Finally got my neighbor to start composting after 2 years of trying

2 comments

2 Comments

That's awesome you finally got them on board. Just a heads up, if they're tossing in citrus peels or too many onions, those can actually slow down the composting process because they're too acidic for the worms and bacteria. Also, make sure they're chopping up their kitchen scraps into smaller pieces, like the size of a penny or smaller, so it breaks down faster and doesn't get stinky. Are they using a good balance of browns like dried leaves or cardboard with the greens?

margaret_chen4d ago

Wait, are they layering the greens and browns properly or just dumping everything in a pile? Ive seen people mess this up so many times, they think composting is just throwing food in a bin. The citrus and onion thing is real, it can kill off the good microbes if they overdo it. Also, if they skip the browns, that pile will turn into a slimy, stinking mess real quick. Tell them to aim for about 3 parts browns to 1 part greens by volume, that keeps the smell down and the worms happy. And yeah, chopping scraps small makes a huge difference, I learned that the hard way when my bin started smelling like rotten eggs.