Tips for Composting at Home

Why not toss those leftover veggies in your backyard and start a compost pile this Earth Day

A few months ago a group of us at the Coldwell Banker home office volunteered at the Community Food Bank of NJ, packing up boxes of nonperishable food items to be given to those in need. During that experience, I was surprised how much food had to be discarded — but for very good reasons. I was recalling this moment recently when I came across a WSJ article highlighting the amount of food waste Americans contribute to our landfills. According to EndHunger.org, we throw away 263 million pounds of food a day!

With Earth Day coming up, why not think about how to lessen the amount of food waste your household contributes to the landfill by starting to compost? Need some tips on composting? Check these resources out:

1. How to Build a Compost Pile for Dummies. This composting video is a great introduction (a bit dated but does the trick in showing you the basics).
2. Do’s and Don’ts. This article by TreeHugger.com provides you with great advice on what to compost and what NOT to compost. Bonus content in this article is recommendations on composting bins you can build or purchase.
3. What to Buy. According to Google Shopping ratings the following all received 4.5 stars and cost under $110:
   1. Forest City Models and Patterns Yimby Tumbler Composter (30 gallon)
   2. The Earth Machine (80 gallon)
   3. FreeGarden EARTH (82 gallon)

Athena Snow

Senior Manager, Public Relations & Giving for Coldwell Banker. Grew up in Sarasota and attended college at Western Carolina University. Athena wanted to wake up in that city that doesn’t sleep so headed to Madison Avenue to start her marketing career. She has been with this awesome brand for more than 15 years and can be found generating buzz about CB in every way possible. Athena helps to grow the brand’s position as the most storied real estate company within the industry and has led many high-profile endeavors; she was at the forefront of the brand’s pioneering smart home campaign, raised $6 million in two years to build 130 Habitat for Humanity homes, and led the Homes for Dogs program in partnership with Adopt-a-Pet.com that resulted in tens-of-thousands of dogs finding their furever home. She currently leads the CB Supports St. Jude program, which encourages the Coldwell Banker network’s 96,000+ real estate agents to make donations to St. Jude’s Children’s Research Hospital for every real estate transaction they represent. In her spare time, you can find her either digging up a new area in her yard for another flower bed or planning her next travel adventure. She's the proud mom of three cats Jolene, Ziggy and Lucy.