Composting Demystified: A tried and tested method to make compost at home.

compost image 1

Roughly one-third of the food produced in the world for human consumption every year - approximately 1.3 billion tonnes - gets lost or wasted, which results in the filling up of landfills at unprecedented rates. To help reduce this burden on our landfills, and to recycle food waste into essential nutrients for plants, composting is the perfect solution. And it is very easy, too! What you would need:

  1. A container (earthen/plastic, whatever is more easily available)
  2. Soil
  3. Kitchen waste (2:1, for 2 parts kitchen waste, add one part dried leaves)
  4. Dried leaves
  5. Curd/Dahi

Steps:

  1. Select a container, and make five to six holes in the bottom and on the sides for aeration
  2. Place the container on a plate, in an airy spot, like the balcony
  3. Add a layer of soil as the bottom layer, according to your preference, either add a layer of kitchen waste daily, or in fixed intervals of time
  4. The kitchen waste to dried leaves ratio should be 2:1, and the kitchen waste should be broken up into smaller pieces to speed-up the composting process
  5. Add Dahi/curd twice a month
  6. Turn the mixture everyday to boost the oxygen flow
  7. Wait for about 1
  8. 5 months, when you see a fairly consistent texture, your compost is ready!
  9. The water collected at the bottom is nutritious and can be used to water plants

Which stages are involved in turning kitchen waste into compost? During the process of breaking down kitchen waste into compost, the kitchen waste goes through various stages. First, you will observe that the waste starts to disintegrate and break down into smaller chunks. Then, it develops a microbial/fungal cover.

Finally, it starts to turn black and that’s when you get the fine compost. What not to add?

  1. Acidic products
  2. Vinegar
  3. Non-vegetarian food products
  4. Newspapers
compost image 2 and 3
compost image 2 and 3

Depending upon volume of kitchen waste, type of container and environmental conditions, your compost would be ready in about 1.5 months.

How to accelerate the process? If you want to accelerate the process of turning kitchen waste into compost, turning the kitchen waste daily, or as frequently as possible, can help. You can also add onion peels, corn husk, fresh flowers, wood chippings and eggshells to help speed it up. Lastly, adding compost culture, i.e. either soil directly under trees, or fungi/bacteria, helps break down the kitchen waste faster and results in a finer product.

compost image 4 and 5
compost image 4 and 5

We at Forengers have recently started composting our own kitchen waste, and we would be glad to help you out with any composting-related queries that you might have. If you plan on composting, feel free to reach out to us on Instagram, and we’ll be there to guide you along every step of the way! Happy composting!

Also, if you’re experienced in composting, and would like to share any tips/suggestions to beginners, please reach out to us on Instagram to spread the word!