[Lindengardens] composting at 25 Linden Ave!

[Anna Bershteyn]

Hi everyone,

Andres and I set up an Earth Machine home composter  at the south side
of the building. Next to the bin is a container of leaves that you can
sprinkle on top of your compost after throwing it in.  Let's all start
composting our trash!

You can find lots of great information about what, why, and how to compost here:
http://www.earthmachine.com/

Here are some guidelines based on that information:

**NEVER** compost:

- Meat, bones, oils, and fatty foods. These attract pests and don't
decompose well. (Empty egg shells are great for compost, though!)
- Plastics, metals, etc. -- things that won't break down. There are
some compostable plastic bags on the market, but please break these up
before tossing to keep the contents in contact with air.
- Chemically-treated wood products, such as sawdust that came from
pressure-treated wood. This wood usually has a greenish color and
contains arsenic.
- Diseased plants. Plant diseases are contagious and can remain in the
soil to infect plants in the future.
- Pernicious weeds, unless they have been completely sun-dried. Even
after being chopped up, these can re-sprout in our compost pile!
- Feces/urine from your pet... or yourself.


Please do compost:

- Kitchen wastes: fruit & vegetable scraps, egg shells, tea bags,
coffee grounds, etc. Please squeeze the water out of wet waste such as
tea bags.
- Garden wastes: leaves, straw, lawn clippings, etc. Green grass
clippings should be added a little at a time, but "brown" lawn waste
can go right in!
- Hair from your pet, or yourself! And dryer lint! Hair is good for
soil, and the smell helps keep rodents away.
- Non-chemically-treated sawdust and shredded newspaper.


How to compost:

- Chop up large pieces, such as watermelon rinds, corn cobs, etc.
- Toss it in and give it a stir with the stick (which we will acquire today!)
- Add a handful of dry leaves on top to keep away fruit flies and
pests.  We left a bin full of leaves next to the composter.
- Close the top


 Benefits include:
- saving $ by potentially reducing our building's trash removal costs
- producing soil for our garden
- reducing waste output into the environment

Feel free to email us with any questions, or come talk to us at Unit 6.
You may also find some answers here:
http://www.earthmachine.com/how_to_compost.htm

Best,
 Anna & Andres, #6