Can you access this?

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/06/climate/new-york-coronavirus-composting.html

https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1258102129983664128.html

Here's a cut and paste of her instructions:

"In a large cardboard box, mix two parts coco peat, one part rice husk ash, or an alternative like hardwood ash or biochar (you can find these online or at your local home goods store). Raise it up on blocks to improve airflow. "

" It’s important to keep your compost moist — the hardworking microorganisms need a moist, airy environment to thrive in. If it starts feeling dry, spray a little water on it."

I’ve read that bit but it seems very scant information. The NYT require a sign in. There are no quantities given, only ratios. I’m curious as to how damp food waste in a cardboard box is not going to smell, attract fruit flies and ultimately collapse. I collect food scraps in a kitchen caddy and it needs emptying every day due to the quantity (at least 1 US gallon a day) and to the fact that the material begins to decompose. If it were in a cardboard box the cardboard would surely become damp and fall apart? I’d like to see pictures and a detailed account of the method. I’m also not keen on composting methods which require purchasing materials. That seems to be in direct contradiction of the ethos of composting which is to reduce waste of both money and materials. I’d be interested in seeing results from someone who has actually done this successfully rather than repeated something from the internet which most Google results appear to be.

Where in the world would most Americans (or anyone outside of big rice growing countries) get rice husk ash? And why? Coco peat? I don't even know what that is but it's surely imported as well.

Not trying to diss the messenger here but it does seem to go against many of the principles of composting.

I actually thought this was going to be about Bokashi which does seem feasible for indoors.

I assumed coco peat was coir. Google confirmed. Not cheap.

"But I’d need a lot of convincing that a cardboard box full of food waste is a sensible thing to keep in my living room." - Agree.

"I’m also not keen on composting methods which require purchasing
materials. That seems to be in direct contradiction of the ethos of
composting which is to reduce waste of both money and materials." - 110% Agree. I have never bought anything just to compost and refuse to start. Just buy the compost and save the trouble tho I prefer to make my own.

So we haven't heard from anyone who has tried this?

Okay, I did not expect the response that this elicited. I only posted to see if anyone was familiar with this method.

As for rice husk, the NYT writer mentioned that it was impossible to procure outside of Asia. She recommended hardwood ash or biochar as an alternative to rick husk. Given that this site draws from an international community, rice husk may be easier for some to find. Not in my case.

Sure, if I didn't live in an apartment building, I wouldn't purchase supplies in order to compost. But I do, so the type of outdoor composting I grew up with is impossible. Not everyone here has a backyard to compost.

As for purchasing supplies to compost, it's pretty normal. Not sure why it seems strange or so unusual. People even on this site purchase bins and specific worms to compost indoors. Some spend a hundred for compost tumblers. Same thing with the Bokashi method which actually seems more involved than this method. You have to purchase supplies for the Bokashi. It seems most people spend about $50 for a special Bokashi bucket and more on bran or molasses.

I'm glad that the respondents feel strongly about the ethos of composting and reducing their carbon footprint. Where I live, due to COVID, the usual methods of composting are no longer available, so unless you have a yard, vermicompost or use the Bokashi method, all the vegetable scraps go in the landfill which isn't a great option either.

Purchasing materials for composting is obviously not strange or unusual. But it’s unnecessary and I wouldn’t do it for the reasons I gave. Many people do spend a lot on composting but it is often because they have been mislead into believing it is a complicated process and requires special supplies, or they get deeply involved in the process for its own sake rather than as a waste management and garden improvement method. As for buying expensive compost tumblers, the consensus on this board is that they rarely work effectively and are usually a waste of money. I don’t live in an apartment but if I did and the organic waste collection ceased, and I didn’t have a friend who wanted compostables, I’d get a worm bin. It’s a one off purchase whereas the method in the article requires repeated purchases of coir and ash.

However, it would be interesting to hear from you if you decide to try it. I wonder how fast it deals with the waste? In our house we produce at least a gallon a day of vegetable waste and I really can’t see a cardboard box being big enough.

Last question, suppose it does work, what does an apartment dweller do with a constant supply of compost?

"Where I live, due to COVID, the usual methods of composting are no longer available, so unless you have a yard, vermicompost or use the Bokashi method, all the vegetable scraps go in the landfill which isn't a great option either."

Kindly share what methods are no longer available if they aren't those you mentioned.

Also why is it that "vegetable scraps go in the landfill which isn't a great option either."

IMO vegetable scraps are much better than the plastics and many other products going.

I’m with floral. If you must do something indoors then worm bins are the way to go.

tj

This blog (in English) includes a video Of the method. It’s in Japanese but still easy to follow. Sadly the blogger doesn’t seem to have reported back on how well it worked. It’s noticeable that the volume of coir and ash is much greater than the volume of scraps. It’s not just an additive.

I used to vermicompost but my last batch of worms died. My work schedule no longer allows for me to vermicompost, because I'm rarely around. I had a worm bin for years without a problem until my work situation changed. After going through two rounds of dead worms, I started using my city's compost program. Now that that's been suspended, I was curious about this method. I'm not keen on trying the Bokashi method.

As for composting, my city has ceased all composting operations for at least a year. Unless you have a yard, vermicompost or Bokashi, then that's it.

Yes, I do recycle my plastics and other materials. Given what's happening, my city may cease picking up even recyclables. There's discussion of municipal workers being fired the longer COVID remains a serious issue. As for tossing food into landfills, I'm surprised by how blase the response to that is with articles about greenhouse gases from wasted food in landfills and the impact on the environment. Even if I purchased compost at my neighborhood Home Depot, that compost was moved by cars/trains/planes, i.e. carbon emissions, to my local store.

https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/plugged-in/un-says-that-if-food-waste-was-a-country-ite28099d-be-the-3-global-greenhouse-gas-emitter/

"Not sure why you assume that I don't recycle my plastics and other materials."

Not sure why you made that assumption.

“...greenhouse gases from wasted food in landfills...”

And that differs from any gases coming off a compost pile?

tj

I belffieve because landfills more often anaerobic conditions, offgasses from organic materials more likely to be methane, which is a more potent GG. But tradeoffs as may decompose more slowly, VS CO2 from a compost pile (some of which also does not decompose) and at least goes back into soil, and effects of soil degradation globally, etc.

No single comprehensive answer. Personally I lean to benefit of doubt for processes which attempt to re-use or avoid use of resources.

That said, I mostly ignore 'new' composting methods. They mostly don't add much new except for a more efficient extraction of resources from the wallet. If I was in an apartment I'd discard my organic waste and lobby the building or local government to fix the problem. They exist to make collective action feasible.

To clarify my earlier comment about not "buying" things to compost - before this time I referred to $300 compost tumblers, etc. which most abandon because of smell, insects, and they just can't get them to work.

I subscribe to the theory that like the "Fruitcake" there is only 1 "Compost Tumbler" which keeps getting Re-Gifted. <Grin>

Completely agree compost is far superior to the landfill for food scraps. Even though landfills collect most all of the gas and flare it off, it still comes out as CO2. And the benefits in soil health and fertility, reduction in shipping compost around, fertilizer production, etc. I don't think anyone here would really disagree with that except for maybe a minor detail or two.

The coco coir is probably for aeration and could probably be replaced with peat moss, wood shavings (from planer or lathe). The latter is what we use between additions of food scrap and coffee grounds at our office.

I stick with worms. Bokashi, I'd have to spend more money and it's too limited, too much work. The worm bin on the other hand is just feed, water and forget. Many times it's just feed and forget. You can have a worm farm in a 6 gal. bucket or for bigger options get a RubberMaid for under $10.

No need to drill which will cause a mess. Just keep the RM tilted so one corner is always lower than the rest. Place a large pop bottle in that corner when you set up with both top and bottom removed so your hand fits in. Either place an old T-shirt or use a turkey baster to extract accumulated liquid from that corner. Presto, no fuss no mess.

Oh, for air, cut a very big hole in the lid and glue/tape weed cloth in its place or just jam an oversize piece between lid and bin. All material cost considered: under $10.

There’s a description of the method by someone who’s done it Here