[Lindengardens] composting at 25 Linden Ave!

[Candy Malina]

Maybe we should put a composting bucket in the laundry room for 
people to put dryer lint into.

At 12:14 PM 3/7/2009, Anna Bershteyn wrote:
>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
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