Have you considered worm composting for food scraps?
For garden trimmings, you could compost in plastic bins such as
Biostacks, and to keep vermin out you could put hardware cloth
underneath. Sometimes in the summer I see small flying insects when I
open my bin (but I also compost food scraps), and adding a layer of
shredded newspaper or coffee grounds (free from Starbucks) makes them
disappear.
I don't think you can promise critter free, since getting the
critters (redworms, black soldier fly larvae, pill bugs, sow bugs,
centipedes and millipedes, springtails, and the too-small-to-see
composting critters) is the point. But if you have a plan for
managing the undesirables before you start, you'll be able to catch
any problems while they are still easy to fix.
Maybe you can find a local composter whom you can use as a
consultant, and take the principal on a field trip to see an active
compost bin? Sometimes you have to show people how easy it is, no
smells, no vermin, for them to believe it.
At 9:00 AM -0400 7/22/10, Michele Israel wrote:
Hi all...need some composting guidance. Would like to start composting at
our urban public school. But, I know that composting food will probably be a
no no for obvious reasons (vermin, etc.)...however, what if we just did
plant composting (leaves, etc.)? Would that work? I would like to convince
the principal that it would be almost critter free.
Thanks.
Michele
www.micheleisrael.com
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