I’ve been thinking about composting kitchen scraps, and I want to build a chute directly from inside the kitchen directly to the compost pile. The two would be connected by a 3″ or 4″ diameter ABS pipe at a 45 degree angle sloping down
From inside you would pull out a 1′ long sealed plug (think teller delivery tube)that would lead directly to a compost pile under the herb garden. When its time to scrape the dishes, instead of doing it into the garbage disposal you can do it directly into the compost pile. The plug would have a rubber seal that would push any residue on the walls down into the pile when the plug was replaced.
Obviously, this would entail building a compost pile next to the house. I would seal the wall there with I&WS.
The roof of the pile would be an herb garden. Underneith would be the compost box. For this I imagine a 3′ tall 2’x6′ box for the scraps to breakdown. I was thinking a pair of auger blades could periodicly stir the mix down the box to keep it from piling up under the fed tube, feeding it down to an exit point where it could be scooped out for garden and lawn use.
Any thoughts on this?
Tu stultus es
Rebuilding my home in Cypress, CA
Also a CRX fanatic!
Look, just send me to my drawer. This whole talking-to-you thing is like double punishment.
Edited 4/28/2009 6:25 pm by xxPaulCPxx
Replies
Sounds like a good idea. I'd go with the 4" to be on the safe side. Also, it seems kind of tricky scraping the waste into a 4" round opening. Maybe needs some sort of funnel or something, which you can rinse with water. I think some thought has to go into the design, but definately a worth while idea.
~ Ted W ~
Cheap Tools! - MyToolbox.net
Meet me at House & Builder!
Sounds like a lot of added work just to take out the compost.
That's the thing, I do all this work so that composing is eeeeaaaaassssyyyy.
My wife would NEVER put up with piling up a whole load of potentially rotting vegatables in the kitchen then taking them out back to stuff into a box. Too much hassle.
Open tube, insert salad cuttings, close tube... I could sell her on that!
Tu stultus esRebuilding my home in Cypress, CAAlso a CRX fanatic!
Look, just send me to my drawer. This whole talking-to-you thing is like double punishment.
Paul,
Why settle for just kitchen scraps - you can save it all:
http://www.clivusmultrum.com/products_basic.shtml
You open a door at the bottom of these things once in a while and shovel out a wheelbarrow load of humus. You don't really need to throw away anything organic
Ron.
Hey, I like a good galic garbonzo bean dip as much as the next guy, but there is no way I'd be able to eat a wheelbarrow full of the stuff.
Tu stultus esRebuilding my home in Cypress, CAAlso a CRX fanatic!
Look, just send me to my drawer. This whole talking-to-you thing is like double punishment.
I understand the situation now!As the proud owner of several tons of compost, made using at least three different methods, I salute your efforts!Un-asked-for-compost-advice: Get red wiggler worms. The little critters truly are too-good-to-be-true.If you want to know more you can google it or ask and I'll tell.Or drop by and I'll give you a bucket full of vermiculture. "A short drive to Colorado is just a normal part of a kitchen remodel, dear." : )
I'm making a trip tommorrow to a composting shop to talk to people there about this. It could be what I need is vermiculture rather than traditional composting piles. From looking at the vermi setups, it might even be easier to set up!
Tu stultus esRebuilding my home in Cypress, CAAlso a CRX fanatic!
Look, just send me to my drawer. This whole talking-to-you thing is like double punishment.
A composting shop! That's hilarious!I have to drive 50 miles one way to get to a garden shop! Of course, 50 miles takes 45 minutes.I'm afraid we really live in different worlds. <G>
I used to live in rural Illinois, so I well remember the "miles=minutes" rule.
Just got back from the composting store (composters.com) and had a good chat with Liz there. Showed her the concept, and we talked about vermiculture.
So worms are where I'm heading to now. I want to make the changeover system a little easier than I'm seeing in the nested tray setups I'm seeing now. I'd like to be able to slide the bottom tray out for changing then replace it on top of the stack when empty, but all the systems I've seen require you to remove all of the top shelves to get to the bottom.
Looks like I'd have to rig a lift to raise the other decks to remove the lowest one.
How high do you stack gunk in the top tray before you move it down?
Tu stultus esRebuilding my home in Cypress, CAAlso a CRX fanatic!
Look, just send me to my drawer. This whole talking-to-you thing is like double punishment.
I don't use any commercial products.There's a book "Worms Eat My Garbage" that could educate you a little more. There are plans for boxes you can build for your worms.I have worms outside in compost piles. And I have worms in a 3x6 table box sort of thing I built out of scrap form lumber. I put wheels on it so I can roll it out of the way in my shop. The table top/box is the depth of a 2x8. Except for large extra amounts during harvest/preservation season, the rest of the year's kitchen garbage all goes into the one box. The only thing I add besides kitchen waste is shredded newspaper and water.The worms decide where they want to be in the box. They'll totally devour certain things quickly, other things take longer. If part of the box gets dry they move over the more moist area until I water the box again.It's extremely simple once you figure out the environment they need.
Ahhh, there is something new I've found - the Flow Through vermiculture. It's just a barrel with a grate at the bottom, no moving bins in the stack. You just keep filling from the top, and when you get full you start pulling from the bottom (upside down rake) - it will level itself out.
This simplified things greatly!
Tu stultus esRebuilding my home in Cypress, CAAlso a CRX fanatic!
Look, just send me to my drawer. This whole talking-to-you thing is like double punishment.
If you're going to garden, you'll be glad you started in with the worms.Good luck!
seperate the disposal from the gray line...
outlet that to the compost pile...
Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming
WOW!!! What a Ride!
Forget the primal scream, just ROAR!!!
I was initially thinking that, but from my readings on composting it sounded like you can drown your pile with too much water (that would lead to rotting), which a garbage disposal needs to run food through.
Tu stultus esRebuilding my home in Cypress, CAAlso a CRX fanatic!
Look, just send me to my drawer. This whole talking-to-you thing is like double punishment.
seperation trap...
Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming<!----><!----><!---->
WOW!!! What a Ride!
Forget the primal scream, just ROAR!!!
"Some days it's just not worth chewing through the restraints"
Huh?
Tu stultus esRebuilding my home in Cypress, CAAlso a CRX fanatic!
Look, just send me to my drawer. This whole talking-to-you thing is like double punishment.
like a sand trap or a grease filter....
send the water to the flowers and the solids to the pit...
Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming<!----><!----><!---->
WOW!!! What a Ride!
Forget the primal scream, just ROAR!!!
"Some days it's just not worth chewing through the restraints"
And catch the golf balls.
The modern conservative is engaged in one of man's oldest exercises in moral philosophy; that is, the search for a superior moral justification for selfishness. -John Kenneth Galbraith
gotta try that...
a box of golf balls run thru the a disposer...
Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming<!----><!----><!---->
WOW!!! What a Ride!
Forget the primal scream, just ROAR!!!
"Some days it's just not worth chewing through the restraints"
"a box of golf balls run thru the a disposer..."
LOL! -- kinda like this http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MC8Zvl-8ziA
Mike HennessyPittsburgh, PA
I gotta say that the video makes me want to buy that blender.
<!----><!----><!---->
I refuse to accept that there are limitations to what we can accomplish. Pete Draganic
Take life as a test and shoot for a better score each day. Matt Garcia
They have a whole series showing that guy "blending" various unlikely bits. Kind of entertaining.
Mike HennessyPittsburgh, PA
The blended ipod was good.
that is one B.A. blender.
<!----><!----><!---->
I refuse to accept that there are limitations to what we can accomplish. Pete Draganic
Take life as a test and shoot for a better score each day. Matt Garcia
Kinda like a Bass-o-matic?
The modern conservative is engaged in one of man's oldest exercises in moral philosophy; that is, the search for a superior moral justification for selfishness. -John Kenneth Galbraith
"Kinda like a Bass-o-matic?"
I think that's where they got the idea.
One of my all-time favorites.
Mike HennessyPittsburgh, PAEverything fits, until you put glue on it.
Edited 4/30/2009 7:34 am ET by MikeHennessy
eons ago I took a golf ball apart it it was mostly a bazillion miles of rubber band under compression...
sortta envisioned all that getting loose all at once....
kinda like a major all at once "sproing"....
darn...
Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming<!----><!----><!---->
WOW!!! What a Ride!
Forget the primal scream, just ROAR!!!
"Some days it's just not worth chewing through the restraints"
"bazillion miles of rubber band under compression"
Yeah, that was always a fun afternoon project as a kid. Find a couple old golf balls and wrap the whole freakin' neighborhood in rubber bands. For a 10yr old, that's FUN!
Nowadays, I think most golf balls are solid core, tho.Mike HennessyPittsburgh, PAEverything fits, until you put glue on it.
That sounds like a really great idea; but our county (Tulsa,Ok) does not reccognize "gray water" any liquid originating in the house has to go to the sewer or septic tank.
I think they are just trying to sell more water.
I'm thinking you'd have a lot of trouble with scraps sticking to the side of the tube.
If the walls of the tube are smooth ABS, and the plug has a couple of rubber rings that seal against the walls, it would push the remanents forward and down every time the plug was replaced
Tu stultus esRebuilding my home in Cypress, CAAlso a CRX fanatic!
Look, just send me to my drawer. This whole talking-to-you thing is like double punishment.
Yeah, but you'd probably end up with a lot of stuff in the tube, waiting for the next push. May be some trouble with it plugging.
The modern conservative is engaged in one of man's oldest exercises in moral philosophy; that is, the search for a superior moral justification for selfishness. -John Kenneth Galbraith
The 12" plug would actually run the full length of the tube - the pile would be on the other side of the wall. The plug would push everything through until it dropped off the edge of the tube.
I hear you about trying it out first before cutting a hole! I plan on building a full mock up of this and the grey water sink so I can get buy in from the wife.
Tu stultus esRebuilding my home in Cypress, CAAlso a CRX fanatic!
Look, just send me to my drawer. This whole talking-to-you thing is like double punishment.
Heck, why not just create a southern compost chute -- cut a hole in the floor and let the raccoons haul off the waste?
The modern conservative is engaged in one of man's oldest exercises in moral philosophy; that is, the search for a superior moral justification for selfishness. -John Kenneth Galbraith
Only if they plan on pooping in my flower bushes!
Tu stultus esRebuilding my home in Cypress, CAAlso a CRX fanatic!
Look, just send me to my drawer. This whole talking-to-you thing is like double punishment.
Not to mention that a "way out" is also a "way in" potentially. Would make for a funny movie scene of homeowner doing battle with raccoon/rat/possum in the comfort of their kitchen.
Potentially yes. With the plug in place though, there would be no purchase in the tube. The plug would end flush or protrude slightly to push out scraps.
But keeping the compost box sealed to keep it from being a nest is of couse something to watch for too. Maybe I can have on of the nearly tame coyotes in my neighborhood move in there first!
Tu stultus esRebuilding my home in Cypress, CAAlso a CRX fanatic!
Look, just send me to my drawer. This whole talking-to-you thing is like double punishment.
(You might want to experiment with a prototype before cutting a hole in the wall.)
The modern conservative is engaged in one of man's oldest exercises in moral philosophy; that is, the search for a superior moral justification for selfishness. -John Kenneth Galbraith
my thoughts ?
this is your basic " bad idea "
*sigh*... here is the part where I - again - beg Mike for more of his thoughts beyond the cryptic one liner...
Please Mike, I'd paypal you a penny for the rest of your thoughts if it didn't cost $2.85 to do so :)
Bad how?
Tu stultus esRebuilding my home in Cypress, CAAlso a CRX fanatic!
Look, just send me to my drawer. This whole talking-to-you thing is like double punishment.
paul.... we compost everything that will rot
anything that won't rot goes in the compactor
we've had a compost pile for the 36 years we've been married
so...
right outside your house you want to build a compost pile, separated by Ice & water and linked by a pipe....hmmm
at some stage in the cycle the compost stinks
it attracts animals ( benefit .. they turn over your pile for you )
we use a container with a seal on it ... probably about 1 1/2 gal
it usually holds enough so it only has to be emptied about 2x a week.. everything from coffee grounds, to chicken carcasses to oyster/ quahog shells , vegetable pealings and those unidentifiable containers from the back of the fridge
so.... it works great.. we have lot's of worms in our pile
but:
it stinks
it attracts animals
it ( especially the pipe ) is unsanitary
that kind of activity next to your house is not a good idea
get a better compost container and do the perp walk
Mike Hussein Smith Rhode Island : Design / Build / Repair / Restore
See, that's what I needed to know!
Tu stultus esRebuilding my home in Cypress, CAAlso a CRX fanatic!
Look, just send me to my drawer. This whole talking-to-you thing is like double punishment.
This is a drawing of what I was thinking, except the plug would go all the way to the end of the chute.
View Image
Tu stultus esRebuilding my home in Cypress, CAAlso a CRX fanatic!
Look, just send me to my drawer. This whole talking-to-you thing is like double punishment.
OK, I haven't read this entire thread yet. has it reached the Rube Goldberg stage yet?
jt8
"In three words I can sum up everything I've learned about life: It goes on."
-- Robert Frost
Edited 4/30/2009 12:32 pm by JohnT8
Depends on if you include the trebuchet on the neighbors roof or not.
Tu stultus esRebuilding my home in Cypress, CAAlso a CRX fanatic!
Look, just send me to my drawer. This whole talking-to-you thing is like double punishment.
Funny thing is, by the first time you mentioned a trebuchet, I'd already thought of it, and pictured that system in my mind.So with two votes for it already, I think we should take a vote right now of the broader population.What say, Guys? Your choices are:1) The Slimy Chute to a heap right outside your kitchen window,2) The Garbage Disposal pre-mulching/nutrient-rich-irrigation system,3) The Extremely-Manly Texas-Style Garbage-Hurling Trebuchet.Myself, I'm thinking it's a dead heat between #2 and #3, with #1 a way-distant third place.But let's tally the votes from the population at large!AitchKay
Darn! You spoiled our fun!
The modern conservative is engaged in one of man's oldest exercises in moral philosophy; that is, the search for a superior moral justification for selfishness. -John Kenneth Galbraith
It sounds like most of those issues you point out could be mitigated fairly easily:
Smell can be managed through ventalation. Cool air in the bottom, hot air out the top though a vent tube.
Animals can be kept out. On the other side of the wall there is a whole room full of food that we have yet to see a rat in, I think you could do the same here. The ventalation will help keep it from smelling tasty too.
As far as sanitation goes, the tube is next to the sink, with access to soap, water, and cleaning tools. We're not going to eat off it, but otherwise it should be sanitary.
Tu stultus esRebuilding my home in Cypress, CAAlso a CRX fanatic!
Look, just send me to my drawer. This whole talking-to-you thing is like double punishment.
Skip the herb garden on top--too fancy and too complicated.I recommend these to urban composters--it's sealed so smells don't bother neighbors, and it is designed to not need emptying--the critters carry away the debris. I've got one inside a raised bed.Set up your chute so waste goes in, and seal the connection. Now you don't have a giant sponge next to the house.
I missed what you were poining to in your post.
The herb garden is one of the reasons why I'm doing this. That will be there, regardless if I make a composter underneith or not.
Tu stultus esRebuilding my home in Cypress, CAAlso a CRX fanatic!
Look, just send me to my drawer. This whole talking-to-you thing is like double punishment.
what purpose would the herb garden serve over the copost bin? just a lid?
<!----><!----><!---->
I refuse to accept that there are limitations to what we can accomplish. Pete Draganic
Take life as a test and shoot for a better score each day. Matt Garcia
The purpose of the herb garden is to season food!
It's elevated for ease of access and so I can see what I can use from the kitchen window. Being able to use the space underneith is just gravy. Stinky, nutirent rich gravy.
Tu stultus esRebuilding my home in Cypress, CAAlso a CRX fanatic!
Look, just send me to my drawer. This whole talking-to-you thing is like double punishment.
or make for the munchies???
Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming<!----><!----><!---->
WOW!!! What a Ride!
Forget the primal scream, just ROAR!!!
"Some days it's just not worth chewing through the restraints"
That's the one in back ;)
Tu stultus esRebuilding my home in Cypress, CAAlso a CRX fanatic!
Look, just send me to my drawer. This whole talking-to-you thing is like double punishment.
Sorry...forgot to link.http://solarcone.net/system/index.php
I'm not going to comment on the advisability of the compost next to the house and the critters, but as to the pipe, I have a thought or two.
If you think of the pipe as a hydraulic cylinder, the plunger being tight fitting and having o-ring seals, there should be no food residue left in the pipe. You could machine a piece of acrylic, UHMW, HDPE or other plastic with a couple of grooves, fit them with o-rings, attach a rod/push stick to the center of the plunger.
You could leave the plunger at the compost end of the pipe when not in use and have a cover/cap inside the house. To use, remove the inside cover, pull the rod w/ plunger into the house, insert food into pipe, insert plunger into pipe, push out, reinstall inside cap.
Might need to chamfer the ends of the pipe for easy punger entry and apply a little oil of some type for lubrication. Should work great.
Yes, that is exactly what I was thinking of.
Tu stultus esRebuilding my home in Cypress, CAAlso a CRX fanatic!
Look, just send me to my drawer. This whole talking-to-you thing is like double punishment.
That is an interesing device, thanks for that link!
Tu stultus esRebuilding my home in Cypress, CAAlso a CRX fanatic!
Look, just send me to my drawer. This whole talking-to-you thing is like double punishment.
There must be some way to introduce fire to this already complicated concept. Some sort of flamethrower to keep the tube sanitized.
fuel atomizer blower unit hooked in via a soil wye....
Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming<!----><!----><!---->
WOW!!! What a Ride!
Forget the primal scream, just ROAR!!!
"Some days it's just not worth chewing through the restraints"
>Smell can be managed through ventalation...Animals can be kept out.Are those statements from experience? Mabe your area is different, but I'd rewrite your statements as: "most of the time you can keep the smell to a minimum if you don't throw in all the proteins that hardcore composters like Mike do";and:"animals in a certain size range can be kept out, but the very big and the very small are going to get in if they want to, and the sizes in the middle are still going to come and investigate"Pete
Where I live, here, has no bears, lions, or deer. We do have coyote, opossum, and a rare raccoon. If you keep a sharp eye, you can see the rats running the power lines.
This isn't going to be a plywood box behind the shed next to the woods. This might be concrete and steel - I don't know as I haven't gotten far enough into choosing the building materials. You are not going to look at it and think "Compost!"
Tu stultus esRebuilding my home in Cypress, CAAlso a CRX fanatic!
Look, just send me to my drawer. This whole talking-to-you thing is like double punishment.
Where I live, here, has no bears, lions, or deer.
Not now, but wait'll the word gets out.
This might be concrete and steel - I don't know as I haven't gotten far enough into choosing the building materials. You are not going to look at it and think "Compost!"
We might look at it and say: This guy has way too much free time:-)
You wouldn't be the first to think that!
Tu stultus esRebuilding my home in Cypress, CAAlso a CRX fanatic!
Look, just send me to my drawer. This whole talking-to-you thing is like double punishment.
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Includes a ~3 gal. bucket w/handle, rubber gasket to seal in oders. Takes us about a week to fill ours unless we've just done a harvest and have a lot of scrap. Ours is undermounted & right next to the main sink. Carry the bucket out to your bin away from the house.
We have 30" counters so it really has no impact on counter space. Commercial quality, no penetrations in the wall, big hole (easy to hit when flinging waste). Only downside is it's kinda pricy. Franke Waste Bin AE-81 or AE-E17
Wow, super cool, but is it, ummm, worth the $300? Is it anything more than a nice SS bucket, does it have sealing o-rings or a nanotech coating to clean itself, etc?Great idea regardless, I've got a corner next to the sink that might be perfect for something like that.Z
It's got sealing o-rings & a SS lid. Very easy to clean. I've got the plastic bucket - bigger & cheaper. Yea, to finish off a nice remodel and leave a stinky too-small tupperware on the counter, or a bigger bucket under the sink - both a real hassle to add scraps to - just didn't seem right. So for me the value was totally there. Probably closer to $250 when I got it.
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Edited 4/30/2009 11:44 pm by wrudiger
Generally, adding meat or animal ( dog , cat ) poo to compost is pretty much frowned on. That is what will attract unwanted critters in the compost bin.
I specifically hauled 40 gallons of crab shells way up away from the house in NC, when my bud brought live crabs from Va. He asked why I was going so far up the mountain ( in the truck) and i said "Bears"
Not an hour later, we drove back up and saw a huge bear just chomping away in the headlights.
Around here if you toss meat or fish out, it will attract skunks, possums, coyotes, and god knows what else. I guess you can get away with it in R.I.Spheramid Enterprises Architectural Woodworks
Repairs, Remodeling, Restorations
"If Brains was lard, you couldn't grease much of a pan"Jed Clampitt
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skunks, possum, raccoons, neighborhood dogs, cats.....
you mean the workers in the vineyard ?
who do you think turns my compost pile over ?
yesterday i went to the beach, got 5bushels of seaweed, put it on the compost pile , piled some dirt on it..
this morning , perfectly turned and aereated
new compost...i bury it, the workers dig it up and toss the pile, everybody's happyMike Hussein Smith Rhode Island : Design / Build / Repair / Restore
I'd like a pile of seaweed, but the walk to the beach is a killer.Spheramid Enterprises Architectural Woodworks
Repairs, Remodeling, Restorations
"If Brains was lard, you couldn't grease much of a pan"Jed Clampitt
View Image
burial vault in the ground....
screw augers employed to mix and lift the materials...
Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming<!----><!----><!---->
WOW!!! What a Ride!
Forget the primal scream, just ROAR!!!
"Some days it's just not worth chewing through the restraints"
Maybe he could set it up with an underground conveyor belt that trasports the stuff to the back of the yard and then gets augered onto the top of the compost pile :)
jt8
"In three words I can sum up everything I've learned about life: It goes on."
-- Robert Frost
potatoe cannon set up....
with foot pedal...
Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming<!----><!----><!---->
WOW!!! What a Ride!
Forget the primal scream, just ROAR!!!
"Some days it's just not worth chewing through the restraints"
I'd build a compost cannon. Much more entertaining.
While tempting, It would be a pain getting my fresh compost all the way from my neighbors roof to my garden.
Unless I built a compost trebuchet on his roof... hmm...
Tu stultus esRebuilding my home in Cypress, CAAlso a CRX fanatic!
Look, just send me to my drawer. This whole talking-to-you thing is like double punishment.
Well, there ya go!
Your part of the world may be prettier than my part, but around here, the critters like partaking in the compost bin. I could see a rat hanging out a the discharge zone waiting for the next course and maybe getting aggressive. Sometimes the compost can go anaerobic-not so pretty either.
Bruce
this sounds like a horrible idea. Food will always stick to the inside of the tube and will eventually rot and mold. Adding water to rinse will probably only make things worse. Smells, if they develop, that close to the house will be a big problem too.
If you want to compost, then you gotta take the stuff out the old fashioned way, imo.
I refuse to accept that there are limitations to what we can accomplish. Pete Draganic
Take life as a test and shoot for a better score each day. Matt Garcia
levelone said,
"I'm not going to comment on the advisability of the compost next to the house and the critters, but as to the pipe, I have a thought or two.”
Another plus that the garbage-disposal system has is that it lets you locate your compost pile further from the house.
And here’s some further tweaking: support two screened frames above the drain slab, one under the PVC outlet, and one off to the side, but still over the slab. When the first is semi-full, switch them out, set the full off to drain/dry a bit, then dump it onto your adjacent compost pile. Repeat as necessary.
and,
ronbudgell said,
“Paul,
Why settle for just kitchen scraps - you can save it all:
http://www.clivusmultrum.com/products_basic.shtml
You open a door at the bottom of these things once in a while and shovel out a wheelbarrow load of humus. You don't really need to throw away anything organic
Ron.”
I installed a Clivus Multrum back in the 70s. They’re awesome! Interesting time-delay switch, designed so that you don’t scoop out any humus (sorry, no hummus!) before it’s time: a sheet of plywood. When it rots out, the soil behind it is ready.
The CM is designed to live in your basement. The toilet is located above the end farthest from the cleanout, and you can mount a serious, porthole-latch-type lid over a cutout in your kitchen counter, further downstream towards the cleanout, if your floor plan works out right.
Several months after installation, I was working up on the roof, and decided to stick my head into the “chimney.” It smelled mostly like the grass clippings they had recently thrown in -- you have to balance the moisture content. Leaves are good, too.
They had a big open house to celebrate the installation, and there was a guest book in the bathroom. Just sign in, then make a check mark in the appropriate column -- the one headed #1, or the one headed #2.
AitchKay
Paul, I think it's a good idea, especially if you eat mostly vegetarian.
DW and I have a small deck about 4' above grade right off the kitchen, and an open compost pile off the deck. We put food scraps and unbleached (used) paper towels in a tupperware container on the counter. The container isn't very big, so at least once a day it gets emptied. I love to empty it, and tell DW I'm "feeding the compost pile." The tupperware container gets rinsed out after every "drop" and washed with soap once or twice a week. It never stinks or gets moldy.
There are two keys to our system. One, be liberal with the paper towels and other "brown" matter. The carbon in brown matter absorbs the ammonia that results from nitrogenous material rotting. Our pile never stinks. Seriously. And it breaks down in about 6 months into usable compost. Squirrels aerate the pile when we throw squash seeds or stale bread into it. Otherwise animals leave it alone. They don't like rotting vegetables any more than we do.
The other key is that the small amount of animal-based waste we generate goes into our compost tumbler. The lobster shells I dumped in the tumbler in the fall are gone now. Animals don't get into it. Racoons probably could if they tried, but they haven't yet.
A side benefit to this, and our city's great single-container recycling program, is that we can go two or three weeks without emptying the trash can that fits under the sink. It never stinks because we rinse any meat containers. One bag of trash every couple of weeks, and stink-free compost. If everybody did that there wouldn't be a landfill problem. I can't believe the food waste people throw away. That's free fertilizer!
6 months! You should mess with your compost more. Mine is done in 6 weeks, but then I am always fiddling with it. A note on the Red Wigglers someone mentioned: Although they do speed up decomposition a lot, if you live in the country, you should think twice about introducing them to areas they are not native to.
Yeah, I don't like fiddling with it, I just like to feed it and forget it.
Good point on the red wrigglers, I've heard that's a problem north of here. I live in the city and just let the native worms do their thing anyway.
A side benefit to this, and our city's great single-container recycling program, is that we can go two or three weeks without emptying the trash can that fits under the sink. It never stinks because we rinse any meat containers. One bag of trash every couple of weeks, and stink-free compost. If everybody did that there wouldn't be a landfill problem. I can't believe the food waste people throw away. That's free fertilizer!
Mike, you're starting to sound like an ad for Organic Gardening and Mother Earth News mags all rolled into one. ;)
jt8
"In three words I can sum up everything I've learned about life: It goes on."
-- Robert Frost
LOL
My other favorite magazines!
Issue or two back, MEN had an interesting article on some folks in the city who had turned their little lot into a super garden. Looked like a lotta dang work, but was neat to see.jt8
"In three words I can sum up everything I've learned about life: It goes on."
-- Robert Frost
The ones in Ohio? It was funny, my wife had just been to the same city to visit her sister the weekend before we got the magazine, and they had walked by the folks in the article and talked to them.
These folks are really into it: http://urbanhomestead.org/journal/
This might be it:
http://www.motherearthnews.com/Modern-Homesteading/Amazing-Urban-Homestead-Dervaes.aspx
jt8
"In three words I can sum up everything I've learned about life: It goes on."
-- Robert Frost
That may be the same folks in your link.
jt8
"In three words I can sum up everything I've learned about life: It goes on."
-- Robert Frost
'tis
there was a sidebar in the magazine I remember--the chute went thru the counter and out into a compartment that held a bin--kind of like one of those door-on-each-side firewood access panels you see.
So it didn't go directly into a compost pile per se, but into a bin that you could then take TO the compost pile easily.
All was easily cleaned from inside the compartment--from outside.
We compost into a large tupperware that sits on the contertop.
Thinking about it, you could rinse the chute with your faucet sprayer when it gets dirty.
Maybe a rod with a brush on it for when you want to scrub it. Kind of like a rod and brush for a gun barrel.
I do all the taking out and cleaning of the compost tub. My family won't do it.
I figure it gets me out of the house and into the gerden so it is really a good thing.
I do all the gardening as well.
I did a compost chute for my mom a long time ago. I ran the line from the garbage disposal out to a bucket in a small shed.
The only problem was she would forget to empty the bucket. What a mess. My brother took it out.
Will Rogers
Edited 4/29/2009 11:29 am ET by popawheelie
..or forego all the hardware & paraphernalia........
........................that's what kids are for (the original TV remote)............kid, bucket, rake/shovel....go play
:0)
...The unspoken word is capital. We can invest it or we can squander it. -Mark Twain...Be kind to your children....they will choose your nursing home....aim low boys, they're ridin' shetland ponies !!
Re: Slope of tube.
What is the angle of repose for garbage scraps? If it's less than 45 degrees, then the scraps won't slide down as easily as you envision. Clogging will result.
The rubber ringed plug will squeegee it forward.
Tu stultus esRebuilding my home in Cypress, CAAlso a CRX fanatic!
Look, just send me to my drawer. This whole talking-to-you thing is like double punishment.
push that rubber plug with 300psi at 125cfm...
it won't clog...
Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming<!----><!----><!---->
WOW!!! What a Ride!
Forget the primal scream, just ROAR!!!
"Some days it's just not worth chewing through the restraints"
Actually, I was considering shaped charges. Helps break down the food and reduces clogs.
Tu stultus esRebuilding my home in Cypress, CAAlso a CRX fanatic!
Look, just send me to my drawer. This whole talking-to-you thing is like double punishment.
true...
but we don't want to incinerate the compost...
Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming<!----><!----><!---->
WOW!!! What a Ride!
Forget the primal scream, just ROAR!!!
"Some days it's just not worth chewing through the restraints"
Composting chute for kitchen
I'm wondering what you decided to do with your compost chute, PaulCP. It looks like it's been a couple years since you posted this query.
We are building a cottage in our backyard and want to make it easy to compost and maximize counter space . We'd like a chute that empties from the counter area to a bin outside the kitchen.
The contractor is willing to go along with us, but we can't quite figure out how to make a smooth, watertight chute that is easy to clean. (We thought we could spray water down the chute to rinse it.) We're considering ABS pipe...maybe a toilet flange?
I found this cool system called the Enviro-Trash Clean chute, but it's $350!
Is there a way that jettisons the food scraps out of the kitchen but doesn't get smelly?
Here in our humble wooded home.........
we have a bucket under the sink.
Sure, every couple days I take it the 200 ft to the compost pile (no twirling bin-unneeded when you mix brown (dead) with green (fresh).)
No smell (unless you forget) and easy. If you dump it out the house, where do you let it plop (unspread in a pile)? In a turning compost thing?
thanks.
Cool... Paul's still around (remarkably, considering most of the old guard vacated). I forgot about this thread and I'd like an update too. We've got a newfound interest in composting here.
Shout out to xxPaulCPxx!!!!!
Senior Compost?
I think it's time to compost some of these old threads.
Well, a leaky roof has taken priority over re-doing the kitchen... so the compost idea is on the back burner at the moment.
I'm looking at the stuff I'd like to compost... mostly it's fruits & vegies that have gone bad, stalks, eggshells and coffee grounds. Of everything, it's the coffee grounds that are the biggest pain as they can stick to just about everything. I think part of any system has to be within easy reach of the faucet sprayer.
My basic thought with the ABS pipe would be to create a "torpedo" that fits inside. This torpedo would have a handle on the end so you could pull it out. It would also have little ruber disks sanwitched together... these would squeaze tight to the inside walls of the ABS and keep oders out, as well as wiping the sides down as you inserted it into the tube.
Use conduit so you can use "sweeps" for the turns.
Interesting idea, but as far as I know we are just going through the wall - no creative plumbing!
Did you build a compost chute?
Curious - did you ever buld this compost chute?
I've been thinking of doing something like this and wasn't sure how to go about it.