Day 5: Waste Less By Composting

*day 5 of my 31 day series: Frugal Families*





America is know as a wasteful country.  We waste food, resources, material items etc....I have found numerous articles that talk about our waste and how much it really is.  A report from the Natural Resource Defense Council (NRDF) is stated "Getting food from the farm to our fork eats up 10 percent of the total U.S. energy budget, uses 50 percent of U.S. land, and swallows 80 percent of all freshwater consumed in the United States. Yet, 40 percent of food in the United States today goes uneaten. This not only means that Americans are throwing out the equivalent of $165 billion each year (20 pounds per person), but also that the uneaten food ends up rotting in landfills as the single largest component of U.S. municipal solid waste where it accounts for a large portion of U.S. methane emissions."
This above information can be found @ http://green.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/08/23/report-finds-americans-wasteful-of-food/?_r=0.  This article goes on to say that "there is much speculation over the predominant reasons for the food loss — from unregulated expiration dating to a cultural distaste for aesthetically displeasing fruits and vegetables — one of the most telling aspects of the report is that there is not enough data to make a firm determination."  They proposed how to help in reducing our wastes in this poster

It astonishes me that nothing is really being done on the level that it needs to be done.  After reading as much as I did, and everything says that pretty much America is wasting a ton of food which could help all those people that are going without.  I wanted to include some reading materials so below are links to other article discussing wasteful America.  I decided to only concentrate on America since its my home and I know more about here than anywhere else. Check out these links when you get a chance
~ http://djcoregon.com/news/2012/07/13/wasteful-america/
some stats from this site:

The United States makes up about 1/20th of the world’s population, yet it uses about one-fifth of the world’s energy.

Every day, Americans consume more than 18 million barrels of oil – enough to fill about 1,000 Olympic-sized swimming pools, according to statistics from www.nationmaster.com. Per capita, this is more than twice the amount that Britons use daily, and more than 10 times the amount that average Chinese use daily (in spite of their phenomenal industrialization).

Americans use an average of 1,363 watts of electricity per person – again, about double the electrical energy used by the average Brit, despite relatively similar standards of living, and more than three times the energy used by the average Chinese.

And at the other end of this orgy of consumption, we throw away some 250 million tons of trash, only about a third of which is recycled. This statistic comes from the Environmental Protection Agency.

~ http://www.cardinalpointsonline.com/opinions/living-in-most-wasteful-nation-a-shameful-reality-1.2550110#.UlTcY1CX_To

~ http://www.smallstepsonourjourney.com/2012/02/disposable-generation-wasteful-society.html

~ http://newsbusters.org/blogs/scott-whitlock/2008/04/11/abc-slams-americans-most-wasteful-people-planet

The 1st thing we did when we bought our home, is composting.  This was all Jason's idea and I wasn't on board with it, in the beginning.  I didn't see the point and it looked like a lot of work.
Now, I think completely the opposite.  We like to compost because we are doing our little part in helping the environment as well as helping our own garden, we are reducing our waste and finding a use for them, and we are teaching our children about recycling and the importance of it.  *Let me tell you, the dirt that came from my compost was AMAZING.  
Below are some information that I found around the web for anyone who wishes to start their own compost.  There is a TON, I mean a TON of resources to help with your composting, no matter where you are at, whether beginner or expert.  The information I rounded up for my post is for beginners, but anyone is more than welcome to add to my post, any information or resources they have for composting.  The more the merrier :)

To begin composting you are going to need a big bin that you are able to leave outside.  You can buy one like we did or make your own.  Here are 3 sites I found that offer help with building your own compost bin or spot.  Just make sure whatever material you pick, its something that can handle different weather in your region.
~ http://russianriverschoolhouse.com/2011/10/25/how-to-build-a-compost-bin/
Basic composting bin instructions
~ http://www.designweneed.com/diy-how-to-build-a-compost-bin-from-wood-pallets/
This article looks very interesting.  If I was to build our own compost bin, I would build one similar to theirs.
~ http://theanxiousgardener.com/tag/compost-bins/
This one looks more complex but seems to hold a lot more compost.  I would give this one a try also.

I am a visual person so I learn best by looking rather than reading a bunch of words.  Below is just some basic information to help get you started with your own compost.  I encourage you to read up some more on composting.

taken from treehugger.com

Can anyone out there give a new composter some helpful tips and/or tricks regarding composting?