Many cities are now adding another bin to the already three barrels that we put out for trash pickup each week. It's a smaller bin, just for compost materials. Separating trash is becoming quite a project. I have heard, but don't have any evidence, that most trash ends up in the same place, even if it is separated. I don't know if that's true or not. What I do know is that many people have been composting for decades. Discarded banana peels, egg shells, potato peel, and rotten veggies have been turned into nutrient rich soil for years.
However, many people find the idea of keeping kitchen scraps in a jar on your kitchen counter unthinkable. I was watching a u tube the other day and an add came on for Lomi Composter. It's a $500 piece of equipment, about the size of a toaster oven, that sits on your counter and turns your kitchen scraps into deep, dark soil. I was impressed. No smell, no mess. Using a Lomi decreases your food footprint by 50%. I am sure there are other similar products out there. It's pricy, no doubt, but those of us who want to reduce our carbon footprint (and create some great soil for the garden in the process) it's an interesting product.
Or, compost in the old fashioned way. Have a pile in your yard, preferable behind the garage, which you keep adding to, mixing, etc., and in about 2 years you'll have some fabulous soil. Unless you collect food scraps properly, you will end up with an ant problem. Just ask Fran. She collected kitchen garbage as the city of Solana Beach wanted, but ended up with ants!!! Composting is a great idea, but it needs to be done efficiently, without creating smell, ants or rodents. We certainly don't want that.
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