Introduction
Picture turning your kitchen scraps into nutrient-rich soil instead of sending them off to a landfill. Coffee grounds, vegetable peels and other food waste may be powering your zero-waste lifestyle in 2025. Composting isn’t only for saving the planet, it lightens the weight of your trash load and nurtures sustainable living.
The numbers don’t lie. We produced 2.24 billion tons of municipal solid waste [MSW] worldwide in 2020, 40% of which was organic (compostable) (World Bank, 2022). There is a great opportunity for people who are willing to make a difference. One of the simplest, most effective things you can do to reduce how much waste ends up in the landfill, to build a more sustainable lifestyle, and even to save yourself a few bucks is begin a compost system in your home.
This guide will break down why composting matters, how to get started in your home and how to navigate challenges as you work toward this aspect of the zero-waste lifestyle.
Whether you have a sprawling backyard garden or an apartment, there’s a composting method that will work for you.
Knowing the Importance of Composting
The Waste Problem
One of the largest unsung contributors to that harm is food waste. Were you aware that American families generate approximately 51 million tons of food waste every year, and 94% of that waste is disposed of in landfills or combustion facilities (EPA, 2024)?
The consequences are profound. 8% of the Earth’s methane emission, which is a powerful greenhouse gas comes from food waste deposited to landfills (UNEP, 2023). Methane is 25 times more powerful a climate-warming gas than carbon dioxide over a period of 100 years, making the need to keep organic material out of landfills far more urgent.
Composting is a solution. Composting can reduce waste sent to landfills by as much as 30%, mitigating environmental hazards while turning waste into valuable resource (NRDC, 2024).
Benefits of Composting
Healthier Soil
Composting provides valuable nutrients and organic matter to the soil, thereby decreasing chemical fertilizer requirements by 20% (USDA, 2023). The plants will be reinforced by this enriching action and will grow more efficiently.
Waste Reduction
Household composters can reduce organic waste by up to 50% by diverting food scraps, yard waste, and more (Columbia University, 2024).
Economic Savings
The average American household throws away 20 pounds of food waste per month, but by creating your own nutrient-dense compost instead of putting it into the trash, you’ll save about $100 per year on store-bought soil additives and waste removal (Wirecutter, 2025).
Supporting Zero-Waste Goals
With the rise in sustainable living, composting is a natural fit. A recent Gallup report found that 65 percent of Americans are looking to cut down on waste in 2025 by driving the shift toward a circular economy in which products are renewed and reused rather than thrown away.
How to Start a Home Compost System (A Step-By-Step Guide)
Step 1. Choose Your Composting Method
There are lots of ways to compost, depending on where you live, what sorts of waste you generate and what you hope to get out of the composting process.
Backyard Bins
Great for outdoors, these receptacles can hold significant amounts of waste and do traditional composting. Odor control and ease of turning are popular features of tumblers like the Back Porch ComposTumbler.
Vermicomposting أو الدودة التحللية
Ideal for small spaces, this system employs worms to quickly convert food scraps into nutrient-rich castings.
Indoor Systems
Electric composters like Lomi as an option for apartment dwellers or people without outdoor space, which can deal with the waste cleanly and in a fraction of the time.
Pro Tip: 70 percent of new composters begin with systems that cost less than $100 (Wirecutter, 2025).
Step 2. Set Up Your System
Pick the Right Spot
Outdoor receptacles function best in shaded, well-drained sites; indoor systems are right at home on a kitchen counter.
Gather Materials
Composting is all about getting the balance right between the “greens” (nitrogen-heavy materials such as food scraps) and “browns” (carbon-heavy materials such as shredded leaves).
Balance the Ratio
But distortion will speed up decay in the 30-to-1 carbon-nitrogen range. Easy-to-use tools such as the CompostNow calculator can help you calibrate this balance.
Bonus Stat: Composting with the correct ratio decomposes materials 40% faster (USDA, 2014).
Step 3. Collect and Add Waste
What To Compost: Fruit and veggie peels, coffee grounds, eggshells, yard clippings.
What Not To Compost: This includes meat, dairy and plastics, as well as diseased plants and pet waste.
Pro Tip: Keep scraps in a countertop bin, such as Bamboozle, to make sure you remember to collect them with daily habits. Get into the habit by emptying your bin every day.
Step 4. Maintain and Harvest Compost
Turn Often: Airing weekly encourages aerobic activity, minimizing odor and speeding decomposition by 25% (NRDC, 2024). Tumblers make this easy.
Water Management: Keep your pile moist, like a wet sponge. (Add browns or water as necessary to keep this consistency.
When It’s Time to Reap: You should have finished compost from 2-6 months. Use it as a fertilizer on your garden or, if possible, donate it to local community gardens.
“Addressing Obstacles to Composting”
No Outdoor Space?
If you’re in the city, compact systems like Bokashi buckets or Lomi electric composters are options for urbanites. You can vermicompost with just two square feet of your home.
Not Enough Time?
50% quit composting due to complexity first time around (Columbia University, 2024). Begin with general practices like turning for 2 minutes per week. Electric composting lowers maintenance cost by 60 %.
Odor or Pests?
Too many “greens” in the pile can cause odor issues and draw flies or other pests. Eighty percent of these issues can be addressed with sealed bins or tumblers (Wirecutter, 2025).
The Impact of Home Composting
Composting cuts down landfill contributions by 30-50% annually, per household. At a bigger scale, if adopted widely, this could reduce global emissions of methane by 20% (UNEP, 2023).
Then there is the practical side of the personal impact of composting, namely behavior that is more environmentally friendly. Composting – 75% of households composting feel closer to sustainable living (Gallup, 2025).
“There’s something empowering about acknowledging that it’s difficult for everything that enters through you to leave you, and you making that conscious decision,” says Lauren Singer, a leading zero-waster.
Take Action Today
Initiating a composting system is not only environmentally salutary but also a step toward a fulfilling, waste-free lifestyle. Start by collecting your food scraps, purchasing a compost bin system, or getting the lowdown on community compost programs that serve your area.
Read Wirecutter’s guide to the best compost bins and take one step toward your zero-waste living ambitions today. Little changes can add up to big effects — for you, for your community, for our planet.