step typically isn’t a big deal. But if you’ve just got a small balcony or terrace, this step can be a challenge.
You can throw the Bokashi compost in with a bag of soil and leave it on the balcony. That would work.
But it’s still a bit awkward, and not ideal in many apartment situations.
Making or Buying Bran
Sure, you don’t have to buy worms (or make them!) but you will need a steady supply of bokashi bran (such as this Bokashi Brothers bran) to keep the system going, which can be costly. You can also make the bran, which can be a fun task, but this requires yet more effort and materials purchasing.
Apartment Composting: A Solid Investment?
Choosing to compost even when living in an apartment can be a solid, reliable investment for individuals interested in helping the environment, reducing waste, or making their own fertilizer.
It is simple, safe, environmentally friendly, and easy to start.
While there will likely be some financial investment at the beginning, apartment composting cuts down on how much garbage leaves a residence, and provides a reliable mechanism to create fertilizer for years.
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