What’s the single greatest thing to reduce your households carbon footprint? That’s right, recycling your food waste. Gosh, you are smart!
How do I recycle food waste? I start with a bucket. Virtually everyone has a bucket kicking around the garage or basement. I don’t mean a mop bucket or an ice cream bucket, I’m talking about a 5-gallon bucket. If you don’t have one kicking around your garage already, just stop by a local hardware and pick one up with a matching lid and you are in business.
And no, it doesn’t have to be a five-gallon bucket. Some folks cannot lift or carry a 35-pound bucket, so in that case simply adapt whatever size of a container you prefer. I know one older person that uses a recycled dish washer pod container and kept it off to the side of a counter. Out of the elements, sealed and packed tight.
When I am recycling food waste, I like to get a small shovel of mulch to cover the bottom of the bucket by a couple inches. I have also used leaf mulch. Just that little bit ( a few cups) is going to contain Billions of microbes that are going to help you recycle your food waste.
You can use various naturally occurring inoculants from forest, pastures or composting. Or you can buy commercial inoculants. I'm always experimenting with a variety of possible combinations. That has led me to use Natures inoculants instead of buying them. Home made sauerkraut can do more than cover a hotdog!
How do I recycle my food waste? It's so easy, you can start with a used bucket. Virtually everyone has a bucket kicking around the garage or basement. I don’t mean a mop bucket or an ice cream bucket, I’m referring to a 5-gallon bucket. Or you could go down to your friendly neighborhood store and pick one up.
When I start a new bucket, I like to get a small shovel of mulch I have saved for just this purpose. Leaf mulch or grass clippings can work as well but aren't critical to your success. I cover the bottom of the bucket with about an inch. Just that little bit is going to contain millions of microorganisms that are going to help you recycle your food waste. Sometimes for good measure I’ll give it a shot of molasses. Now start adding your food scraps
You will want to have this already prepared for the moment you decide to add food waste. I recommend using as a bacterial inoculant. You can use various naturally occurring inoculants from forest, pastures or composting. You can also buy commercial inoculants online such as Teraganix. Through nearly 10 years of use we eventually decided our own blend of microbial inoculants.
A note on sizing. Don’t get all carried away with this. Yes, can can use a food processor but its just as effective if you chop up your food waste. However the more surface area you create the easier it is to grow your bacterial population.
For the best results imaginable, fill a container all at once almost to the top and seal it.
Too pack or not to pack. The answer to that question is to pack for best results. Packing squeezes out excess air and makes a better environment for our anaerobic bacteria.
Make sure you have an air tight seal for your container, cover with something to keep it safe from the elements and NO peeking. Every time you open that container and look, you let in air and that only slows the process down. So don’t do that.
Based on nothing more than my personal experience, our household of 4 takes about 2 weeks to fill a bucket and the final weight is about 30 lbs. That 30 pounds of food and organic waste comes to roughly 720 pounds a year. If not recycled, that’s about 540 lbs of emissions per year polluting our atmosphere.
I make a personal choice to save those emissions and recycle food waste instead of putting it at the curb. Once recycled and in the soil, it will absorb several times its weight in atmospheric carbon. That’s right, it takes carbon out of the air and fixes it in the soil. This is nature’s way of carbon sequestration.
Just one last thought, how much are you currently paying to let your food waste rot in a landfill?
The choice is yours. But don't let me hear you whining and crying about dying from climate change in 10 years if you aren't willing to do something about it right now!
That is how I recycle food waste I hope that you will join me!