Comments on: “The Compost Guy” on a Composter’s Delight and Dilemma in Tel Aviv

By: Dalia

Dalia — Sun, 20 Jul 2008 09:25:04 +0000

You can use an old bath tub (and cover it with a board or whatever you find), or just about any container with a lid and drill some holes on the side and one on the bottom for drainage.
The important things are:
that it is dark and very humid inside, so a shaded spot and a good lid will do.
For medium inside just use newspaper strips (soak them before you put them in)
Put some container below the drainage, what comes out can be diluted and used as a fertilizer.
Do not put acid foods
Do give them a lot of egg shells, they are the only creatures who can truly break them down (it won’t happen in a regular compost pile).

Have every apartment have vermicompost in their kitchen/living room/terrace (if you can get them to get over their worm phobia)

cheers

Dalia

By: Jeff

Jeff — Fri, 18 Jul 2008 21:56:17 +0000

Thanks, Dalia. What kind of bin did your friends use?

James, I’m afraid the open-air compost of palettes and all is not appropriate for the rooftop, which is used for posh movie premiere parties and other events. It needs to be fully closed and contained and shouldn’t attract many animals, and must look nice. But, come by anyway and we can brainstorm how to do it using found materials and worms. It will be fun too. I already started a small vermicompost on the roof but it’s just an experiment and it won’t mee the full capacity of the building.

By: Yael

Yael — Fri, 18 Jul 2008 14:35:06 +0000

Nice to read about your experiences as a composter in Tel Aviv.What a pity that it isn’t like in my original country, Finland,where there are bio waste bins in every kitchen and the garbage rooms of the buildings have separate bins for newspapers, carton, milk cartons, glass, regular garbage, bio waste………

By: Dalia

Dalia — Fri, 18 Jul 2008 09:34:35 +0000

Hi, I think the best option for urban compost if u don’t have a back yard is vermicompost (with worms) I have friends who are vermicomposting successfully in a tiny apartment in New York. You have a few limitations (the cannot eat acid food scraps , ie citrus, dairy) but they are a great choice for an apartment and make fabulous compost.

By: james

james — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 07:00:15 +0000

great post Jeff - good to hear of composters in each city! Can I send people your way when they ask about composting in TA? Now here’s an offer - how about I come over for a day, we grab all the pallets we find, and we build one, guerilla style? Or there is the post from a while back, about the couple who build fancy ones….
http://greenprophet.com/2008/04/11/293/get-composting/