Composting Basics
Cooking, composting, and choosing compassion are the three pillars of The Practice of Green that I love sharing. I follow these principles every day—from the food I choose and cook, to how I discard food waste and transform it into new life.
At our recent “Building Healthy Communities” potluck, we learned more about composting. Composting reduces our ecological footprint by keeping waste out of landfills, which helps prevent the release of methane gas. Composting conserves natural resources like water, organic matter, and nutrients, while offering an inexpensive way to enrich the soil without synthetic fertilizers. In short, composting allows Mother Nature to do the heavy lifting—with just a little help from us to speed things along.
Eric, from the Medina County Soil and Water Conservation District, demonstrated his composting process at our Building Healthy Communities July gathering.
To my surprise, Eric can have his compost ready in as little as one month! That stands in stark contrast to my little garden tumbler, which can take anywhere from six months to a year. I was relieved to hear that a six-to-twelve-month timeline isn't unusual, especially in the Northeast Ohio climate. While there are steps you can take to speed up the process—which I’ll share below—let’s start with the basics.
What Creates Compost? Composting requires four core elements: nitrogen, carbon, oxygen, and water.
Nitrogen (“Greens”): Includes fruit and vegetable scraps, grass clippings, coffee grounds—or hay, in Eric’s case.
Carbon (“Browns”): Includes shredded paper or dry leaves (Eric uses wood chips).
Oxygen: Provided by turning your tumbler or stirring your pile. According to the Rodale Institute, oxygen supports the growth of beneficial organisms that eliminate pathogens and toxic compounds.
Water: Your compost should be moist, but not soaking wet. Without adequate moisture, microbes can't survive. Water also provides evaporative cooling to keep the pile from overheating.
The Golden Ratio: Aim for a ratio of 30% "Greens" to 70% "Browns" (roughly 1 part green to 2 or 3 parts brown).
Eric uses his compost to nourish the soil on his 500-acre farm, so precision and high volume are essential for him. While most of us don't need to produce compost on that scale, we can still learn a lot from his methods.
In addition to greens and browns, Eric adds cured cow manure to accelerate decomposition. He takes composting seriously—monitoring temperatures closely and even inspecting his compost under a microscope to check for active microbial life! I don’t own a microscope myself, but I’d love to see all that hidden life under a lens (my delayed scientific curiosity has finally blossomed!).
Tips from My Composting Journey:
Chop up food waste: Before dumping scraps into your kitchen bin, slice or snip larger items like banana peels into smaller pieces. Smaller surface areas decompose much faster.
Reuse cardboard rolls: Tear up toilet paper or paper towel rolls and mix them into your indoor kitchen bin before taking it outside.
Use shredded paper: If you have a paper shredder, shredded paper makes a great "brown" material (just be sure to exclude plastic envelope windows or shredded credit cards!). My 91-year-old mom even helps me shred paper for mine.
These small habits have integrated seamlessly into my daily routine, though I still have plenty to learn.
Are you ready to take the plunge and start composting?
For a great visual overview, check out this video recommended in Eric's event pamphlet: Clean Air Gardening: How to Compost.
Additional Resources:
If home composting isn't an option for you, consider checking for local drop-off programs at community gardens. You can also support local collection services—for example, Summit County residents can look into Rubber City Reuse and who can do the heavy lifting for you.
And for my local neighbors, Wadsworth Methodist Church just became a dropoff location for compost using Rubber City Reuse. Select the Residential Drop off option to get started.
Remember: every time you compost, you're investing in our soil, which gives us life!
