Making a pot of coffee every morning can get you well on your way to a perfect compost. Enjoy a crisp salad for lunch, and the prettiest plants are in your reach.

So what does cooking have to do with composting? Everything. All those nutrient – rich scraps you’re sscraping into the disposal or trash can are full of food for your soil. Change where you’re putting them – not into the garbage, but into a compost bucket.

And let’s lay your fears to rest: Done right, it won’t stink or attract bugs.

I recommend a compost bucket with a double filter in the lid, which keeps odors contained. For easy cleanup, line your pail with a biobag. Made from starch, it breaks down in the compost bin outside.

To keep it simple, whenever you take out the trash, empty the compost bucket into your outdoor bin. In less than two month, you’ll be rewarded with compost.

ADD:

vegetables, grains, pasta, fruit rinds and peels, breads, cereals, coffee grounds and filters, tea bags, crushed eggshells, paper napkins or towels – and don’t forget to add lawn products such as leaves, grass and bush trimmings – and don’t throw away those paper shredings from your office shredder…. they can go in the compost also or you can spread across your garden right on top to help keep moisture in your garden where it belongs.

DO NOT ADD:

meat, fish, poultry, cheese, oily foods, butter, other animal products and never put in yard trimmings that are weeds or anything with roots