LOL At My Cities Composting Rules

[Decado]

I was looking through my cities newsletter today and they had a section on composting rules in it, they go as follows:

-Garbage, refuse, rubbish, waste matter, fecal material, and any matter of animal origin is not allowed (that eliminates a pretty good chunk of great composting material)
-Compost piles must be maintained or contained in a manner to prevent them from becoming a habitat for insects and rodents and creating objectionable odors. (Really??? How do you keep insects and animals away from your compost pile? Also, it's pretty impossible to have your compost not smell.)

I'm not going to follow these rules because obviously these lawmakers have no idea how you make good compost, and they're just making the dumps fill up more than they need to. I'll never understand what goes through lawmaker's heads. Does anyone else's city have draconian laws like this regarding compost?

[The Helpful Gardener]

I suspect these are more in place to prevent someone from doing it badly; if you are doing it well, who will complain? What is there to complain about?

It is the policy of HelpfulGardener to condone and support public policy and the letter of the law. That said, I hear ya, Decado

HG

[Decado]

I am doing it well so I doubt anyone will report me, I just thought this was good for a laugh.

[applestar]

Maybe you should email them some links to good composting guide sites.

[rainbowgardener]

What do they think a compost pile is? It's a pile of garbage, rubbish, and waste matter that is a habitat for micro-organisms, fungi, and insects while they break it down. However, I have to say that a properly working compost pile has no smell. I can stand next to mine and not smell anything.

The stuff in the compost bucket under my sink sometimes gets pretty nasty smelling (but it is tightly covered, so you don't know that except when you open the lid). Then I take it and dump it on the pile and it gets spread out and aired out and then I pile a thick layer of weeds and whatever else I have over it, and voila, no smell.

[gixxerific]

Politicians, you gotta love 'em.

You could be in violation with just having a compost pile. You could call potato peals, banana skins vegetable shavings grass clippings even weeds as "waste matter". That is some good stuff there.

[a0c8c]

Politicians, you gotta love 'em.

You could be in violation with just having a compost pile. You could call potato peals, banana skins vegetable shavings grass clippings even weeds as "waste matter". That is some good stuff there.

Or rubbish, refuge or even garbage. Everything you throw in a compost bin falls under those three.

[petalfuzz]

If no animal waste, then I wouldn't be able to compost my rabbit's litter and droppings either. What a sham!

[Nomadicdeity]

What City do you live in?

[gixxerific]

I won't even look into my regulations than I can play stupid, they are.

[huskie]

Rules made by people whom know NOTHING about what they are making judgment over.....typical

[TZ -OH6]

I read those rules to say only use yard waste and kitchen scraps in such a way that you don't get a stinking pile; and keep everything in a container so raccoons don't drag stuff around the neighborhood. Do not make an open pile of dog and cat junk, rotten meat scaps, road kill, biodegradable diapers, toilet paper, etc. I have known people who have piled garbage in their back yard. Without community rules they could say that it is simply a legal compost pile.

A good compost pile will absorb odors. Mine has deodorized a couple of skunk carcasses, and right now is keeping the neighborhood safe from the stench of a dead deer.

The only part of those community rules I see a problem with is the need for a container, which limits size of the pile. Snooty neighbors may object to anything that looks unkempt. I would get some 4'x8' sheets of plastic latice and simply make an enclosure.

[The Helpful Gardener]

My piles used some old fencing sections left here by the last owner; they are doing all three R's; reusing reducing and recycling (starting to decompose a bit themselves near the bottom ) But it keeps it organized.

It is simply easier for any town to loosely enforce a stricter regulation than it is do the opposite. And as noted by several folks here, if you are doing it right, who complains?

HG

[Ermintrude]

They are so keen on composting here that our 'city' provides cheap plastic compost bins. My compost does not smell, well not much. Actually I rather like the smell of hot rotting grass clippings.