June 6, 2024 • 8 mins
Ever wondered if it's possible to manage a full-fledged compost system in a bustling city like Tampa? Join me, Sheila, as I share my personal journey through the trials and tribulations of urban composting with a busy family life. This episode of Zero Waste Imperfectly explores the ins and outs of traditional compost bins, the surprises of vermicomposting, and the simplicity of Bokashi composting. My experiences are filled with successes and failures, offering you an honest look at what works and what doesn't in an urban environment.
Learn how to integrate composting into your hectic schedule without turning your life upside down. I'll discuss the benefits and challenges of various composting techniques and provide practical tips to make it a sustainable habit. Whether you're a composting novice or an experienced green thumb, this episode is brimming with insights to help you reduce waste and contribute to a healthier planet. Join the conversation, and let’s make sustainable living a reality, one small step at a time.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Hello, lovely listeners, and welcome to Zero
Waste Perfectly, the show thattalks about all things zero
waste with kids.
I'm your host, sheila, and I amthe owner of Life Essentials
Refillery.
We are here today and I am themom of three kids.
I have a 15 year old, a 13 yearold and an 11 year old, and
today I wanted to try doingthings differently.
So I am recording for mypodcast at Zero Waste
(00:23):
Imperfectly, and I'm going toattempt to make a video at the
same time that we can put onYouTube for folks that want to
watch versus listen.
So I'm not sure how it's goingto work out.
This is a test.
We'll see.
I'd love some feedback aboutwhat you think about it.
And so here we go.
So the idea of our show is tointroduce ways for living a more
(00:43):
sustainable life with families.
We know your life is chaos.
It's full, however you want toterm it, and we want to bring
you the hacks and the tips sothat it's easier.
We don't believe that your lifeor that sustainability is about
perfection.
It's about progress, takingbaby steps forward, and we want
(01:04):
to show you simple hacks andsimple changes that you can make
in your life that make a bigdifference for the future of our
kids and the amount of trashthat we create but that are not
life-changing.
So to say so, here we go.
Today's topic, composting and itis definitely a trending term
right now on the internet.
The analytics show that isdefinitely a buzzword for right
(01:25):
now.
People want to know what it is,how to do it.
Does it make a difference?
And yes, it makes a hugedifference.
Is it possible?
We live in the city of Tampa.
Is it possible to have afull-fledged compost bin and
compost everything?
And it's not so easy when youlive in the city.
If you're in the country, youhave a whole lot more space, but
here in the city it isdefinitely harder.
(01:45):
The city itself does notcompost.
There are third-party vendorsthat can do it for you for a fee
which is not affordable forsome people.
So what are our options?
What can we do that makescomposting a reasonable thing to
implement in our family withouthaving a huge sacrifice of time
?
Space smells perhaps definitelyerrors from learning how to
(02:08):
make compost and what to do withit.
So what are the options?
So we have my family, my poorhusband.
We have tried so many differentthings and very few things
stuck, but I will tell you aboutthe options that we have tried.
I went through a compostingworkshop with what is it, I
(02:28):
can't even think about itthrough the county and that was.
It was great.
I got this big thing I set upnext to the house.
It didn't work so well becauseyou have to have a perfect blend
of your greens and your browns,you have to turn it over, you
have to have perfect humidity inthere, moisture content.
It was not for us and crittersdid come and the neighbors
weren't really fond of it.
So that was something that wedid not want to do anymore.
(02:48):
So we tried that.
Then we started vermicomposting,which is an adventure.
So the first time I tried it Igot the gray tubs, the big tubs.
I drilled the holes in it, Iput my worms in, went to bed and
the next day there were wormsall over the house.
And I am not.
I love worms for what they do.
I don't like picking up worms.
(03:09):
It is not for me.
So that was quite shocking forme and I have learned a lot
about vermicomposting since then.
The next thing we tried wasbokashi composting, and I have
to say that's a really easy wayof composting.
You essentially get a fivegallon bucket.
You put your food scraps inthere, you put some Bokashi on
top it's a, it's not an enzyme,but it's.
(03:30):
I don't think it's an enzyme,it's just a start.
They call it Bokashi flakes andyou just sprinkle it on top.
Then you put a silicone lid ontop to keep it, because you
don't you do not want air insidehere, and then you put your
regular lid on and then, whenyou have more food scraps, you
just open both the lid and takethe little silicone cover off,
put your next layer on, put moreBokashi banana on it and then
close it up.
And then you go until you fillthis bucket.
(03:50):
Then, when the bucket's full,you set it somewhere outside and
you let it do its magic andthen it breaks down.
The problem is you still haveto dispose of what's left in the
bucket.
So if you don't have much yardspace or a place to dig a hole
and bury your bokashi, you stillhave to do something with it,
which is not ideal in mostsituations, because unless you
(04:13):
have space, there's nowhere toput it.
So the next thing we have triedis let's see what was next.
You can just bury food scrapsIf you have yard space, you can
just go out there and put it inthe ground.
It will eventually naturallydecompose, as long as you're not
putting bones in.
But my favorite so far hasdefinitely been vermicomposting,
(04:36):
and I will tell you why.
Because if you do it right, itworks really well.
Oh, wait a minute.
We did another one.
We did the cardboard boxcomposting, which was awesome
too.
That worked really well too, soI can tell you about that one.
So vermicomposting is where youuse worms and they eat your
waste.
So with Uncle Jim's Worm Farm wegot a cute four-layer bin.
It has cute little legs, andthen you start with one layer at
(05:00):
a time.
You put your bedding in, whichis a coconut core, and then you
start feeding your worms.
So, basically, any leftoverfood that you have, you cut up
smaller, you put in there andthe worms eat it.
And then you can layer thetrays.
You cycle them through and then, one after another, you fill up
the trays and then the onlydownside is it can make worm tea
(05:20):
, which is a liquid that drainsfrom the bottom, and so you will
have to put this, you dilute itand you can put it on your
plants.
It is something you can doinside.
The trick is on the first nightwhen you put your worms in, you
have to have a light shine sothat it encourages the worms to
go down instead of coming out ofthe bin.
And I was so paranoid thesecond time we did it.
I took a 55-gallon drum.
(05:42):
I put my worms in it.
Well, the container with theworms in it Put the light on it
so hopefully the worms would notclimb up.
It worked, I had no escapees.
It was good.
So leaving a light on the firstnight is a big thing and you
can check out more aboutvermicompost and there's so much
information on the internet.
Uncle Jim's Worm Farm is agreat asset for finding
(06:02):
information.
They're great with questions.
The experience was fantasticand if you're in the Tampa area
on 75 and either Fowler orFletcher, you can buy worms
right there at that off ramp.
There's a person there thatsells the worms and I cannot
remember what the name of hisbusiness is, but if you've
driven by you will definitelyrecognize the place.
(06:22):
Cardboard box composting wasreally cool.
You essentially just take acardboard box.
You put charcoal powder in.
I think it was charcoal.
No, it was ash.
You put ash in and I thinkcoconut coir I'll have to Google
it again to make sure and youbury your food scraps in there.
I did not think it would work,but you keep it moist and you
(06:42):
just keep burying your foodscraps.
It decomposed everything.
It was fantastic.
I just used a small box and Ithink we decorated the outside
of it so it looked pretty.
We kept it under the birdcage,not just in the storage area
underneath the birdcage, andthen every day we put our scraps
in.
I was expecting bugs.
It didn't happen.
As long as you keep everythingcovered, it worked really,
(07:04):
really well.
There are also some more modernways of composting.
So you essentially take aVitamix and a dehydrator and
they put these two thingstogether and it's a machine.
You keep it in your kitchen.
You just throw all your foodscraps in.
It dries them, it crumbles itup and then you can just dump
that stuff anywhere in yourflower pots, in your garden, in
your grass.
So that is an easy, easysolution to sort of composting.
(07:25):
It's not 100% composting, it'snot 100% composting, but
definitely reduces the amount ofthe food waste and makes it
more manageable and avoids pests.
So those are a couple things totry.
So my favorite number one wasvermicomposting, followed by
cardboard box composting andthen, least of all, my least
(07:48):
favorite is traditionalcomposting.
Just because it's hot inFlorida, there's mosquitoes, we
don't have yard space.
I don't enjoy being out therethat long dealing and trying to
find the greens and the brownsand layering it and tossing and
turning it, and that just wasn'tfor me.
But maybe it works for you.
But I would love to hear fromyou have you tried composting?
What styles have you tried?
What worked for you?
What didn't work for you?
Do you have any suggestions?
Have you tried the Vitamixversion of their composter?
(08:09):
And have you gotten the biogas?
What's it called Biogas?
Oh, I'm drawing blanks today.
It's essentially a bigcontraption that the city of
Tampa is giving away right nowand it is going.
You put food scraps in it, itmakes methane and the methane is
used for cooking.
So those are coming Biogasingester, that's what it's
(08:30):
called and they're coming to theTampa area.
We're on the list, we'regetting one.
Yay, but yeah.
So there's so many methods forgetting rid of the food waste.
So I'd love to hear from youwhat have you tried?
What worked, what didn't?
You can find us on allplatforms at Life Essentials
Refillery.
Thanks for listening andwatching.
Hello, lovely listeners, and welcome to Zero
Waste Perfectly, the show thattalks about all things zero
waste with kids.
I'm your host, sheila, and I amthe owner of Life Essentials
Refillery.
We are here today and I am themom of three kids.
I have a 15 year old, a 13 yearold and an 11 year old, and
today I wanted to try doingthings differently.
So I am recording for mypodcast at Zero Waste
(00:23):
Imperfectly, and I'm going toattempt to make a video at the
same time that we can put onYouTube for folks that want to
watch versus listen.
So I'm not sure how it's goingto work out.
This is a test.
We'll see.
I'd love some feedback aboutwhat you think about it.
And so here we go.
So the idea of our show is tointroduce ways for living a more
(00:43):
sustainable life with families.
We know your life is chaos.
It's full, however you want toterm it, and we want to bring
you the hacks and the tips sothat it's easier.
We don't believe that your lifeor that sustainability is about
perfection.
It's about progress, takingbaby steps forward, and we want
(01:04):
to show you simple hacks andsimple changes that you can make
in your life that make a bigdifference for the future of our
kids and the amount of trashthat we create but that are not
life-changing.
So to say so, here we go.
Today's topic, composting and itis definitely a trending term
right now on the internet.
The analytics show that isdefinitely a buzzword for right
(01:25):
now.
People want to know what it is,how to do it.
Does it make a difference?
And yes, it makes a hugedifference.
Is it possible?
We live in the city of Tampa.
Is it possible to have afull-fledged compost bin and
compost everything?
And it's not so easy when youlive in the city.
If you're in the country, youhave a whole lot more space, but
here in the city it isdefinitely harder.
(01:45):
The city itself does notcompost.
There are third-party vendorsthat can do it for you for a fee
which is not affordable forsome people.
So what are our options?
What can we do that makescomposting a reasonable thing to
implement in our family withouthaving a huge sacrifice of time
?
Space smells perhaps definitelyerrors from learning how to
(02:08):
make compost and what to do withit.
So what are the options?
So we have my family, my poorhusband.
We have tried so many differentthings and very few things
stuck, but I will tell you aboutthe options that we have tried.
I went through a compostingworkshop with what is it, I
(02:28):
can't even think about itthrough the county and that was.
It was great.
I got this big thing I set upnext to the house.
It didn't work so well becauseyou have to have a perfect blend
of your greens and your browns,you have to turn it over, you
have to have perfect humidity inthere, moisture content.
It was not for us and crittersdid come and the neighbors
weren't really fond of it.
So that was something that wedid not want to do anymore.
(02:48):
So we tried that.
Then we started vermicomposting,which is an adventure.
So the first time I tried it Igot the gray tubs, the big tubs.
I drilled the holes in it, Iput my worms in, went to bed and
the next day there were wormsall over the house.
And I am not.
I love worms for what they do.
I don't like picking up worms.
(03:09):
It is not for me.
So that was quite shocking forme and I have learned a lot
about vermicomposting since then.
The next thing we tried wasbokashi composting, and I have
to say that's a really easy wayof composting.
You essentially get a fivegallon bucket.
You put your food scraps inthere, you put some Bokashi on
top it's a, it's not an enzyme,but it's.
(03:30):
I don't think it's an enzyme,it's just a start.
They call it Bokashi flakes andyou just sprinkle it on top.
Then you put a silicone lid ontop to keep it, because you
don't you do not want air insidehere, and then you put your
regular lid on and then, whenyou have more food scraps, you
just open both the lid and takethe little silicone cover off,
put your next layer on, put moreBokashi banana on it and then
close it up.
And then you go until you fillthis bucket.
(03:50):
Then, when the bucket's full,you set it somewhere outside and
you let it do its magic andthen it breaks down.
The problem is you still haveto dispose of what's left in the
bucket.
So if you don't have much yardspace or a place to dig a hole
and bury your bokashi, you stillhave to do something with it,
which is not ideal in mostsituations, because unless you
(04:13):
have space, there's nowhere toput it.
So the next thing we have triedis let's see what was next.
You can just bury food scrapsIf you have yard space, you can
just go out there and put it inthe ground.
It will eventually naturallydecompose, as long as you're not
putting bones in.
But my favorite so far hasdefinitely been vermicomposting,
(04:36):
and I will tell you why.
Because if you do it right, itworks really well.
Oh, wait a minute.
We did another one.
We did the cardboard boxcomposting, which was awesome
too.
That worked really well too, soI can tell you about that one.
So vermicomposting is where youuse worms and they eat your
waste.
So with Uncle Jim's Worm Farm wegot a cute four-layer bin.
It has cute little legs, andthen you start with one layer at
(05:00):
a time.
You put your bedding in, whichis a coconut core, and then you
start feeding your worms.
So, basically, any leftoverfood that you have, you cut up
smaller, you put in there andthe worms eat it.
And then you can layer thetrays.
You cycle them through and then, one after another, you fill up
the trays and then the onlydownside is it can make worm tea
(05:20):
, which is a liquid that drainsfrom the bottom, and so you will
have to put this, you dilute itand you can put it on your
plants.
It is something you can doinside.
The trick is on the first nightwhen you put your worms in, you
have to have a light shine sothat it encourages the worms to
go down instead of coming out ofthe bin.
And I was so paranoid thesecond time we did it.
I took a 55-gallon drum.
(05:42):
I put my worms in it.
Well, the container with theworms in it Put the light on it
so hopefully the worms would notclimb up.
It worked, I had no escapees.
It was good.
So leaving a light on the firstnight is a big thing and you
can check out more aboutvermicompost and there's so much
information on the internet.
Uncle Jim's Worm Farm is agreat asset for finding
(06:02):
information.
They're great with questions.
The experience was fantasticand if you're in the Tampa area
on 75 and either Fowler orFletcher, you can buy worms
right there at that off ramp.
There's a person there thatsells the worms and I cannot
remember what the name of hisbusiness is, but if you've
driven by you will definitelyrecognize the place.
(06:22):
Cardboard box composting wasreally cool.
You essentially just take acardboard box.
You put charcoal powder in.
I think it was charcoal.
No, it was ash.
You put ash in and I thinkcoconut coir I'll have to Google
it again to make sure and youbury your food scraps in there.
I did not think it would work,but you keep it moist and you
(06:42):
just keep burying your foodscraps.
It decomposed everything.
It was fantastic.
I just used a small box and Ithink we decorated the outside
of it so it looked pretty.
We kept it under the birdcage,not just in the storage area
underneath the birdcage, andthen every day we put our scraps
in.
I was expecting bugs.
It didn't happen.
As long as you keep everythingcovered, it worked really,
(07:04):
really well.
There are also some more modernways of composting.
So you essentially take aVitamix and a dehydrator and
they put these two thingstogether and it's a machine.
You keep it in your kitchen.
You just throw all your foodscraps in.
It dries them, it crumbles itup and then you can just dump
that stuff anywhere in yourflower pots, in your garden, in
your grass.
So that is an easy, easysolution to sort of composting.
(07:25):
It's not 100% composting, it'snot 100% composting, but
definitely reduces the amount ofthe food waste and makes it
more manageable and avoids pests.
So those are a couple things totry.
So my favorite number one wasvermicomposting, followed by
cardboard box composting andthen, least of all, my least
(07:48):
favorite is traditionalcomposting.
Just because it's hot inFlorida, there's mosquitoes, we
don't have yard space.
I don't enjoy being out therethat long dealing and trying to
find the greens and the brownsand layering it and tossing and
turning it, and that just wasn'tfor me.
But maybe it works for you.
But I would love to hear fromyou have you tried composting?
What styles have you tried?
What worked for you?
What didn't work for you?
Do you have any suggestions?
Have you tried the Vitamixversion of their composter?
(08:09):
And have you gotten the biogas?
What's it called Biogas?
Oh, I'm drawing blanks today.
It's essentially a bigcontraption that the city of
Tampa is giving away right nowand it is going.
You put food scraps in it, itmakes methane and the methane is
used for cooking.
So those are coming Biogasingester, that's what it's
(08:30):
called and they're coming to theTampa area.
We're on the list, we'regetting one.
Yay, but yeah.
So there's so many methods forgetting rid of the food waste.
So I'd love to hear from youwhat have you tried?
What worked, what didn't?
You can find us on allplatforms at Life Essentials
Refillery.
Thanks for listening andwatching.
Popular Podcasts
Crime Junkie
Does hearing about a true crime case always leave you scouring the internet for the truth behind the story? Dive into your next mystery with Crime Junkie. Every Monday, join your host Ashley Flowers as she unravels all the details of infamous and underreported true crime cases with her best friend Brit Prawat. From cold cases to missing persons and heroes in our community who seek justice, Crime Junkie is your destination for theories and stories you won’t hear anywhere else. Whether you're a seasoned true crime enthusiast or new to the genre, you'll find yourself on the edge of your seat awaiting a new episode every Monday. If you can never get enough true crime... Congratulations, you’ve found your people. Follow to join a community of Crime Junkies! Crime Junkie is presented by audiochuck Media Company.
24/7 News: The Latest
The latest news in 4 minutes updated every hour, every day.
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.