We are all about using up as much food as possible, but sometimes you just can’t find another creative way to use that last banana peel. What is the earth-friendly and guilt-free solution to this issue? Composting!
Composting is the process of organic matter breaking down and turning into a nutrient-rich fertilizer. Everything in the natural world breaks down eventually, but composting utilizes natural chemistry and organisms (worms, fungi, bacteria, etc) to speed up the process.
In a landfill, the conditions for decomposing organic matter are nowhere near as optimal. Scraps are compacted, and oxygen is limited, which immensely slows the process. Something as fragile as a head of lettuce takes up to 25 years to decompose fully, and it releases methane in the process!
Incorporating composting into your waste management at home can be a fun and relatively hands-off way to reduce your carbon footprint. Composting at home is flexible, and you can truly choose your own adventure. If you have outdoor space or a passion for gardening, you can take composting into your own hands and even get some free fertilizer for your plant babies! But, even if you’re in a high-rise city apartment, composting is still easy to implement and a great way to reduce your environmental impact.
Why Compost?
1. Reduce your waste!
By starting the habit of composting, you can drastically reduce your waste output and your environmental impact.
Did you know that household waste accounts for 40% of ALL food waste? For some households, up to 75% of the waste they produce could have been composted!
Although starting composting may seem like a small change, it can make a huge impact on our planet.
2. Reduce Methane released into the atmosphere
Composting reduces your environmental impact by preventing the release of methane. Methane is a powerful greenhouse gas released in the anaerobic conditions in the landfill. It is up to 86x more potent than carbon dioxide! Plus, wasted food accounts for 58% of all landfill methane emissions.
You can read more about the decomposition process here.
3. Free fertilizer
Compost is best thought of as a soil amendment that supports soil health and plant growth. When added, compost helps balance soil density, supports nutrient content, and deters weeds, pests, and diseases.
These qualities are very important to promote the health of our Colorado soils. Additionally, traditional fertilizers, pesticides, and herbicides can be very resource-intensive, harmful to our environment, and soil-degrading. Supporting our ecosystem with natural compost can decrease our reliance on harmful chemical additives.
If you have your own garden, investing in a composting system can save you tons of money on fertilizers and soil additives in the long run. Instead of wasting money, resources, and packaging on store-bought fertilizer, composting lets you make your own while repurposing your food waste!
Even if you have no purpose for fertilizer, your food scraps can still help our Colorado ecosystem. Commercial composting facilities use efficient machinery to quickly process food scraps into nutrient-rich materials. In Denver, the final compost product is sold back to residents, farmers, and landscapers. Simply by putting your scraps into a compost bin that is picked up or dropped off, you can support ecological and agricultural health in your community.
4. Save water while you garden
Compost drastically increases water retention when used as an additive in soil. 1% increase in organic matter helps soil hold 20,000 gallons more water per acre, which is an incredible amount when you consider the importance of conscious water use. This is especially important in Colorado, where we experience high water stress.
5. Pickup OR DROPOFF is easy!
Even if you don’t garden, you can still compost your food scraps and deposit them at a compost center in town or sign up for a pickup service. Plus, there are lots of programs in place to make this process as easy as possible for Denver residents!
Did you know that Denver Solid Waste customers can request a compost cart at no additional cost? If you’re living in a home and you use Denver Solid Waste for your trash pickup, it is easy and free to sign up for composting!
Starting September 1st, 2026, all apartments with 8 or more units will be required to provide compost pickup for their residents. If your building doesn’t have this implemented yet, reach out to your landlord and let them know of the new law so they can get a head start!
If neither of these applies to you, no need to worry! You can still repurpose those food scraps through compost pickup services or drop-off centers.
Local Compost Pickup Services:
You can typically adjust these services and their frequency based on your needs.
Local Compost Drop-off Sites:
Cherry Creek Recycling and Compost Drop-off. This is FREE for Denver residents. Visit the DSW site for hours. Scraps and Compost Colorado also have paid drop-off sites if those are more convenient.
What to compost:
When we’re composting for our garden, it’s important to be mindful of the materials you’re composting and how you balance your compost pile. If you are composting through a local service, these ratios aren’t important because they have industrial machinery to process compost. Just ensure you are following the guidelines and composting only acceptable materials! Otherwise, the workers at the compost site have to spend their days picking fruit stickers and plastic forks out of the compost piles. On a bad day, whole heaps have to be thrown away instead of used for compost.
For gardeners, the most important thing is to understand the difference between green and brown materials, especially when using the hot composting method.
“Green” Nitrogen Materials
These materials are the banana peels, apple cores, and leaf stems in your kitchen! Think “food waste”, and whatever items come to mind are likely what is considered green materials. These are important because they provide moisture for your compost pile and nutrients for your soil. In addition to kitchen food scraps, utilize a balanced mix of ‘nitrogen-rich’ weeds that have not ‘gone to seed’, grass clippings, and even small quantities of pet fur. Avoid adding animal products or fat to the pile. This can lead to excess odors and attract urban wildlife.
“Brown” Carbon Materials
Carbon materials provide the structural backbone of the compost pile. They absorb moisture, decrease compaction, and support airflow. Suggested items to add include small twigs, coffee filters, shredded paper, woodchips, end-of-season disease-free garden plants, straw, and fall leaves.
If your pile is unbalanced, it can be too wet, too dry, or too smelly. Expert gardeners suggest a ratio of 3-4 parts brown materials to 1 part green materials.
Cold Composting: The Slow, Beginner-Friendly Method
Cold composting describes exactly what it is. There is no temperature control and little moisture management. This process is low-maintenance and slower.
Start by picking a container! If you’re not sure how much organic waste you produce, start with a small compost bin you can keep in your kitchen. Some will need compostable bags as a lining, others will not.
Now that you have your container, placement is key! The perk of cold composting is that you won’t need to worry about moisture or the duration of composting, so you can decide whether you want more airflow to reach the compost or less. The more airflow, the quicker the decomposition into compost.
Keep in mind that cold composting is primarily anaerobic decomposition, a slower process that can take 1 to 2 years before the compost is usable as a soil additive. If you plan to compost in your own garden, hot composting might be a better option.
Hot Composting: The quicker, pickier method
Hot composting requires more care regarding moisture and a balanced nitrogen-to-carbon ratio. To achieve the best carbon-to-nitrogen ratio in your home compost, a rule of thumb is to put in three to four parts brown materials for every one part green materials. Your compost will also need more airflow to facilitate aerobic decomposition and an appropriate moisture content.
Check on the compost on occasion and add a light sprinkle of water, or more green materials, if the brown materials have dried out the composition. Turning your compost (aka mixing it up) also helps to add oxygen and keep the process moving. With some practice, managing this method becomes like second nature!
Food Waste Hierarchy
We want to emphasize that composting is actually one of the last solutions to mitigating food waste. Food should always go to people first, when possible. Before composting your scraps, get creative in the kitchen and see if there is any way to consume your food safely. You can also repurpose food without eating it, such as by making body scrubs or household cleaners. Then, if you’ve exhausted all your other options, composting is the way to go!
Happy composting!
Be warned, your thumb might just turn green after successfully creating your first compost pile! There are plenty of resources available online for you to reference, and check out our friends over at Denver Urban Garden’s website to dig up some tips and get started!
For more information about food waste and its impacts, visit https://www.wedontwaste.org/what-we-do/education-engagement/.
We Don’t Waste is always doing cool things to reduce food waste!
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