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All You Need To Know To Compost In Your Back Yard

By

tien mao

Published Jun 21, 2013

Modified Jun 24, 2013

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First, pick your compost bin. With an outdoor compost bin, you have a few more options than indoors. You can construct your own in various styles with wood (a bench or a more standard box, for example), buy a plastic bin or even a metal one. The amount of space you have available could very well influence your decision. The plastic or metal bins include a longer lifespan (wood deteriorates over time), assembly is easy/non-existent, they're relatively inexpensive. This is the Garden Gourmet.

 

Tien Mao/Gothamist

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By

tien mao

Published Jun 21, 2013

Modified Jun 24, 2013

Share

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Earlier this year, Mayor Bloomberg announced plans to get food composting started in New York City in addition to regular 'ole recycling. In fact, there are already pilot programs underway in Manhattan apartment buildings and sections of Staten Island. Don't want to wait until 2015 (or 2016) to compost? You can start right now! If you're lucky enough to have a back yard that you have some degree of autonomy over, you might want to consider composting out there. If not, you always have indoor composting.

Outdoor composting is somewhat easier than its indoor counterpart—you don't have to worry about dying worms—and just like indoor composting, it's a great way to reduce the amount of waste you put into landfills.

Just like indoor composting, the Department of Sanitation has some good resources for New Yorkers. NYC Wasteless provides an informative brochure (PDF file) on outdoor composting, but to get a hands on demonstration, we worked again with Compost Educator Luke Halligan and Project Manager Jenny Blackwell at the NYC Compost Project in Brooklyn hosted at Brooklyn Botanic Garden. BBG also has a new handbook on composting available on July 1st.

Click through on the photos for the scoop on outdoor composting!

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Brooklyn Botanic Garden

composting

New York City Compost Project

outdoor composting

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