x24,Top3,TopLeft,x25,x12
are you an eco-friendly eater?
a discovery company

Discover the Classiest Way to Compost

Composting in your home doesn't have to be messy—or hippie.

Brian Merchant

By Brian Merchant
Brooklyn, NY, USA | Thu Feb 05 09:00:00 GMT 2009

compost pile photo


iStock

Some people think composting is just for people who don't wear shoes or have huge backyards. It's not.

Composting is finally catching on in mainstream America as a great way to reduce waste and keep your plants healthy. And no, I'm not biased—I'm not typing this from a solar powered commune, I wear shoes when outdoors, and own not a single tie-dye shirt. I can genuinely say, objectively, that composting has arrived. How do I know? Simple. Composters are now being marketed and sold to bourgeois households everywhere.

And this is a good thing, especially for us apartment and house dwellers looking for an easy way to green our lives, and who linger in the healthy limbo between yuppie and hippie.

Behold: The Classy Home Composter


Exhibit A: The Nature Mill home composter. It's a composter that can hold 120 lbs of waste a month, and that neatly and sanitarily fits right in that cabinet underneath your sink. The unit is engineered to minimize smell, and to easily and efficiently compartmentalize the new waste and the older material that's still composting. A red light will come on every two weeks to signal that a portion has been successfully composted into fertilizer, so you can remove it and distribute it among your houseplants or garden. Here's the complete rundown on [how the Nature Mill works) It's simple, functional, and a great sign that our culture is accepting (if also sanitizing) the practice of composting.

But as of now, it's also expensive. The Nature Mill unit costs $299, which really isn't so steep, especially if you consider the amount of money you'll save on soil and fertilizer.

However, there is another option.

Exhibit B: Build your own apartment-friendly compost box. This is significantly cheaper, and still easy to do. But it's guaranteed to be a wee bit messier, and probably won't blend in with your fine kitchen cabinetry as well. A great option for 20- somethings, bachelors, and anyone who skews a little more to the 'hip' than the 'yup' in the 'ies' social landscape. Lord knows that I fall somewhere in that domain.

Either way you do it, the underlying point is that composting has finally arrived as a mainstay in our culture—and our environs are all the better for it.

More on Composting:
Composting Basics: Make Compost Fast
Compost Conundrum: Backyard Box, Indoor Bin Or A Can-O-Worms ...
Build Your Own Compost Tumbler

 
  • email
  • digg
  • share
  • print
helpful article? vote for it
{ }
close window

CLOSE X

 

comments on this article

view all post a comment

 
 

from our partners

 
 
Emeril Kelly and Supper Club Recipes by Category
 
 
facebook twitter rss
 
Reel Impact
 
Quiz
 
green diy projects
 
organic-az
 

tv schedule

view all

On Now

On Tonight

 

today on planet green

view all

Votes

recent
discussed

Organic A-Z: Lemon
POSTED  11 HOURS AGO.  COMMENTS

{ }

K is for Molly and Nabe's Super Kale with Seared Tofu
POSTED  13 HOURS AGO.  COMMENTS

{ }

K is For Sneaking Kale into Smoothies
POSTED  14 HOURS AGO.  COMMENTS

{ }

L is for Shaker Lemon Pie with Blueberries
POSTED  15 HOURS AGO.  COMMENTS

{ }

Organic A-Z: Kale
POSTED  15 HOURS AGO.  COMMENTS

{ }

Ask Emeril Your Green Cooking Questions
POSTED  7 Apr 2009. 46 COMMENTS.

{476}

How To Go Green: Lighting
POSTED  23 Jul 2008. 7 COMMENTS.

{212}

Should You Get a Flu Shot?
POSTED  1 Oct 2009. 3 COMMENTS.

{17}

Do Zoos and Captive Breeding Really Help Endangered Species or Address Habitat Loss?
POSTED  23 Oct 2009. 3 COMMENTS.

{28}

More Fun with Urban Foraging: Crabapples!
POSTED  10 Oct 2009. 2 COMMENTS.

{17}

 
 
TLC Cooking
 

Ads by Google