Composting at home

Reworking your waste stream > Managing your waste stream > Composting in Lincoln > Composting at home

“Composting Bin” by Cara Harpole is licensed under CC BY 2.0

Sequester carbon with your food scraps and yard waste through at-home composting.

Though organic waste is compostable, it doesn’t break down when surrounded by other waste in a landfill – in fact, it even causes the waste to produce methane as it breaks down. Composting not only produces usable organic matter, but even ensures the carbon in your food stays out of the air.

Benefits

Flexible

There are multiple different methods of at-home composting, even for those without available yard space.

Impactful

Composting your own organic waste shows you exactly how much waste you produce – and is a great incentive to reducing that amount in the first place.

Productive

Composting organic waste produces exactly that – compost! Compost makes a great fertilizer for outdoor and indoor plans, or can be given to friends or neighbors.

More information

The primary methods of at-home composting:

Backyard composting

Done outdoors
Compost is collected and turned regularly, heat and oxygen sustainably break down organic matter
Rolling compost bin optional (you can also just make and turn a pile!)

“Composter” by Tobyotter is licensed under CC BY 2.0

Vermicomposting

Can be done indoors or outdoors
Food waste is fed to worms, which digest the waste and produce compost
Container for worms needed (can purchase one special, or DIY) – worms and other materials are available through the Lincoln company Big Red Worms, linked below

“two vermicomposters” by preservationgal is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 2.0

Bokashi composting

Indoors, with outdoor component
Container to collect compost (nothing special)
Food waste is collected in bin, and Bokashi flakes are added in layers to help ferment the waste; it is then buried in soil to compost

“Bokashi” by podchef is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 2.0

Getting started

Unfortunately, I – the producer of this site – am far from a composting master. Getting started is primarily a matter of doing some online research – such as looking up “vermicomposting” on YouTube – and going from there! However, that doesn’t mean that there aren’t composting communities within Lincoln.

Backyard composting workshops

Every year, the City of Lincoln hosts a few composting workshops to help residents get started and troubleshoot. The dates and times of these events differ each year, and often take place at the Pioneer’s Park Nature Center. Visit the link below to look for upcoming composting workshops in Lincoln.