Ideal Bite

Wanna go really green? Try some Urban Chicken Farming. My pets turn my dinner leftovers into breakfast. Or, for the stuff the girls can't eat, the box full of worm composters in the back of the pantry, behind the garbage can, turn all the old coffee grounds and banana peels into beautiful soil amendments for my organic garden and houseplants. Worms and chickens, the ultimate low-maintenance, high output, green pets. Cinder in St. Lou

I must be a compost nut or something... however here's my two cent rant... I find the mere suggestion of composting is way too light... everyone can compost... it takes a balcony or a bench these days with the availability of worm farms, inside composting bins, smaller compost bins for balconies, or even contributing to your local school or community garden! you can even set one up at your workplace... yeah.. everyone CAN compost! :)Kath

I save peelings,coffee grounds etc. in an ice bucket on the counter and put them in a blender when I get too many. Add a little water, blend and pour it on the garden. Works well in winter too. I don't really know how scientific this is but I sure have great flowers,tomatoes and herbs in this garden all summer with no added fertilizer.

When I had dogs I gave the dogs the food scraps. Now all scraps go outside over the fence so the birds or other animals can have them. Zig

Wow!!! Finally a idea that suggest we go out and buy something as an alternative. Now this is something a biter can sink their teeth into.

Personally, I freeze 'em in a plastic food container (easily held by the bottom) and when I drive to work (in a nearby state forest) I toss 'em out the window - making certain to drive as close to the left side ditch as possible. I work third shift so there's rarely any other traffic. I wear yellow lenses which enable me to see the critters well in-advance and the critters either eat or carry off the scraps (NO paper, plastic, metal, glass, etc) before my return trip at morning. We have a LOT of possums, raccoons, skunks, deer and foxes living nearby. UNLIKE the 'city slickers', who drive up here at the weekend, I don't throw out burger trash ONTO the roads - just enticing the little buggers into becoming road-kill. I make certain to clear the ditch so they can eat safely out of harm's way. And, if they ever DO manage to get flattened, the flock of vultures roosting on our building will surely clean-up the mess.

OMG! NOooooo! Please don't If you put it in your garbage disposal then YOU have to pay your are water treatment plant to take all that stuff out of the water and dump it into the local landfill. If you have a septic tank they highly recommend you don't have a garbage disposal for the same reason you will have to have all that gunk pumped out. Think about it do you want all of your rotten meat and oily leftovers floating in your favorite swimming or fishing holes. I can tell you the fish and the rest of the aquatic life doesn't. I live in a heavily populated area and these are the rules for my composting... If it is plant life that isn't coated in oil or meat, COMPOST IT or find someone near by who will. If it is a meat or dairy product and you live in an area not concerned about rats and mice put it out in the field (far away from your house) where the fox, etc can get it. If not toss it in the trash. If it is a carb (aka bread, cereal, and even stale nuts) put them out for the birds, squirrels, and chipmunks in the morning (the are day light critters while the rats, mice, etc will more likely come at night). Nuts you could put in the compost but just like the meat and carbs you are likely to attack critters you don't want (aka rats, opossums, etc). Rice should be put in the trash. The rice can dry out and then when eaten by birds, etc can swell and kill them. This is the same reason weddings have changed from throwing rice to throwing bird seed. Those white doves should be flying not dying. Okay time to get off my recycled soap box. :)

COMPOST. 1/3 of household "garbage" is compostable. Everyone is responsible for the earth. Everyone.

I've always wondered about the landfill vs disposal. So I'm glad to have that answered. And to all those who demand composting, as much as I would like too, I've lived in 3 apartments in the last 3 years, and will be moving again in November. It's just not practical for my life right now. And sure they have those indoor automatic composting bins, but I'm also not in a position to shell out $300 and lose valuable space in a tiny kitchen.

I not only compost my Veggie scraps, but other non-veggie leftovers I put out for the birds and other wild life. The titmice birds are particularly fond of meat! I live in a rural area so it might be easier for me, but I never use my garbage disposal...well maybe after thanks giving dinner sometimes. By putting out what I don't compost for the birds and animals I get the added benefit of seeing more wild life.