I have been putting my kitchen scraps in an empty coffee container so they do not smell sitting in the trash can. But I feel guilty about sending these cans to the landfill and not recycling them.
Does anyone have a better way to dispose of food scraps? I don't have a garden so composting is not an option. I would appreciate any help from our wise and wonderful ThriftyFun readers. Thank you.
By Barbara Huggins from IL
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I do sort of fake composting. I put all my food scraps (no meat) into a bin made for compost but I don't add the leaves or green stuff and don't put in on my garden. It just sits there and gets smaller. If you don't have any type yard this might not work.
i use empty bread bags. just keep filling. when almost full, u can tie a knot in the bag, and no mess...have your neighbors save them 4
Can we all assume you don't have a disposal? If not, they are not hard to put in but if that isn't possible, you could donate it to someone with a community garden or is there a farm nearby with pigs?
Do you have any yard at all? If you do, there is a composter I've seen ads for that would tuck out of the way behind a bush, etc. It claims it can handle average kitchen waste for a family of 4, including meat, bones, and animal excrement (critters can't get in) and you should only have to empty it once every year or so. (!)
I've not used one so I can't personally say if the claims are correct. But I imagine there would be review online somewhere. Search for "Green Cone composter." There are many retailers who sell it, and prices vary somewhat.
I don't have a garden but I do have a 'compost pile'. Which is really an area by my lamp-post where I toss scraps & the birds & other critters take what they want.
I always send my kitchen scraps to the garbage dump, and don't feel the least bit guilty about it...the reason? Garbage dumps have mice, gulls, and other little animals and birds that have to eat, also. So I am feeding them! At the cottage, in the summer, the bears and deer frequent the dump...so they also get fed!
I don't mind sending the scraps to the dump; I just need a way of keeping them from smelling until the trash is picked up. So I came up with this solution: I will use a gallon size zip-lock bag for scraps and keep it in the freezer until trash day and will reuse the same bag until it is worn out, then recycle it.
You don't need a garden to compost. You can make a compost container out of any container that will cost you relatively little and look tidy outside. Just throw scraps in. Once a year, empty the composted dirt out and use it around your yard, to fill flower pots, in window boxes, give to a friend/neighbor, etc.
When you say scraps, I assume you don't mean vegetable as those most likely would not smell up your garbage that much until trash day. We compost the vegetable matter but for the rest like meat, bones, skin, leftover casseroles, etc. I save all the bags that other products come in that have zip lock tops, for that purpose.
I put my meat scraps in a covered plastic container, that will be easy for contents to be released, and keep it in the freezer. When we go to the trash dumping site, empty the container in a plastic shopping bag & put it in your trash to be dumped.
Metal coffee cans can be recycled in the freezer until they wear out for you. Or cut top & bottom out of can & recycle with your trash. You could also combine your scraps, since you don't have a place to compost veggies.
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