I’ve always considered myself a lazy composter (lazy about how I do it, not lazy as in
sometimes I compost and sometimes I don’t), that is until I discovered ‘extreme
composting’. Now I’m totally pumped about my composting effort which is funny because
all I do is throw anything organic on a heap and walk away. Sometimes I dig a hole or put
weeds in a bucket of water but I rarely turn my heap, consider ratios of browns and greens,
or use expensive plastic composting units. I also add things that others don’t recommend
like bread, citrus, onion, egg shells, meat and dairy waste.
‘Extreme composting’ was coined by David The Good who wrote Compost Everything: The
Good Guide to Extreme Composting which encourages people to throw out the rules and
return every bit of organic material to the soil. Hey, that’s me. I no longer need to consider
myself lazy, I’m extreme! Let’s go with this, after all I am striving for a zero waste
lifestyle which is considered extreme by many others.
As a zero waster I follow the waste management hierarchy of Refuse, Reduce, Reuse,
Recycle, and then Rot (compost) to reduce my landfill to almost nothing. Even zero
wasters who don’t garden need to find ways to compost to eliminate the need for a bin liner
and instantly reduce household waste by 40 percent. Yep, that’s how much kitchen waste
authorities believe we throw out with our household rubbish. Seeing how often I empty
my kitchen bucket of compostable waste makes me motivated to reduce our food waste
further.
You might be wondering why burying organic matter in landfill is different to letting it
breakdown in home compost. For a start our landfill sites are filling up very quickly so the
less we send there the better. Secondly, when food waste rots in the anaerobic
environment of landfill, it emits greenhouse gases like methane. We definitely don’t want
that.
So in addition to food and garden waste, what’s an extreme zero waster going to compost?
How about bamboo toothbrushes, cotton buds, old wooden pegs, rusty nails, and materials
made from natural fibres (e.g. cotton dish cloths)? Pretty much all the natural things we
have used to replace plastic in our household but which can’t be recycled. You could
compost tissues, paper towels, napkins, newspapers and cardboard but most zero wasters
have replaced these disposable items with reusable alternatives and consume reading
material digitally.
How would an extreme zero waster compost? Well it does depend on your situation but I
want to remind you that composting is a natural process and nature doesn’t need our help
to break down organic material. It will happen on its own without a special bin. My wise
friend Hannah once said to me “why don’t you just bury your food waste straight into the
vegetable garden?” Why not indeed? I found this was a great way to compost while we
were on holiday. I snuck into the garden behind our villa and buried our small amounts of
food waste. At home I leave prunings behind brushes and forget about them, dry leaves get
used as mulch in established garden beds – sooner or later it all disappears and boosts the
soil. Even people with small yards or container gardens can bury and scatter organic
material without needing a compost bin.
Extreme composting: I buried our food waste in the resort gardens whilst on holidays.
I think it’s important to highlight that a compost bin may not be needed for your situation.
Unless you make it yourself, most compost bins are made from plastic which is
environmentally damaging. Personally as a zero waster I am always considering if
something is necessary (refuse, reduce), if I can use something I already have (reuse,
repurpose), or if I can obtain materials secondhand. I currently use wooden pallets that
were headed for landfill to make a two bay composting area (eventually they’ll be
composted too). When our kitchen compost bucket is full I dump it in the small bay, at
which point the chickens race in and take what they like. The chickens do a good job of
turning over the soil and leaving behind poo. The second bay is where I leave all the larger
stuff from the garden that takes longer to break down. I just leave it in a pile and let nature
do her thing.
The chickens have access to my compost bin.
There’s really no excuse for not composting. There is an option for every situation so do
your research. I particularly like resources like Gardening Australia and Sustainable
Gardening Australia. Even if you don’t have a garden, lawn or pot plants that would like
compost, you could partner up with your neighbours, a school or community garden to
ensure your organic waste doesn’t end up in landfill. Also make sure you support your local
council’s efforts to deal with food waste and initiatives in your workplace. There’s always a
solution as long as people are willing to communicate, share and be the change.
