In the same way that growing vegetables, planting fruit trees, and harvesting rainwater can seem off-limits for renters, composting too can often seem a bit out-of-reach, especially if you live in an apartment. But don’t dismay, there are several strategies for composting in public spaces, on borrowed land, or even indoors! Here are two:
Community Compost Bins
Even if you do have the space, the amount of bio-mass (foodwaste or otherwise) that a single urban household will usually generate is too small to justify maintaining a large composting setup (i.e. multiple hot piles). By teaming up with neighbors and collecting organic matter from multiple households, a three-bin compost setup can get plenty of input, and the households benefit from the efficiency of a larger system. Where to put such a thing? In the commons!
Many residential neighborhoods in cities have grass strips between the sidewalk and the street. Technically a public right-of-way (i.e. the commons), these areas are often under the jurisdiction of the local Department of Transportation, but the onus is placed on the owner of the home or property adjacent to maintain the area in front of it. These strips, often four to six feet wide, are perfectly dimensioned to fit a 3-bin compost setup that can transform food and yardwaste from surrounding houses into fertile soil.
Over the season, I’ll be documenting hour for hour, dollar for dollar, and pound for pound our labor and monetary inputs, and food output (respectively) of the garden in its first year of establishmen