Even apartment dwellers or little home owners or all those with little outdoor area available might think composting as the ambitious idea suiting one’s aspirations. Images of stretching piles and dedicated spaces at the yard sounds unflattering. But, actually, you don’t necessarily have a large yard or an expensive electric appliance to administer this environment-friendly practice. Many effective countertop composter alternative methods exist, proving that even in the smallest of kitchens, you can have a big impact on reducing waste and creating a valuable resource.
Finding the Right Countertop Composter Alternative
The attractions are speed and convenience, rapidly making soil of food scraps in countertop electric composters. However, one simple countertop bin as a major countertop composter alternative takes up very little space, doesn’t use any electricity, and does quite well in everyday life: it is a countertop-specific bin.
Simple Collection Methods: Bins, Freezing, and Repurposing
These are stainless steel or ceramic or plastic collections with tight lids, which sometimes include activated charcoal filters for odor control. The idea is simple: throughout the day, collect food scraps into the bin, and then when it’s full or at least every few days pour it into a larger system for composting, be it community garden drop-off, vermicomposting bin, or little outdoor compost tumbler if you have a balcony or tiny yard. By this method of simple collection, dramatically small amounts of food waste get sent to your garbage bin, while scrap transportation remains relatively easy.
Another very effective countertop composter alternative freezing makes use of the power of freezing. You will not even decompose the food scraps actively on your meals or countertops. Collect them in a container or reusable bag and store it in your freezer. Your decomposition will stop, and with it, the odors and fruit flies. When your freezer container fills up, you can take it to the composting option of your choosing. This method is remarkably handy if you do not have immediate access to a more considerable composting system or if you want to wait for a little while in order to build up a larger batch before transporting it.
Active Small-Space Solutions: Vermicomposting and Bokashi
Vermicomposting – as in “under counter!” – would be fantastic counter-top composter alternative for small spaces. A worm bin, which can actually be surprisingly small-sized, contains red wiggler worms that devour food scraps for extremely nutrient-rich castings. Bins may be maintained inside the home, often beneath the kitchen sink or in a discrete corner. While there are some complications in the learning curve of worm bin maintaining, it’s the most effective avenue for processing kitchen waste that yields a wonderful soil amendment for houseplants or small container gardens.
Bokashi composting has a different approach as a countertop alternative against typical countertop composting. This anaerobic (without oxygen) fermentation process will pickle food waste: even cooked food, dairy and small bits of meat are incorporated in fermentation using a special inoculated bran – things that are most avoided in traditional composting. The Bokashi method consists of a sealed bucket in which the kitchen scraps are placed layered with bran. After a period of fermentation, the pickled waste is buried in the garden or added to a normal compost pile where it decomposes very quickly. Bokashi bins are quite small and self-contained so they are perfect for kitchens with limited space.
Even plain repurposing could function as a countertop composter alternative. Any number of old ceramic pots, with lids, giant-mouthed jars, or even super sturdy plastic containers will function just as nicely as any temporary bucket to hold up bits of collected food waste. The main thing to realize about this is to empty and clean them often to prevent odors and keep the hygiene levels high.
While the electric versions are quick and avowedly expensive, these brutish non-mechanical countertop composter alternatives can exemplify the fact that doing this at home in a little bit of space is possible without losing meaning. Given appropriate attention to both method and your lifestyle, kitchen waste can be converted from a problem to resource – after all, even the small efforts are likely to result in great difference.
