City composting?

[Deleted]

This is an interesting concept.  Unfortunately, Houston struggles to deliver trash and recycling collection reliably so I don't see this coming here.  Also, I think the roaming dogs and critters such as coyotes and raccoons would be a problem.  

We tried backyard composting but at the time we didn't have a sunny location for the compost and it doesn't "cook" well in the shade.  

[ken a.k.a OMK]

We tried backyard composting but at the time we didn't have a sunny location for the compost and it doesn't "cook" well in the shade.

At my last house I had a 4'x4'x4' compost bin made of chicken wire in the woods that got up to 160° in the Winter if the mix of green to brown material was right and it got air (turning or inserting pipes with holes).

[Timberwolf]

Our city has had an "organics" collection program for 4 or 5 years, I think.  The best way I've found to keep the food waste from stinking while it's in the house is to keep it in an old ice cream bucket (the 4 quart size) with a tight lid.  I keep it under the sink and pull it out when I want to use it.  It doesn't smell at all when the lid is on tight.

The only time it stinks is when I transfer the food from the bucket to the organic bag, and I only do that once a week right before I put it into the outside bin.  I use BioBag brand 3 gallon size bags that I find at Home Depot, or Lowes or Menards.  The bags can disintegrate if they are kept wet too long, that's why I don't line my bucket with the bag.

When it's time to take out the "organics" as we call it, we put it into a brown paper grocery bag that we've already thrown our used facial tissues in then put the organics bag into that.  It almost never leaks so we only have to clean our outside bin about once a year (if we feel like it).

We have to keep our yard waste separate from the organic waste so we have 3 separate bins on the edge of our driveway, 4 once you include recycling, but it's easily manageable.

Once you start not throwing food waste in the trash (or kleenex or napkins) you hardly have any trash at all, so we are able to quit buying trash bags, we now line our trash can with the little plastic bags you get at most stores and only buy the compostable bags.  They are cheaper at the big box stores.