Lessons of Phoenix Urban Composting
According to a University of Arizona study from January of this year, the average American adds 474 pounds of food waste per year to landfills.
There are also increasing costs to transport fertilizers. According to beef magazine (a bastion of leftist thought), “During the 12 months ending in April 2008, nitrogen prices increased 32%, phosphate prices 93%, and potash prices 100%. This price surge in 2008 was due to strong domestic and global demand for fertilizers, low fertilizer inventories, and the inability of the U.S. fertilizer industry to adjust production levels.”
As the economy improves, these prices will go up with greater demand and with higher fuel prices.
So, here’s my point: if you want to use less foreign oil, emit less greenhouse gas and promote local, organic food, start composting.
All you need is clean kitchen and yard scraps (no cooked food, meet or breads), a good compost bin, a nice shady place and water.
Below is my contribution to helping you find a method that makes composting easy. And, let’s face it. If it ain’t easy, we are not likely to do it for very long.
That’s why I gave up my hobby of collecting personally autographed postage stamps of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.
Surgeon General’s Waring: I am not a professional film-maker.
I wonder if you could make a second lid that would act as your screen. I don’t compost, so I don’t know if this would work at all, but it would streamline the process of getting your ‘black gold’ out. All you would need is your spinning pickle jar of death and a tarp beneath to collect the goodness. The non-composted stuff should remain in the barrel. When done, unscrew the screen lid and replace with the solid lid.
That’s a great point, Leejen. I was actually working on that idea initially, but I could not make it work. I only have the one lid and I did not know how to attach the screen without destroying that or the rim of the barrel.
I love the “spinning pickle jar of death” though. It kinda looks like a sinister weapon, huh? Maybe I’ll name it that!