After moving from the countryside to an apartment, I was distressed by not having a place to dispose of my food scraps. Without a yard, I cannot compost! So, now what?

I started doing research looking for solutions. Looking for ways to handle indoor compost, I learned so many methods. Many people practice apartment composting using various methods - even vermicomposting inside a small space. We weren't able to keep a worm bin, like many apartment dwellers, this was against the rules.

So I kept looking for the best way to handle compostable food scraps like apple cores and eggshells.

That is when I discovered this genius solution! So, I reached out to the team at the Foodcycler company for information and received one to test out and am happy to report that it is the answer I was looking for!

The countertop unit is attractive enough to keep in your kitchen, but with a small apartment, I had to make good use of my space. The unit has a filtration system, and the pail is completely enclosed so you can go zero waste without stinking up your home.

Friends who have been to my place have seen my Foodcycler in action. They all get a tour of my laundry room where I keep my Foodcyler busy producing fertilizer for my precious aloe vera plants, rosemary, and my son's succulents collection.

I'm so excited for you all to see this episode. Once you watch the video, you'll understand why we are so thrilled to have found the solution to keeping food out of our landfill!

Food waste is a serious problem

We've been talking about food waste this week. Manuel Bruscas and I discussed the many ways food ends up wasted in a Healthy Bite Episode: World Hunger - Starving for the Truth.

Next, I shared four of the benefits of reducing food waste. Hopefully, you are starting to think about making plans for more efficient food prep and shopping.

Today we are going to talk about inevitable food waste and what we can do with it to keep it out of the landfill.

I'm talking about banana peels, avocado pits, eggshells, coffee grounds, and other non-edible parts of the foods we prepare.

Even though these items are biodegradable, sending them to the landfill is not a good idea.

Composting is one way to cut back on food-related emissions. In landfills, which are anaerobic or oxygen-deprived environments, microbes digest rotting food and release methane, a greenhouse gas that is more than 25 times more potent than carbon dioxide. Composting creates an aerobic environment, and methane-producing microbes don't thrive in the presence of oxygen.

What are some of the ways we can dispose of this kitchen waste without putting it in our overburdened landfills?

Compost Bin

Let's start with what to do with the food waste inside our kitchen. One solution would be to have a compost bin where everything is neatly contained inside a composter that is kept outside. But that's not always possible, especially when you don't have a yard or your yard is tiny.

For those who have the space a DIY composting bin or even a set up using composting wo...