Compost bins are popping up in cities across the nation. My city of Denver just recently launched a pilot compost program, in which 3,000 homes were selected to place their compostable goods in a city-provided bin, which is collected every other week.

The program has been met with great success, as people are composting more than was projected.  However, the program is still limited to 3,000 volunteers.  And these programs are only in certain cities. In fact, the surrounding suburbs don’t even have city-provided recycling pick up yet.

If you don’t have city compost bin access (like me), you can still compost!

Through composting and recycling, your waste will be minimal.  And by doing it yourself, your garden gets to reap the benefits of your home-grown compost.  It’s easier than you might think, and won’t cost you a thing.

The simplest way to compost is to choose some soil space in your backyard and add your organic materials to the pile, turning the pile over every other week with a shovel or pitchfork.

Depending on the season, you can have compost within 4-6 weeks (for warmer seasons) or 2-4 months (for colder seasons).  You will also find that your pile shrinks by half.

Starting off with some plant materials and organic food scraps is the easiest way to start your “cold” compost pile.  This is ideal for someone not in a hurry to have compost, but wants a minimum effort.  A “hot” compost pile requires more effort and planning and reaches 140 degrees in the center, due to the correct composition of your materials.

While the city compost bins can take meat and bone, you should not put animal-based materials in your pile.  The city has compost centers that can accommodate for the higher heat it takes to turn animal products into compost.  Some common materials for home compost are:

•    Cardboard and paper products
•    Coffee grounds
•    Garden waste
•    Fruits and vegetable scraps
•    Egg shells

Many of us end up wasting so much spoiled food every week due to lack of planning and overbuying.  Spoiled food makes up 12% of our landfill space, which could be saved if people tossed those scraps in the backyard and threw some dirt and leaves on top.

Try it out!