How to Compost Indoors

Guide Note

Contrary to popular belief, you can successfully compost food scraps indoors, and no, it will not be too smelly! Our guide, How to Compost Indoors, will lead you through the Dos and Don'ts of composting in your home or apartment.

Table of Contents

Introduction

(Creative Commons photo by Keith Lewis)
(Creative Commons photo by Keith Lewis)
  • Even if you live in a less-than-spacious urban apartment, there is no reason to skip out on the joys of composting. A proper container will take up little space in your home, and you'll be able to turn all those pesky food scraps (taking up valuable space in your trash and our landfills) into rich, organic fertilizer.
  • Whether you want to start a small compost bin under the sink or get some creepy crawlies to help you tackle that mound of apple cores, you can easily start composting in your home and keep composting year round! Just continue reading to learn the details of indoor composting.

Step 1: Choose Your Approach

Choose a bin for your food scraps. (Creative Commons photo by Nicolas Marchildon)
Choose a bin for your food scraps. (Creative Commons photo by Nicolas Marchildon)
  • With indoor composting, you'll need to be careful about the container you choose and be sure you carefully maintain your compost. There are a few ways to compost effectively indoors, depending on how involved you wish to become.

Collecting Food Scraps to be Recycled as Compost

  • If you plan to simply recycle your household compost at a community program, one small container to keep by the sink or underneath is all you'll need.
  1. To contain potential odor, you'll want a composting container that has a tight-fitting lid and carbon filters to reduce pungent smells.
  2. Try this stainless steel container or this ceramic one to hold food scraps. Both of these are good-looking enough to keep out on the kitchen countertop.
  3. Or try this plastic compost container that uses charcoal filters to combat odor.
  4. If you'll be able to empty your kitchen container frequently enough, a simple coffee can (with lid) will work well, too.
  5. To determine if your local recycling program takes compost, find your nearest program's contact information using Earth 911's locate a recycling center feature.

Using a Kitchen Composter

  • Technology has arrived on the compost scene. With a proper kitchen composter, you can easily compost extra food waste in your kitchen and avoid the traditionally smelly composting process.
  1. To do all of your composting indoors, a container like this indoor kitchen composter will do the trick. It can fit under your kitchen sink and has a tight lid to reduce odors.
  2. You can also try this indoor compost bin, which uses an internal computer to determine ideal compost temperatures, mixing, and air flow. It produces viable compost every 10 days or so, transferring it to a "cure tray" you can empty easily.

Composting Inside with Worms

  • You can buy or make your own bin to which you'll add worms, who will proceed to munch their way through your food scraps.
  1. You can learn how to make a proper worm composting bin out of a simple plastic container and a drill with Martha Stewart's handy advice. This container will take up very little room, which is why some people like this method for the winter (and a backyard compost pile in summer).
  2. Also see Mahalo's guide to How to Compost with Worms.
  3. Red wiggler worms are the composter's favorite and can be found on gardening site Planet Natural or often at your local garden center.
  4. You'll need about 1/2 pound of worms, or about 500 of them, for every cubic foot.
  5. Martha Stewart suggests "feeding" the worms daily or weekly, and notes that 2000 worms can eat through 7 pounds of food scraps each week. Wow!

Step 2: Stick to Kitchen Scraps

(Creative Commons photo by David George)
(Creative Commons photo by David George)
  • While a backyard compost pile thrives on yard waste including leaves, trees, and all kinds of organic matter, the composter in your kitchen will do better with simple kitchen scraps.
  1. Avoid meat scraps, fish bones, dairy products, potato peelings and garlic, which often cause odors or are hard to break down.
  2. Watermelon rinds can be difficult, and also avoid anything sprayed heavily with pesticides (like grass clippings or some banana peels).
  3. The following kitchen scraps are ideal for indoor composting:
      • Fruits and vegetables, including peels, cores, and some leaves
      • Tea bags
      • Coffee grounds and filters
      • Breads, rice, pasta, beans

Step 3: Harvest Your Compost

Grow beautiful plants with the help of compost. (Creative Commons photo by Austin Keys)
Grow beautiful plants with the help of compost. (Creative Commons photo by Austin Keys)
  • Once you've successfully created healthy compost, you'll need to use it!
  1. Determine your compost is ready when it looks like real soil: dark, rich and crumbly.
  2. It can take as little as a few weeks to generate compost, or up to a few months, depending on the combination of scraps and your method. Watch your bin carefully until you are familiar with its cycles.
  3. If you've been composting with worms, simply move your fresh compost to one side of your bin and place new bedding on the other side. Then bury fresh food into the layers of new bedding so that worms will migrate away from the compost and toward the new food source.
  4. Your new compost is an excellent source of fertilizer to be used as a top layer of soil in potted plants.
  5. Or you can try making the popular compost "tea," adding 2 tablespoons of compost to 1 quart of water and using this as a rich drink for all your household plants.

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