Composting at The Schoolhouse

Now it’s time for a post about composting. To create a real and working composting program to The Schoolhouse is an essential part of our sustainable food project and is something every restaurant should do to lessen the burden of mother earth and to keep the waste away from the overloaded landfills which are a major problem in the world today. It is estimated that, depending on sources, 20-25% of all waste going to landfills is food and garden waste, and around 30% of the waste filling the landfills is actually compostable. So, we feel that it is our responsibility to start composting, as soon as possible. In addition, a restaurant can decrease, arguably, it's waste productions by 30% by composting, which can mean a significant cost reduction in many cases. Also, we are aiming for the fourth eco-star which surely won’t be possible without composting - and it shoudn't be.

In addition to these obvious environmental reasons, finished compost provides numerous benefits for the garden by adding nutrients to the soil. It enhances soil aeration and water retention and helps prevent erosion. So the compost product can be used in gardens as organic fertilizer. By composting and using compost on the garden, we can do (chemical)fertilizer-free gardening and thus serve truly organic and healthy vegetables and herbs to our customers. That is truly an important part of the whole concept of sustainable foods.

What is composting? That’s a question some of you might ask. Composting is nature's process of recycling decomposed organic materials into a rich soil known as compost. Anything that was once living will decompose. In this process, various micro-organisms break down organic matter into simpler substances - eventually the waste turns into soil, into nature's own fertilizer. Basically, composting by ourselves is an acceleration of the same process nature uses. By composting our organic waste we are returning nutrients back into the soil in order for the cycle of life to continue. Finished compost looks like soil, it is dark earth that smells like the earth you smell in forests. So there is no need to send the garden and food waste to landfills, when we can, by a little effort, make it soil again and use it in our gardens etc.

Composting is a simple thing as a process really. You just have to make the effort to make it happen. In many western countries composting is made easy by haulers automatically collecting compostable waste – one just has to separate the compostable waste, rest of the process is done elsewhere. Here at Mutianyu, however, we are not blessed with that kind of luxury so we have to do the whole thing ourselves. Luckily we live in the countryside, so it is easily doable. As said above, it is nature’s own process, we just have to make it convenient for us and help it a bit.

Then we can move to the question how we are actually going to make the composting work here at The Schoolhouse. The first thing in the process is to decide what kind of compost or bin system we are going to use, and where should it be located. There are a tremendous number of options for containing the compost. Some people choose to go binless, simply building a compost pile in a convenient spot on the ground. Others build bins from materials such as recycled pallets, or two-by-fours and plywood. And, of course, there are many commercial bins on the market. Commercial bins are naturally good for home-use in urban areas, but here in the countryside there's no need to spent all that money. We are not going to use any commercial fancy bins, as here in the countryside a compost spot where the compost pile can be built is enough. We just need to decide where to locate the pile, then built some simple bottomless “bin” with for example chicken-wire or wood. We’ll just keep it simple, all we need is a place and a little something to outline it with, to keep it organized. We are going to put the compost pile somewhere near The Roadhouse, where our garden is situated.

As we are a restaurant, we create a lot of compostable waste, which is why we should have a two-spot/two-bin compost system. This way one pile can compost while one pile is being built, and the composting will be more efficient. It should be also borne in mind that a compost pile shouldn’t be too large, because otherwise it will not get enough air and water to decompose. A compost pile shouldn’t be bigger that 2m x 2m x 2m, according to various websites. So, actually, we could need more than two separate piles. But, as long as we keep it simple, it is always easy to add new piles in time.

Obviously, we are going to build the compost piles over time, whenever the compost bins indoors gets full, so the stuff on the bottom will decompose first, since it will have been there the longest. When there is finished compost at the bottom of the bin, and we want to use it, we simply remove the unfinished compost from on top, take out what you need, and throw the unfinished compost back on top. Also, the compost pile should be turned every now and then, especially when it’s fully built up, in order to accelerate the process. Once a week would be ideal. This turning process is crucially important for the composting to work!

Although composting is a natural process, it doesn’t really work if one just throws waste in a spot and leave it there. It needs more effort than that. A compost pile needs four elements to successfully decompose: carbon, nitrogen, water and air. Compostable waste can be divided into two groups: brown matter which is high in carbon and green matter which is high on nitrogen. A healthy compost pile should have much more carbon than nitrogen. A simple rule according to composting websites is to use one-third green and two-thirds brown materials. This allows oxygen to penetrate and nourish the organisms that reside there. Too much nitrogen makes for a heavy, smelly, slowly decomposing mass, which is no good for anyone. At this point you are probably interested in what is green and what is brown matter. Here you go:

- Brown materials: leaves, brunches, bushes, straw, hay, pine needles, wood ash, sawdust, newspaper, tissues, cardboard, corn cobs, wood chips
- Green materials: table scraps, fruit and vegetables scraps, grass clippings, lawn and garden weeds, flowers, cuttings, coffee grounds, tea leaves

Basically, we should just put different layers to the pile. It is actually quite simple, because almost all the stuff coming from the kitchens is green matter, and brown matter is easy to collect from the yards and gardens around. So we throw the kitchen waste, as well as the weed and flowers, to be one layer and then cover it up with brown matter. There should always be at least a bit of garden waste or something like that on top of the pile, to keep the odours away to some extent. The layering is needed just when starting the pile, afterwards when it’s being turned every now and then everything can be mixed together – however, there should still be more brown that green waste, keep the same ratio! To be more efficient, there should some layers of fertilizers and soil as well, but more about later. Also, as said, compost needs water to succeed, so the pile should water every now and then, especially when the weathers are dry. However, it is as important that the pile doesn't get overwatered, so that something to careful with.

In order to compost, the next step after having choosing the spot and system for the compost, and after learning how to compost, is to actually put two different kinds of bins, for compostable and for non-compostable items, in every room. There should be instructions in (or near) the bins (Chinese, English) what should be thrown in which bin. This is crucially important, people must learn how to compost. That is the first step, without that the whole thing just don’t work. We are planning to have a meating with whole staff to teach the basics of composting, and our chef Randhir promised to make sure his kitchen staff gets familiar with this thing.

So, after being writing this much about composting, now would be about the time to discuss what can be composted and what can’t. A great variety of things can be composted at home, saving them from a one-way trip to the landfill, and turning them into a valuable soil amendment for home use.

Things that should be composted and thrown to THE COMPOST BIN:
- All food waste, except meat. Small amount of cooked meat is ok, but meat in bigger quantities should be thrown away to non-compostable bins. Same goes for dairy products.
- Tea-begs and coffee grounds and coffee filters
Leaves
- Grass
- Hay
- Tissues, newpaper, other similar paper
- Weeds and other garden waste
- Wood chips and sawdust

The reason why meat and diary products shouldn’t be composted in large quantities is that they attract pests and can be really smelly, as well as they are slow to decompose and thus slows down the process.

Things that shouldn’t be composted and thrown to THE NON-COMPOST BIN:
- Plastic
- Metal
- Glass
- Other non-organic materials
- Chemically treated wood products
- Human waste
- Pet waste
- Bones
- Diseased plants
- Meat and dairy products in large quantities

So, when we have the compost spot and pile set up, and the compost bins all in site, we are in a place where we can start composting. We must educate everyone to know how to separate the waste. Actually, we talked with our chef that we are going to start the waste separating before we actually start composting, just to make people used to it. Then we just wait until the compost bins are full and then transport them to The Roadhouse compost pile. For now, we don’t have compostable plastic bags, so the bag containing the waste should be emptied to the compost pile. The compost should be ready in a few months, after which it can be used in our gardens as a natural fertilizers. So, that’s how we get more environmentally friendly and that’s how we can do chemical-free gardening. It’s not too hard, is it?

The whole process should be ongoing by 1st June this year. I’ve been finding out information about composting and done some plans, but this post is actually the first step towards the successful composting process in The Schoolhouse. I will keep you updated how everything goes – with shorter posts in the future, I promise.