Of all the things you can do to make your home greener, composting is one of the easiest and most fun to start with. The result is that your garbage load is cut in half and you have a bottomless pit in your backyard that turns food into excellent garden soil.

What am I going to do with this compost?

Before you create your stack, you might want to ask yourself what you want to use it for. Personally, I don’t use my compost for much of anything. I just enjoy keeping all that stuff out of the landfill and in my garden.

The reason I ask is because I think if you can avoid putting paper in your compost pile, you should. If you’re looking to use the compost for gardening, then adding paper shouldn’t be a problem. However, if you want to grow vegetables, I advise you not to use paper scraps in your pile. Some examples would be: coffee bags, tea bags, and especially newspaper. There are a lot of chemicals that go into making paper products, and keeping them out of food is definitely a good idea.

So how do I do this silly thing?

There are a couple of different ways to do this. Personally, I advise against using a proper compost bin. The reason is that they take up a lot of space, and most of the designs you see are pretty poor…they don’t mix the compost as well as they claim. However, if you live in a city with neighbors who may object to a compost pile, then containing it would be considered.

I like the old trench composting approach. Get a shovel, dig a hole a few feet in diameter, and start throwing your food into it. Add twigs, leaves, and branches to maintain a good carbon to nitrogen ratio, and let the pile do its thing. I wouldn’t think about it too much. Try to dump the pile every day, but if you don’t, the pile won’t explode. However, if you add leftovers from dinner each night, you’re doing your job.

Get your friends and family involved in your project.

Involve children in the process if you don’t feel like doing the work. Kid in a candy store, or kid in the backyard with a shovel…same thing. Chances are your child already knows about composting at school.

Composting is a good entry project that can lead to even bigger things, like building solar panels, a gray water system, or vertical gardens. Be careful, green living is quite an addictive hobby. Get your friends interested and share ideas for your next project.

Composting will become more and more common in the states as landfill space continues to be used at an ever-increasing rate. Do your part now, have fun and get the family involved. As you can see, it’s actually not difficult at all. Chances are you’ll be curious about other sustainable projects you can try. Living green is the way to go as it involves getting by with less and saving a lot more.

Of course, these suggestions are just the beginning of your green journey. So remember: composting is easy and will benefit you greatly. Get your friends involved and move forward with new ways to live more simply and for less. You will quickly see that living responsibly is quite rewarding.