Composting at Home Mindblocks

Aarthi commented on one of my composting posts, I thought it may be worth another post on this.

Here some basic mind blocks I have that prevent me from recycling the kitchen waster. Can you help me get over them? I know that daily dump might answer these Qs, but I want to hear from someone who has done it. Help maadi, please..

1. Composting in khamba or what so ever will attract rats, cockroaches, flies, etc.

Unless there is a lot of food waste, it will not attract rats and cockroaches. Some fruits(mango esp) do attract fruit flies and sometimes house flies. If your khamba outside, it is not a problem, but if it is inside in your work area then it is an irritant. We have it setup on our terrace in a corner, so it is not an issue for us. We also had a red ant problem which was due to botched attempt to add some worms in the compost. You also will see maggots which could be tough for some people. But they are harmless - they do creep into the house once in a while. Remember these are the elements that work on your waste to convert into compost.

2. It smells

It does smell - again, if there is enough ventilation and if you stir it pretty well, it doesn't get that bad. I like the smell these days, it is a good feedback on how the process is going :) And you really need to think why you are doing this when the smell gets really really pungent! The lemon grass oil helps - but I have stopped using it now. Ultimately you need to run this at zero cost IMO - doesn't make sense to depend on these crutches too much.

3. Composting takes a lot of time and effort every day.

Not really - you need to collect your kitchen waste in a separate bin and put it in the khamba once. You need to stir it once in 2 or 3 days. If you have a watery pile(watermelon etc.), you need to do it daily. IMO, it depends on how interested and very committed to this effort. I am not a very patient guy by nature, but I am finding it more like a workout(for my nostrils as well) than an effort because I am determined not to dump the wet waste out.

4. It is expensive to start and maintain.

Not at all - 1000 INR for the khamba and another 1000 for a leave it pot. Intial investment of around 2500 INR. Once you have some compost, you can do away with accelerators and other supplies. Right now it is a zero cost effort for us. The last time we spent some money was for saw dust - in fact we could've used some soil instead for a watery pile from lots of watermelon.

You need to remember that urban dwellings are not naturally suited to composting at home - so you need to live with the constraints. In fact it is setup to fight nature, not live in alignment with nature. I have to add that DailyDump has been a great help - they respond to every query in quick time always! It also depends on your interest and commitment to not to let your wet waste go outside - I am determined to not to let it out. Hope this helps and let me know if you have further questions.