We compost! Do you??
Here at Nourish Hanalei we are proud to compost as much as possible on the farm. After processing tons of bananas, guavas, pineapple and acai for our products we are left with a lot of food scraps (ie: banana peels, guava seeds, etc). These food scraps get thrown into our compost pile and after a few months of decomposing become a beautiful soil amendment that we add to our gardens.
Farm fresh foods get processed and scraps go straight to our compost!
Our compost before hitting the garden pile!
Everyone who lives at the farm also composts all their extra food scraps at home. This saves a ton of food from going into the landfill and greatly reduces the trash we produce each week. Other items that can be thrown in the compost are used paper towels, cardboard, egg shells, etc (see diagram below).
Benefits of composting:
-Enriches soil, helping retain moisture and suppress plant disease.
-Reduces the need for chemical fertilizers.
-Encourages the production of beneficial bacteria and fungi that break down organic matter to create humus, a rich nutrient filled material.
-Reduces methane emissions from landfills and lowers your carbon footprint.
Composting and recycling are two practices that if done in businesses and at home can greatly reduce the amount of trash we all produce. Imagine if everyone started composting and recycling?! It would be amaaaaaaaaazzzzzing!
The County of Kauaʻi provides FREE backyard composting bins to Kauaʻi residents! Check out their website to find out where to pick up your free bin. If you are not located on Kaua’i look online as most communities offer either free or discounted compost bins to their residents.
Happy Composting :)
Kaua’i Residents!
Come pick up a free Earth Machine home composting bin.
Available at the Kaua'i Resource Center located at 3460 Ahukini Rd. in Lihue, near the airport, in front of the Lihue Refuse Transfer Station.
Composting bins are available for pick-up on FRIDAYS from 8:00 am - 3:30 pm. No appointment necessary, closed on County Holidays. Please call the County Recycling Office at 241-4841 for more information.