Home composters
I live in a suburb, and the way we get rid of fruit and vegetable scraps is either throw them away in the trash or put them in compostable bags and take them to the local recycling/composting center. (My friends in California gets theirs picked up curbside like with the standard garbage, NYC has just started that too>.)
After years of just throwing them away, I decided to move towards composting. I've been collecting my scraps and then taking them to the local center every week,
The problem is the scraps starts to smell--so I out them in a closed bucket in the garage and sometimes, if not taken in time, start getting drippy. The composting centers is only open specific hours so your schedule has to match theirs.
I've been looking into home composters where you put in the scraps and they become compost overnight through a grinding and dehydration process. Introducing bacterial mixes breaks down the scraps even more so you can sprinkle the resulting material in your lawn and garden.
The most famous brand of home composter is Lomi, but there are tons of other choices now.
Anyone have experience with these?
| by Anonymous | reply 11 | November 1, 2024 7:43 PM
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Yes, I have a Lomi and like it a lot. The customer service is also excellent - it stopped working due to my error and they gave me a new part (the entire bucket plus blade, so not a minor part) no questions asked.
| by Anonymous | reply 1 | November 1, 2024 3:01 PM
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Is it true that a Lomi doesn't produce real compost, just dehydrated material?
What do you do with it when it's done?
| by Anonymous | reply 2 | November 1, 2024 3:12 PM
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It must be nice to spend $800 to make dirt.
| by Anonymous | reply 3 | November 1, 2024 3:37 PM
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When I had composting pick up, I just kept the scraps in the freezer until pick up.
| by Anonymous | reply 4 | November 1, 2024 3:43 PM
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The original Lomi is about $500 but there are many on the market that are in the $200 range
| by Anonymous | reply 5 | November 1, 2024 4:20 PM
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[quote] When I had composting pick up, I just kept the scraps in the freezer until pick up.
That's a great idea!
| by Anonymous | reply 6 | November 1, 2024 4:21 PM
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Just throw it out or garbage disposal. Keeping a bucket of rotting slop in the garage is unthinkable.
| by Anonymous | reply 7 | November 1, 2024 4:28 PM
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If you have a need for a regular supply of small amounts of compost, I suppose this $500 appliance is one way to get it. But they are marketing these contraptions as acts of environmental heroism, as if the environmental costs of manufacturing and shipping these appliances don’t far outweigh the benefits of keeping biodegradable trash out of dumps or sewers. I think that’s unlikely.
| by Anonymous | reply 8 | November 1, 2024 4:51 PM
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Composting is the easiest way to help stop methane emissions (rotting food in plastic bags creates methane and when the bag finally breaks it releases into the air). As others have said just keep a small metal bin in your freezer. I pay $100 a year for a community composting service. The drop off has a lock so I can take it any time. And then twice a year, subscribers get bags of compost dirt. it SHOULD be free like NYC but until then I will happily pay.
| by Anonymous | reply 9 | November 1, 2024 4:58 PM
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It's amazing that, when you start separating out your scraps, the other kitchen trash is such a small amount. Before, when I threw everything out in the trash, I'd fill 3 kitchen bags worth of trash in a week. Once I composted the scraps, I have less than a bag of other kitchen trash per week
| by Anonymous | reply 10 | November 1, 2024 7:34 PM
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We have a compost area in the back yard. I am the only one who uses it fortunately because, as you know, the upstairs neighbors are idiots. I just don't put bones back there. We put lawn clippings and leaves etc in it too. It's just 7 wooden palettes zip tied together. I think it's probably meat that's getting gross and stinky in people's composters.
| by Anonymous | reply 11 | November 1, 2024 7:43 PM
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