My good friend Lindsey and I filmed a little video about her cool and super easy to use compost system. She was also kind enough to write up a little blurb about her experience. Something to keep in mind that she forgot to mention is moisture. Keep in mind the natural humidity and moisture levels in your climate. For my compost pile back in Boulder, I need to water often to ensure that it doesn't dry out and kill the helpful microorganisms and insects doing all the good work for me. In Marin County, where Lindsey's house is, moisture might not be such an issue. Just remember, all life needs water! So if it's hot and sunny outside, give it some aqua lovin' and the detritivores and decomposers will thank you!

"After a terrible and failed attempt at composting last year I decided to give it another try, this time with a few adjustments. For my first attempt I bought a large garbage bin and dumped a bunch of my food scraps into it without stirring it much and without adding any brown material. I learned a lot from this and made some crucial adjustments. For one, I made sure that the compost material was connected to the soil. I now stir my compost on the regular and I took the time to read up a bit on what exactly the recipe is for a healthy compost. There are some great online sources out there detailing the types of material that help.

For the second time around I was a little tight on money and also didn’t want to buy something new, so I decided to look around my house, yard, and garage for some old trash cans or something that could work as a bin. I found two that would suffice, and used a power drill to saw off the bottoms of both. I sawed off about the bottom half of both. I then drilled a bunch of holes in the side of the bins to support air circulation and ventilation for the compost. Finding a good spot for your bins is important too, one that is easily accessible for you and preferably one that gets some sun. I found a great spot on the side of my house that was unfortunately run over by tall grass. After an hour of pulling the grass up I took a hand fork hoe and dug around at the soil to prepare it for the wonderful nutrients on the way. The soil was not too bad, definitely dry and with a few rocks. After sifting it a bit and making sure there were no more large stones it was ready. The next and final step was placing these two (one also works) bins into the area by turning the ends into the soil a bit until an inch or two of soil was covering the bottom. Grab the lids of the bins and top ‘em off and there you go, you are ready to compost!!

As far as what goes into your bins, there is great information out there online, but its not too hard to figure out. Basically there are two groups of material that you want to make sure are in balance- half “green” material and half “brown” material. Green materials are high in nitrogen and include vegetable and fruit scraps, coffee grounds, grass clippings, etc. Some examples of brown materials that are high in carbon are newspaper (and most types of paper that don’t have too much ink), dried plant remains, and tea. It’s nice to keep a container inside your house of the material you will add to your bin, and I chop the material a bit to help the speed up the decomposition process. One more crucial step to successful composting is STIRRING! A great friend advised me on this one and I find it one of the most important steps. Each time you add something to your bin, stir, stir, stir! Once a day is great, and definitely each time you add something new.

Go for it!! It’s an amazing addition to your life and if I can do it, anyone can!"