Reduce, Reuse, Apartment Recycling and Composting

Posted by Dave in General Mar 31st, 2009 | Comments

My girlfriend really got me to recycle regularly, and I’m a little embarrassed to admit that it was a little difficult to get on board at first; it is so easy to toss things into the trash that I had trouble recycling everything at first. I didn’t even know you could recycle styrofoam! Not only do you put your waste to good use but it really makes an impact on you seeing the pile of trash you use each week. I’ve even stopped buying most items that don’t come in recyclable packaging; it is disappointing to find items that must be trashed. We live in an apartment so we don’t have convenient recycling bins but I find that hauling all of our recyclable trash into the car and to the center is an encourage activity, even something I get a bit of pride from. We recycle aluminum, steel and paper at a drive by “facility” nearby, and our styrofoam at Publix. It feels nice to do something simple and good these days. Check out Earth911 to learn about what products are recyclable and find recycling centers for specific items in your area.

Another hobby I’ve recently taken to is gardening. Living in an apartment has again caused me a bit of inconvenience. With limited space and sun there is only so much I can grow. Nevertheless, I grow anyway; growing food is so basic, it is zen. It is like pitching a tent, collecting firewood, building a fire, what is regularly considered hard manual labor for ancient peoples is now what we consider a vacation, a pleasure. What a glaring symptom of our schism from nature. So with my gardening and the recycling I realized that we are still throwing out a lot of food waste that could easily be turned into plant food! Vermicomposting (compsting with worms) can be done quite easily even in small apartments and is a fantastic way to reduce food waste and create excellent fertilizer at the same time. Vermicomposting can be used to dispose of all types of fruits and vegetables, including peels and rinds, coffee grounds and filters, tea bags, plate scrapings, moldly bread, leaves and plant trimmings and many other types of organic matter. For about $40 in materials (a plastic or wood bin and worms) you can get started, below is an excellent video tutorial. Also check out JourneyToForever for more information on vermicomposting.

Apartment Composting 101: Vermicompost with Barb Finnin from RyanIsHungry on Vimeo.