Newspapers in the U.S. aren’t allowed to use lead-based inks anymore, even in the colored sections. So, it’s safe to use.
MercyStreet: I use a fancypants bin because we have a tiny yard and the houses are close together, so I wanted to keep it contained and reasonably neat. I don’t find it a pain at all. And it’s much easier for us to just dump stuff in the bin rather than digging a hole every time we empty the compost can. I certainly don’t think a commercial bin is a necessity for good composting, but it works for us.
When it comes to composting, I think that the most important thing to remember is a big YMMV. I’ve seen too many people claiming that you have to do it this way or that way, or that you need to do this or don’t need to do that. Fact of the matter is, there are all different types of compost piles working away all over the world, and different methods work for different environments and compostables.
I don’t think it’s fair to say that “a few cups of bargain-brand dog kibble are all you need,” when that might not be true in many cases. That’s true in the vast majority of cases, of course, but there are plenty of cases where the deliberate introduction of microbes and/or worms might be just the thing to get things cooking. I’ve heard that in new housing developments, the builders might not leave any good topsoil. If it’s just subsoil, it might not have the populations of micro and macroorganisms that you need. Yes, they will eventually colonize the area, but if making finished compost is a priority, then a small investment in those organisms might well be worthwhile. After all, what could be better for a depleted yard than finished compost, right?
Composting is just hastening the process of decomposition that happens naturally, and creating a situation where you can collect the rich decomposed material and put it where you choose.
You can just pile some stuff up in an out of the way place and ignore it for a while, and you’ll get compost. You can purchase hundreds of dollars worth of equipment and materials and spend time every day working on it, and you’ll get compost. In the second example, you’ll get compost a lot faster. I think most composters fall in between the extreme fast and extreme slow methods, providing some sort of bin and doing some maintenance.
I started composting before I even had a garden. My objective was simply to get my kitchen scraps out of the waste stream. I threw my finished compost around the shrubs of the house we were renting, and was just glad that all that organic matter wasn’t petrified in a landfill somewhere. About 4 years ago, we bought a house, I began gardening, and somewhere along the way fell in love with composting. It’s a fun and satisfying little hobby for me. I’m still using the two little compost bins we bought in the beginning, and have set up a nice little sheet composting operation in the side yard. I’m thinking of doing some indoor vermicomposting, and looking into ways to start it up on the cheap. I’m also trying to figure out a way to do some production of pure leaf mold, which is a challenge on our tenth of an acre with no trees actually on the property! (But we are surrounded by trees, so getting the leaves is no problem, and I’m sure our neighbors will let us have their leaves for the raking. I’m just trying to figure out where I can stash the leaves for 2-3 years while they break down).
Yes, I’m nutty about composting. It drives me crazy to be preparing food at someone else’s house and throw kitchen scraps into the garbage. I’m often tempted to take the scraps home. I haven’t done that yet…but I’m getting close. I’m actually thinking of setting up a composter at my folks’ place and at my aunt’s place, just so I have a place to put stuff that I generate while I am there! Those would be slow systems, but like I said, they’ll produce compost eventually. And even if it never gets used in a garden at least those organic materials will be out of the waste stream.
I’d just like to see more people composting, even if it’s only a small part of their organic waste.