“That goes in my compost!”
Acting as the compost police at holidays is perfectly acceptable with close family members but you may not want your in-laws to think you’re cuckoo for compost. Here are some tips to offer more gentle suggestions to your Thanksgiving guests about how to separate food scraps for composting.
1. Place containers near trash
Everyone seems to congregate in the kitchen at gatherings, so make your compost container easy to access in a crowded kitchen.
2. Upgrade and label container
Especially during food prep you may need extra capacity so upsize to a large bowl or small trash can. You can label the bowl with a list of what you can compost.
3. Assign a compost watchdog
After a little education, a niece or nephew would make the perfect junior compost police while coming off much cuter than you would saying the same thing.
4. Pre-screen questionable dishes
Just how cheesy are those potatoes? Since we don’t want meat or dairy in the compost, make sure you know what ingredients go into Grandma Carmen’s sweet potato casserole beforehand. A little beef bouillon is fine but two cups of butter and a half gallon of heavy cream may cause some smelly issues in the compost bin.
5. Don’t forget the decorations
Remind guests that the decorative gourds and fall flowers can also be composted. Save the plastic pilgrims for next year.
6. Offer a compost bin tour
An after dinner stroll to your compost bin may help convince your Aunt Eileen to start a compost pile of her own. But good luck competing with football and food comas.
How do you coach guests on composting in your home? We would love to know in the comments below.
Happy Thanksgiving!