OUR HOSTS: 

Corinne Foxx - @corinnefoxx

Natalie McMillan - @nataliemcm and @shopnataliemcmillan 

What we're drinking: 2018 Brandborg Pinot Noir  

TOPIC: 

Composting is one of the most simple and effective ways to reduce your carbon footprint. In fact, if everyone in the United States did it, it would be equivalent to removing 7.8 million cars from the road! That’s why on today’s episode, we’re doing a deep dive on composting: what it is, why it’s so important, and how to get started. We cover the spectrum of benefits that composting provides, what materials can (and can’t) be composted, and share the top tools for composting. 

In this episode, we discuss:

• The difference between biodegradable and compostable material 
• Why it's crucial to get the right ratio of materials in your compost bin 
• How to set up a compost bin 
• The difference between cold and hot composting, including the average timelines associated with each method 
• The best way to separate your various composting materials
• Space-saving composting options 
• How to tell if you’re scraps are composting correctly 

RESOURCES MENTIONED: 

• Texas A&M: Compost Troubleshooting Guide 
• Cornell University: Guide to Composting
• Oregon State: Composting and Vermicomposting   
• Lomi Countertop Composter 
• Vitamix FoodCycler  
• Episode 76 - Sustainable Living: Simple Ways To Be More Eco-Friendly

END OF THE SHOW: 

Corinne and Natalie introduce Hottie of the Week: Rosario Dawson

WINE RATING:

2018 Brandborg Pinot Noir  = 6.5 / Rosario 

WRAP UP:

To wrap up the episode, Corinne and Natalie play Citizen’s Arrest. Nat is over fellow grocery shoppers who steal and snack on fruit like grapes and berries while shopping. In the online space, Corinne wants to see less of the TikTok mental health services that remind you to take a break when you’re scrolling. 

We have a newsletter for our Am I community. You can sign up for the newsletter on our website: amidoingthisrightpod.com

You can email us for episode ideas or Random Advice: amidoingthisrightpod@gmail.com

Follow us on Instagram: @amidoingthisrightpod 

Don't forget to rate and review the podcast! It really helps us grow!

Hey welcome back to another episode of am I doing this right? I'm Corinne Fox.

And I'm Natalie McMillan and we are best friends confidants millennials

and the host of am I doing this right? A life how to podcast from the perspective of non experts and each

week we cover a new topic and we drink a new bottle of wine.

Yes, we do not and this week we are talking from trash to treasure. How to compost This was actually a listener requested episode and we're gonna be talking about what is composting if you don't even know what that means. Don't worry you're not behind how to do it, why it's beneficial for you and our planet. Or plant the plants

and the planet the plants planets

and all of it and you know at the end of the episode we meet we're going to be doing a little wrap up game so stay tuned

we'll have a wrap up stay tuned

now what are we drinking this episode? Well,

we are drinking the brand board you know we love brand board there recently we talked about it for like three solid years. We're drinking their 2018 Pino I don't know if you drink we've had their Pina I think we've had their Pinot I think we've had their Pinot Griese. Oh. Which is actually more of a white

a white. Yes. And

this was a straight up Pino and I love an Oregon Pino

interesting. Oh, there it is. I have a TV wreck for the girlies listening. I've already recommended it. Yeah,

I need to start if you

guys just want like a cute camera take queued up a really funny comedy TV show half hour. And you're like, I've watched everything. I've watched all the good ones. No, no.

Isn't the British also it's Irish. Irish.

It's called Dirty girls. It's on Netflix. It's so funny. I love it. I feel like it's a what is her idea of? It's literally about these like four teenage girls in high school in the 90s. And it is so these girls are so ridiculous that I Mike I can't even it's hysterical. If you need something to just watch tonight, like mostly the beginning. You don't. You're like their accents are like what? You got to have subtitles. Well, you get used to it. But in the beginning you're like little Whoa, like you're you're just not used to that they have a very specific Irish accent Okay, throws you but it's so funny and so

cute. My mom told me like two years ago, she's like, Have you been watching durig or dairy girls or whatever? I'm like, No, she's like, it is so funny.

I've okay, I realize it's d e r r y dairy, but they re they say it's Daddy. Daddy. Daddy. I can't do it. I don't know what I'm even doing right now.

Daddy Girl, dude.

It's really harsh. Sorry.

Sir Sharon, inertia, browning.

I can't do Irish.

The way that it's in my head, but I don't think is the Irish

accent of British people.

03:06

I mean, it's

not the accent this show. I'm thinking Who's that? It's like a guy that plays a girl and he's like, Jimmy? Yes.

It. It's similar. It's similar. It's similar in tone. I love that. What was the name of that? I know. It was like summer high tie. It was summer Heights High

and he was huge.

03:34

Yeah. Like Australian guy

playing. This teenage girl also plays like,

please like everyone. It's a great. That is a good one.

Okay, so let's get into composting Natalie's

talking about composting and why we chose this episode. Yeah, well, again, chose it because it's a listener request. And those are our favorites. You know, when you guys request an episode, it immediately goes to the top of our priorities. We do it immediately. We will do it immediately if you request it. So send them in friends. But we were very interested in this one. As the generation who has been the most heavily affected by climate change. We're always looking for more ways to be good to the environment, and to step our game up. And composting typically isn't really talked about when you live in a big city. So we were like, you know why let's let's do similar thing

or two. We should do so.

Do you want to go into some facts about composting cracks.

Okay, so according to the Environmental Protection Agency, food scraps and yard waste make up 30% of material sent to landfill. I know. Scraps scraps, about 8% of greenhouse gas emissions come from wasted food and roughly half of all food waste occurs during the consumption stage, meaning waste from food service and households

that's crazy. Wow.

And there is evidence that composting has been around since the Neolithic time. So that's 12,000 years we've been we've been doing this

connect to your ancestors by composting

Bernie burn in also compost piles can spontaneously combust, which is why it is important to get the right ratio of materials, which we will discuss. We will discuss this I did not know they can explode.

That's a very fun fat that's I love on facts like next time somebody says what's a fun fact? You know, I'm gonna say Did you know compost can spontaneously combust?

Well, I guess because there's a lot of gases in there, right? It's a science project. Also, another fun fact is that George Washington love to compost According to some historians,

and eco friendly King, literally, again, pretty much

and also that worms in your compost pile can help eliminate E. Coli in your soil. Oh, wow. They're doing their job. What can't composting do right first, Natalie, what is we've been talking about what is composting if you're sitting and you're like, I don't know what like get to

the fucking point apple. So composting is the natural process of recycling organic matter, such as leaves, and food scraps into a valuable fertilizer that can enrich soil and plants. Anything that grows decomposes eventually, composting simply speeds up the process by providing an ideal environment for bacteria, fungi and other decomposing organisms such as worms, sowbugs and nematodes to do their work. The resulting decomposed matter which often ends up looking like a fertile garden soil is called compost, fondly referred to by farmers as black gold. Compost is rich in nutrients and can be used for gardening, horticulture and agriculture

are returned in trash to treasure you guys do you get the title of the edit? Are you are you picking are you're

putting down what we're putting down and there are so many benefits?

Yes, there are a lot of benefits of composting. It enriches soil helping retain moisture and suppress plant diseases and pests. It reduces the need for chemical fertilizers. It significantly cuts down on the amount of trash in a landfill and reduces the costs and carbon emissions it takes to haul and process those materials. Meanwhile, the valuable nutrients in your compostable materials make composting a favorable alternative to shipping your organic waste to a landfill. Yes, because again 30%. Yes, that's insane. also encourages the production of beneficial bacteria and fungi that break down organic matter to create

houmous who must, which I learned is actually like a fancy term for compost. Well,

that's unappetizing. I

know it's too close to Hamas. Yeah, like maybe that's why. It also reduces methane emissions from landfills and lowers your carbon footprint. The high level of microbial activity in compost boosts beneficial microbes within the soil, which in turn assist plants to strengthen their immune system. No plants had immune systems that makes sense, you know, people that do shrooms always say that they realize that plants are like fully alive.

No, I know that because I talked to my plants and I tried to keep them their spirits high say that anyone

talk to them all the time, but you know, I've never saw them. I haven't seen them breathe or have personalities. But I also haven't ever done mushrooms. So um, you know, never say never though. And finally, mature compost apply to your garden increases the water holding capacity of the soil you lose you can water less. Yeah, and that's also good for drought. Oh, that's

smart. Okay, so Natalie, what can you compost

Alright, so according to the EPA, all composting requires three basic ingredients. Number one, you got your browns. So those are materials like dead leaves, branches and twigs, to you have your greens that includes things like grass clippings, vegetable waste, fruit scraps, even coffee grounds, okay, and third water. So having the right amount of water greens and browns is important for the compost development. Oh, okay, your compost pile should have an equal amount of brown to greens. And you should also alternate layers of organic materials of different sized particles. So the brown materials provide carbon for your compost and the green provide nitrogen and then the water provides moisture to help break down all that organic matter.

Right and this is where we could have the explosion the explosion I want to see a compost collection to like just like, just like your little pile of leaves shot up in the air.

Think of like those big compost tumblers. And if one exploded it was like a generator blowing up or something Jesus great. Also like hot and cold. There's like different there's two different types.

Yes, there are two different types of composting, there's hot composting. And so that

that is not when there's one thing it's

not it's not. It's when compost piles have the right blend of nitrogen greens and carbon browns and are kept moist and fluffed regularly. They will heat up and heat up fast, stay hot and destroy most weed seeds and pathogens. With faster decomposition that compost may be ready in two to three months. And once the pile is fully built, new material is not added. So proper hot composting requires more than one pile.

Okay, and then what about cold Okay, so cold composting.

So compost will happen even if you just pile up organic waste. Okay, water sporadically and wait since this type of pile won't get too hot and is turned in frequently, breakdown will be slower and less even weed seeds and recalculate materials may survive. worms and other insects which cannot survive high heat decomposition may be able to live in these piles and help break down the material. But cold composting or casual composting can take up to a year. So that's

more if you're just like, You know what, I throw up money to make a pile. I'm not doing a science project here. I just would like to simply throw my strawberry tops in a pile. Yes, exactly.

Exactly. But I think a lot of people get calm posting and like biodegradable like that's that. Yes, a strawberry top you can compost and it's biodegradable, but like not everything can be composted. Right.

Right, well, and everything's like sometimes stuff says biodegradable and I'm like okay, what what does that mean? Yes, what does that mean? So we actually learned that a common misconception is that biodegradable and compostable mean the same thing, which is very incorrect biodegradable means that a product will naturally break down over time, but that means any period of 20,000 years, yes, it could be like in 1000 years, this will this this will decompose this

fork will decompose at some point.

Yes, but a certified compostable product contains a required amount of material that will break down within 180 days into pieces to millimeters or less in size. And this process of breaking down cannot release harmful substances such as heavy metals into the soil. Okay, so definitely much preferable, right. So let's get into like, let's say the girls are listening. They're like, I would love to, I would love to try this.

Okay, so step one is select your food scraps, so fruits and veggies, including things like sweet potato skins, strawberry tops, strawberry, banana peels, etc. egg shells, butts of lettuce, or cabbage, even coffee grounds and tea bags. anything of this nature can be composted. Beyond that things like egg shells, old flowers, and even really disgustingly human hair can be I don't want my hair spring my DNA involved in this,

but it can be what I guess Hey, you take it out of your brush. That's true could just put it in your compost. It seems scary to me.

Second, the second step is to separate your types of composting materials. So a good way to do this is to have a bag or even an old milk carton with the top cut off ready in your freezer that you can pull out and throw your food scraps in. Have one container for your nitrogen based compostable your greens and one for your carbon material. So your dry brown things like hey, if you just got some hay, you know what, hey. leaves, sticks, newspapers, egg cartons, egg Sedra

egg cartons, that's good to know. Yeah. Third, you're gonna choose where you want to make your compost. If you have a backyard, you can get a compost tumbler or even an old trash can or storage bin. You can even just have it sitting there and an uncontained pile, which would be the cold composting right which would be the this is you're just throwing shit in your pile. If you're more space limited, you do have some options. So you can bring your scraps to a community garden many of which have composting programs should Chuck I should say I bet was Hollywood does not have that but I should look into picturing might well you know what they might they might actually look into it. And you also don't need like a ton of space to compost. So According to NPR, even a five gallon box, that'll do, okay, you can do that, then you're gonna make your mix. So like we discussed before, you're gonna want to get the right mixture of the green and the brown materials to get the appropriate chemical reaction.

I'm scared now we've really talked about this thing blowing up and now I'm nervous.

You know, the odds of it probably. You think you're nervous? I'm the one who gets anxious about random explosions. Yeah, you do have that fear. It must have been a past life thing. I have no idea. Yeah, maybe yeah, maybe you done an explosion you randomly something combusted. Interesting. We could have somebody that sounds past lives on on the show we can ask. And final step is you wait and airy. So composting can take a bit of time depending on the environment. For example, if you live in a hot environment, it can take about two months to get the compost going. If you live in a cold environment, it could take more like six months to a year hot and cold, hot and cold, but you aerate it by mixing it up. So give it a good turn if it's in a tumbler or mix it around with a stick or shovel to get some air in there so it doesn't get too wet and dense. And if your compost smells like absolute a Garbo it's probably going bad and is not decomposing. Meaning you need a different ratio of greens and browns or it's too wet. If your compost is decomposing properly, it will basically just smell like

soil. Okay, so keep an eye on that you guys keep an eye on that. So let's

say the girls and the gays nowadays, they're like, Wow, we're composting. Oh, we ran into some trouble. It's okay,

because if you need some help, there actually are a lot of great online resources that we will link in the show notes, one of which is the Texas a&m Agrilife Extension. They have an excellent compost troubleshooting guide that has suggestions on what to do if the pile has insects or is too wet. Also, Oregon State has a comprehensive guide for composting and Verma composting using a worm composter to break down organic materials. That would be fun.

I did that in kindergarten. Really? Yeah. I'll tell story about it after I have a whole story. Oh, okay.

And then another helpful

resource is Cornell University's Waste Management Institute. They have a more detailed guide to composting and greens and browns plus a lot more resources on their website. Yeah, we also found on products Yes, you can also just you know, you live in a city you might need a little product. Yeah, so we found this one called lo me. And this is if you live in a city you don't have a backyard or live in a place without like a green bin program, you should look into this lomi thing it is a countertop composter with a very sleek design, it limits odors and requires very little maintenance. Also, we're not we're not sponsored by those, like you're not reading an advert but hey, does sound like that. It is almost $500. So you will definitely want to be dedicated, because if you know you're you're gonna want to get those greens and the Browns right separated in your freezer. But it's a good thing to add your Christmas list if you want to

get on my Christmas list. Oh, I love

that. I can totally see you and Joe separating the greens and the brown. There's also a Vitamix food cycler, which is like $100 less than the lomi but still has very good reviews. There's options you guys. And if you still need some inspiration to compost, think about this. If everyone in the United States composted it would be equivalent to removing 7.8 million cars from the road.

Do your part. Do your part. Do your part you guys, we are gonna we're gonna figure it out. We live in Mexico.

Next time you eat a strawberry and you think about those tops. And then you think about us.

Alright, you guys, we hope you learn more about composting what it is how to do it and why it's beneficial for you. Your plants and our plan hands planet.

Oh, should I tell my story? Yes. I want to know your quick story. It's really not a good story. But when I was in kindergarten, Miss Canalis actually I was in this like weird program called map, the multi age program. So it was kindergarten first and second graders and we all learned like the same stuff, which like benefits kindergarteners. Poor second, I don't know. But we called her honor. Her name was not miss Canalis that was the traditional program. Okay, but map we were right. Innovative. So her name was Ana to me. And we had compost boxes and we would get newspapers and we cut up the newspapers and put them in our little we did the Verma vermi composting with the worms and one time I never This is going I don't think you do it's a really dumb ending to the story. But it's just it's a core memory. One of my cars these boxes were gigantic, and they were made of wood. And they have very sharp corners. And I don't know how I did it, but I like, tripped and my hip is hit the corner of it. It like gashed my hip open. And it was my first scar.

Can you get stitches?

I didn't have to get stitches. But I think if I wonder if it's still there,

first guy.

I thought where it was going is that you ate one of the wider worm. No, I was not like super into the worms. It's weird because you were snake Gow. My mom sent me a picture of me and one of the snakes yesterday. She was like, ah, one of your snakes. There it was, but I would you know what I would do? I guess I was a warm kid because I would go around on my Barbie Jeep around my town. And I had a little a little Styrofoam cup. And then you know when it would rain? Yeah, and they all get washed. They'd get what and they would look like at facedown on the river like you're white. And I would like pick them up and try to save them. Oh, I don't I put them in my garden. My little Barbie Jeep that I spray painted gold. And I had dice in the mirror. I'm not even kidding. I was like seven that is so you have ever heard and then my dad rigged it so it went faster. Because it was slow as shit. I was like how am I supposed to save all the worms? I'm trying to go this way it's gonna take me three hours to get around down

Okay, Now should we should we rate the wine you've been drinking this episode? I like I said should we as if we're not going to

know I don't feel like it's the brand board Pino you know Pinot Noir. 2018 Do you want to intro our hottie?

Yes, sir. Hottie is Miss Rosario Dawson and she's already a hottie in her own right, but we chose her because she supported a home composting campaign. Oh, she's a composter composting now. Okay, one two Rosario, what are you feeling?

Well, for all I can think about right now is what what was the last thing I saw her in?

She's in a lot of things.

I know. But I don't know why I can't picture her in I keep no that wasn't

her. She co EP my documentary with me.

I feel like she's been doing a lot of like, stuff like that behind the scenes stuff.

I think she's in something now. I know she is. She works a girl work. Oh, she's

an amazing actress. I just I'm like why can't I think of any of her work?

Feel my taste buds are off my tongue. It's drinkable. Oh, I don't know if that's like a raving review. drinkable. No, I mean, like, I'm gonna give it is. Six. I

was gonna say like a seven. Six and a half. Six and a half and a half feels right

at a resort because Rosario Dawson is it? 25

Yeah, absolutely. A great eyebrows

All right. This is the part of the episode where you play a little wrap up game and this week we're playing CITIZENS ARREST citizen arrest. I have one

because I witnessed it the other day and I immediately thought citizens are oh, you should you should go actually this morning. I was born in Pilates. And I pull into a parking spot. I had to stop because somebody left their fucking cart. I know I've said that was a previous citizens arise. But I was reminded and reminded immediate jail. Yeah, immediate jail. But the other thing that I witnessed that I thought absolute citizen's arrest. It also felt personal. I was at Trader hosts on picking up my free as I do every few days. A man always it's always the man is reaching in to all the great bags.

He's not he's he's just taking grapes and eating. I'm talking about do you have you ever seen somebody do that? I've never seen somebody do that.

Oh my god, it makes me so

what does he do when he's eating at the grocery store? People

take grapes out of or cherries or things like blueberry things with their singles and their quote unquote, tasting them to see what they will never said I've never this man was not tasting he would not get in grapes. He simply was snacking on the grapes. And I looked at this man. Like with the most disgust and disdain. How dare you do that to my grapes. The cotton candy grapes.

I've never seen this Robin That is insane. To me. That sounds like it shouldn't be

illegal. It really that's why I was about to arrest him.

Wash your guys's fruit because apparently people are out here opening it and eating out of that thing. With their hands. Yes.

Literally reaching it and popping in and it wasn't like he was taking one he was taking like five out of each bag.

That's insane. Absolutely. Yeah. That is so deserving of a citizen's arrest.

Immediate jail without bail. Honestly

Oh, Get in mind citizen's arrest is on. Tick tock mental health services. Oh, oh,

you know, I'm talking my no i Well, I think I know what you're gonna say. You know?

Sometimes I'm in a zone. It's sometimes I need to scroll on tick tock. Yes. And then that little man Jobson. Hey, would you like to get some water? Would you like to lay down? You can come back and your video will be right here. Yeah, no, man, I know me

alone. And then they make me type in my password, Lee,

because I've set that up. I know. Sir. I know. It's 11pm and I've been scrolling for 45 minutes. You don't need to pop in only 45. I don't know how long until you know, I don't think it's

like two hours for me.

Maybe that's why I think it's been 45 minutes, but it's been two hours. And he's like, hey, get some water. Get some food.

He's like, Oh, did I ever tell you about the one that literally went? Are you feeling lonely? Do I tell you about that one. I think her name was like, Don, you'll probably get it now that we've said it out loud or your phone's listening. But she's like, Hey, are you feeling lonely? Maybe like cold phone down? Yeah. I was like, fuck you. So yes. Also, yes, Dawn, whatever her name is.

I feel so ashamed when they come on there that I actually turned my phone off because I'm embarrassed for myself. But no one's around. I'm just myself. Like she is it works.

The thing is is like the little passcode thing does not work for sure. I typed the passcode and I forget I ever did it. The minute Don pops up and asked me if I'm alone. I closed the app and I walk away.

Yeah, it is. So shaming, citizen's arrest. I understand the ethos behind it. But it really makes me I'm like, Oh my God, I need to like go to a therapy session. Right?

I know. They're like, are you okay? But honestly, like, who's only scrolling tick? This is why I can't go on tick tock. I have to post something and leave or only look at what you've sent me you encounter. Because I will not stop scrolling.

27:05

I know last night we and Joe both got in bed and like the lights were off and he goes, should we scroll tick tock? I think yes. I just like curled up and we just like he just scrolled for me. We were like,

so he likes your feet. I don't know what Joe's feed

would be. Joe's is a lot of personal development. A lot of spirituality. A lot of skateboarding, surfing, I was gonna say outdoorsy, very outdoorsy, kind of stuff. You know, some of it's my flavor. What's your

current Tiktok Oh, what are you on right now?

I am on natural hair. Spiritual, which gay? A new mom tick tock. Oh, interesting. What are you on? I am also

on which talk gay talk a lot of dogs. A lot of dogs come on dog talk. I used to be on baby talk. But I think I kept scrolling past them because I'm like, I can't keep doing this. You can put not interested in fall in love with these little babies. I know I love Have you seen the one who he like talks a lot. And he lives on a farm and he has his chickens and he calls him his girl. Yes.

28:14

Oh, I love him. And he has a moment. Yes, I know exactly. Your document. I

love him so much. I had to stop I was like, scroll away because I'm like, I will watch this child for days. And then there's another one that I've recently got. Oh, I'm on ADHD tic tock

I'm on ADHD tic tock because of you but you

know what I don't get type one tick tock spy on tick tock healer send me type one tick tock

you know what it is? I actually watched them I'm so I love watching people change their decks coms. Doing a change. And I'm like, I don't know because I know you so well. I'm like feel I feel like I'm part of the community and clearly I am because I'm on. No you are on type one tic tac toe you really are.

Like, if there's an advocate for type one people it is Corinne. She knows the facts.

I know the facts. And I know the lingo. And I know the devices and

she's she is on. And I trust that you would not kill me. If I were in an emergency. Everybody's like, so like give me more insulin right? And I'm like, please do not I will die so fast.

I would never I would never. We have gotten off Topic. Topic.

But you know what, that's the that's really the end of the episode. That's the end of the episode.

You guys if you liked this episode, we have a similar episode, which is episode 76. It's called Sustainable Living, simple ways to be more eco friendly. So you can also just start there if the composting feels a little complicated, just you know, make some little change in there. Very simple. They are very similar. And if you guys liked the episode, feel free to rate and review it. We read your reviews on the podcast so I keep saying this you might get

you might get famous, you never know. And we

will be back next week with another episode. Love you guys goodbye.