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Science

My Compost Bin And I 308

Posted by Hemos from the building-from-scraps dept.
John writes "There they were, staring at me with a last glimmer of hope. I tried to turn to avoid the cries of help they echoed, but they were too much for me to bare. Minutes later, with an insight of knowledge, I quickly devised a plan to rescue these dying souls. And out of the bitter remains I found around my place of refuge, I constructed a home for them - somewhere where they could be in peace - a compost bin. The vegetable scraps rejoiced! Their time of suffering was no longer, for my divine plan had taken effect. "
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My Compost Bin And I More

My Compost Bin And I

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  • Rubbish (Score:5, Funny)

    by Archangel Michael ( 180766 ) on Friday November 08, 2002 @06:07PM (#4629406) Journal
    What a bunch of rubbish. I cannot believe /. would post this pile of rotting crapola.

  • Wow (Score:5, Funny)

    by Pahroza ( 24427 ) on Friday November 08, 2002 @06:10PM (#4629419)
    People have been building compost heaps for years and years and years. How exactly is this news? Oh!!! I think I got it! A geek who went outside!
    • I'll just declare the funky looking stuff in the back of the fridge to be "compost."
      • actually.. you wouldn't believe what happened to my carrots, black goo. black goo.

        and when potatoes grow out of the fridge, then it's way past the time they should have been eaten..(they'll do it really.)

        what this compost has to do with news for nerds/ stuff that matters i have no idea.. if one doesn't know about composts he should have not skipped elementary school.

    • Re:Wow (Score:3, Interesting)

      by ackthpt ( 218170 )
      A geek who went outside!

      Not just one, but one of many!

      Years ago I embarked upon an organic garden (which you can really get into) in my back yard. Learning about the ins and outs of soil, composting, sympathetic planting, etc. much of it through USENET gardening groups before there were even web browsers. Hacking an organic garden can be no less rewarding or involved than any coding project. Including the internet (as it was at the time) and assistance from several gardening buffs who know how to get to USENET (and a few university extension offices (Ohio State, Michigan State to name a couple)) made it all the more cool. Too bad I now live in a townhouse, with no garden option. :-(

      • Re:Wow (Score:2, Interesting)

        by statichead ( 66370 )
        Lets not forget the beneficial nematodes, insect warfare and the green manures. There is definitely some sort of strange parallel to the computer code/networking worlds in this. I think it may have to to with the infinite intricate relationships that coexist in a certain space.

    • Re:Wow (Score:2, Interesting)

      by Amerist ( 183586 )
      Bleh. While this excursion was interesting--and it's true that it's funny that a geek went outside--but I myself think that composting is a worthwhile project.

      Look at it. While it doesn't involve computers it does involve a little bit of a construction project, and there is a bit of science to it. In fact there are multiple types of composting. I found a good site (below) that lists through them.

      http://www.earth911.org/master.asp?s=lib&a=organ ic s/organics.asp

      I especially like the picture for Vermiculture (eew worms.)

      • Re:Wow (Score:2, Interesting)

        by Pahroza ( 24427 )
        I do agree with you, I was not making light of someone composting, but rather that this isn't something new, and not really news for nerds. There are a myriad of websites out there that provide information for this sort of thing.

        I'll grant that it is nice to see the occasional submission that doesn't relate to computers, but the only correlation I can see between this story and slashdot is that gardeners are frequently referred to as having a "green thumb", and slashdot is occasionally referred to as having an ugly "green theme". :)
    • Wow, indeed!
      "This is my solution. Four upside down pot plants."
      The local cops are going to be *very interested* in those POT PLANTS!
    • I built a compost pile indoors. Only thing is, mine seems awfully heavy on the silicon chips ;)

  • Some one should hurry and register TrashBinMods.com

  • news for nerds? (Score:2, Interesting)

    by archen ( 447353 )
    Eh... why exactly does this qualify for a slashdot article (frontpage)? Granted it looks more advanced than my grandma's compost pile of three sticks and some chicken wire, but in the end a compost pike is still just a pile of crap!

    • Eh... why exactly does this qualify for a slashdot article (frontpage)? . . . but in the end a compost pike is still just a pile of crap!

      And this would differ from most slashdot articles because . . . ?

    • Re:news for nerds? (Score:5, Insightful)

      by Em Emalb ( 452530 ) <ememalb@gm a i l . com> on Friday November 08, 2002 @06:34PM (#4629579) Homepage Journal
      wellllll....let's take a look at the old faq:

      Slashdot is many things to many people. Some people think it's a Linux site. To others, it's a geek hangout. I've always worked very hard to make sure that Slashdot matches up with my interests and the interests of my authors. We think we're pretty typical Slashdot readers... but that does mean that occasionally one of us might post something that you think is inappropriate.

      That's why.
    • Yeah, this article topic (compost) is pretty boring. Maybe someone thought it involved cloning, or our rights online.

  • The Dungeon Master Speaks... (Score:5, Funny)

    by Anonvmous Coward ( 589068 ) on Friday November 08, 2002 @06:12PM (#4629437)
    "Minutes later, with an insight of knowledge, I quickly devised a plan to rescue these dying souls. And out of the bitter remains I found around my place of refuge, I constructed a home for them -"

    Anybody else read that expecting to hear "And then I rolled a three..."?
  • Interesting article. I think you have to stir the compost every so often though. They make commercial ones that are like rotating drums for that purpose. This guy's gonna have to dig around in it with a shovel or something. Gotta admire his enthusiasm.
  • How does this make a "News for Nerds. Stuff that matters"??????? It maybe a slow news day but it can't be that slow, is he atleast using the compost for a case mod????? is there a super cooled overclocked 5GHz Athlon at the bottom????
  • Slashdot r00ted by compost loving hippie!

  • Pocket Mulch (Score:5, Funny)

    by antis0c ( 133550 ) on Friday November 08, 2002 @06:14PM (#4629456)
    Lisa: My name's Lisa Simpson. I think your protest was incredibly brave.
    Jesse: Thank you. This planet needs every friend it can get.
    Lisa: Oh, the earth is the best! That's why I'm a vegetarian.
    Jesse: Heh. Well, that's a start.
    Lisa: Uh, well, I was thinking of going vegan.
    Jesse: [chuckles] I'm a level 5 vegan -- I won't eat anything that casts a
    shadow.
    Lisa: Wow. Um ... I started an organic compost pile at home.
    Jesse: Only at home? You mean you don't pocket-mulch? [takes out pocket
    stuff for Lisa to feel]

  • Roof? (Score:3, Interesting)

    by Cyno01 ( 573917 ) <Cyno01@hotmail.com> on Friday November 08, 2002 @06:14PM (#4629459) Homepage
    I don't get it. Why all the work on the tiles on top, why would you want to keep rain out of your compost heap? Doesn't the moisture help with the decomposition? Could someone enlighten me on this before i ask four questions in a row?
    • Well, like he says, rainwater will leech out a lot of the nutrients from the heap. There's a fine balance to be struck in compost, between damp and dry, hot and cold, etc, etc, but usually the moisture from the scraps you put in there is sufficient (of course, check it regularly and add water if it's looking dry).

      However, a slightly easier way of doing it is just to pop a square of left-over carpet on top of your bin.

    • Re:Roof? (Score:2, Informative)

      by Jeremiah Blatz ( 173527 )
      I don't get it. Why all the work on the tiles on top, why would you want to keep rain out of your compost heap? Doesn't the moisture help with the decomposition? Could someone enlighten me on this before i ask four questions in a row?

      As others have pointed out, too much moisture is bad. Also, the roof can help keep in heat (although this one doesn't look great for that). Heat is good. Heat speeds up decomposition, discourages weeds, and kills off pathogens.

      I made a composter out of a plastic 55 gallon garbage can with a locking lid. Holes in the bottom and sides, none in the top. When I'm paying attention to moisture levels and adding at the right nitrogen/carbon mix, it gets hot enough to steam. The locking lid keeps out raccoons, too.

  • This "news" article being posted on slashdot... (Score:5, Insightful)

    by ice-nine ( 149145 ) <`gentaro' `at' `gmail.com'> on Friday November 08, 2002 @06:15PM (#4629469)
    ... really makes a case for moderation of articles, and not just comments.

  • Slashdot irony (Score:2, Interesting)

    by Anonymous Coward

    Story on neutron stars [slashdot.org] - 2 comments, 1 of which is FP

    Story on a pile of crap [slashdot.org] - 30 comments

  • Greencone + Compost + Recycle = little garbage (Score:5, Informative)

    by Neil Blender ( 555885 ) <neilblender@gmail.com> on Friday November 08, 2002 @06:17PM (#4629483)
    I recently bought a house. One of the first things I did was build a compost bin and buy a greencone [greencone.com]. Between that and recycling, I have very little garbage each week. Another benefit is no smelly garbage in the house since everything that rots or decomposes goes in either the green cone or the compost.
    • good.

      nice start.
      Just so you know where it can go; with not too much effort our family of 4 has reduce trash to a total of 2 bags per week on average.

    • For those in apartments, you may want to check out Mary Appelhof's worm compost [wormwoman.com] info.

    • Greencone.com is slashdotted, but here's the UK web site: greengardener.co.uk [greengardener.co.uk]

    • food waste breeds vermin. (Score:5, Insightful)

      by twitter ( 104583 ) on Friday November 08, 2002 @07:53PM (#4629954) Homepage Journal
      There are good reasons to throw food wastes away. Vermin, large and small, can turn your little pile into a real biohazard. A better soloution is to eat what you buy and don't buy things you will throw away.

      A neighbor I once had composted all their kitchen scraps in our shared back yard and there I learned that not all things rot well. It stank, but that was the least of it's problems. The pile fed rats and scattered the mess all over. I was not happy to think of the backyard as a magnet for flea bearing pests and kept the cats inside. Cats that got out got fleas and had to be treated. Fleas are a serious health hazard. The raccoons I feed don't seem to give me the same problems.

      Other nasties can flourish in your obstensibly friendly compost heap. Crop pests have been known to winter in compost heaps outside processing plants. Pests like potato weavils can decimate crops and require extensive use of pesticides if they are not all eliminated from a given region. While the chances of such pests wintering in your pile may be remote, you might not want to make that pile if you don't know how to recognize the pests. Molds and blights that might have slipped past customs can also take up residence in your given area if you simply throw your wastes out on the ground to rot. Whole regions of Florida have been ruined by citrus blight.

      The landfill is a good place for food wastes. Sanitary landfills are called that because they get sealed up. Clay lined and capped, stuff goes in and does not come out. It's one place I don't mind food wastes becoming black gold.

      According to the cited article, food wastes make up 10% of the waste stream on average but they can represent much less than that. I hate putting food wastes into the trash, so I try to eat everything. Carcases become stocks, leftovers are frozen in meal size portions, Jambalya, pasta and tacos eat all the spare meat. It's not that hard to do. Modern food processing assures that most food mass is used.

      Want great soil? By all means, composte your lawn clippings, the leaves you rake and other stuff that naturally hits the ground. Oak leaves are some of the best and you can find wonderful soil in gutters where people are sloppy about raking their yards. If you must tread into the wild world of rotten food, please watch your pile and try not to obnox your neighbors.

      I don't have much garbage either.

      • Re:food waste breeds vermin. (Score:5, Informative)

        by david.given ( 6740 ) <dg@cowlark.com> on Friday November 08, 2002 @08:39PM (#4630161) Homepage Journal
        A neighbor I once had composted all their kitchen scraps in our shared back yard and there I learned that not all things rot well. It stank, but that was the least of it's problems.

        Well, yeah. That's why you get a Green Cone. They're deceptively simple; there's some very cunning engineering in there that makes your compost decompose properly. It's not just a bucket.

        Basically, it's a solar-powered convector. There's a big air space inside, and baffles to route the air into the compost. The air is drawn through the material, maintaining high oxygen levels and preventing anaerobic decomposition (this was the problem you had; without proper ventilation, you get anaerobic bacteria, which produce assorted unpleasant substances including ketones, which smell to high heaven). It's largely sealed and even if you leave the lid off, they don't smell.

        If installed properly --- it's got to get sunlight --- it basically requires no maintenance. You put waste in. Nothing comes out. The decomposed material is absorbed into the ground under the Cone. They say that in a particularly bad year the bacteria might not be able to decompose everything, and you may need to empty it... but this will only happen every couple of years at most.

        They are seriously neat gadgets, and are a stunning example of high-tech designs implemented in low-tech materials. They're definately worth checking out at their website [greencone.com]. If I didn't have a flat I'd buy one like a shot.

        ...

        The same sort of technology is coming into fashion. In Australia I've seen lavatories built this way. These have a solar-powered fan to force the air through the waste; air is sucked down through the lavatory, through the sewage, which is kept dry, and then vented out a chimney at the top. No water needed. No power needed. No maintenance needed, except for someone to come and clean the human-accessable bits every now and then. In fact, you can make money out of them --- the processed sewage is top-grade fertiliser.

        • I have a feeling the rats would have eaten your green cone, neat as it may be where you live. Here in the fettid swamps of Louisianna, garbage stinks, especially when confined in a box. Everything is too moist unless you hang it from a line, and even then it moulders.

          I'm going to stick to eating the majority of food I bring home.

      • IIRC, a while back Consumer Reports (who tend to be "environmentally conscious") said it was a Good Thing to grind up food scraps in the garbage disposal. This way, it ends up back in the biosphere instead of entombed in a hermetically sealed landfill taking up space that would be better be used by junked computers. Since the garbage disposal is easy and fun, I'm signed up for that.

        As for composting, that leaves us with leaves. My municipal government's website suggests: "Try running them over with a mulching mower". Since I got a shiny new mulching mower this year, I tried it. My verdict: kick ass. Easy and fun; and no more raking. Leaves are shredded to tiny confetti that sinks into the grass. (As long as you don't let them build up too much between mowings.)

        So now, I don't throw out any biomass, and I don't have to break my back tending to piles of dirt.

        • IIRC, a while back Consumer Reports (who tend to be "environmentally conscious") said it was a Good Thing to grind up food scraps in the garbage disposal. This way, it ends up back in the biosphere instead of entombed in a hermetically sealed landfill...

          I grind mine up in my mouth. It goes to the same place in a pipe that was designed for it. Ba-woosh!

        • a Good Thing to grind up food scraps in the garbage disposal. This way, it ends up back in the biosphere

          Many years ago Asimov wrote an essay about phosphorus, calling it "life's bottleneck". I can't find the essay online but here's a brief piece [earthfoot.org] that discusses it.

          "...phosphorus leaches from our soils, is removed from the land in the crops we harvest, and flows down our drains whenever we use phosphorus-rich detergents or flush the commode (phosphorus was in the land, then in the agricultural crop we ate, the phosphorus passed through us, and now we're flushing it away...) and phosphorus ends up flowing into our streams and rivers and ultimately to the oceans. There it settles into mud and is not returned to the land except by geological processes requiring millions of years."

          Disposals might not be such a good idea after all.

      • Thank you obsessive-compulsives for breeding several new strains of super bugs that will kill us all.

        I think it's amazing that this kind of attitude still exists. Where do you think your great grandparents' organic waste is now? Rotted away on a compost heap, that's where.

        You need to realise that sometimes the low-tech solution is the best one.
  • And this doesn't???

    This was rejected yesterday within 15 minutes of being submited.

    "It is now official. On November 2, US President George Bush signed the department of justice Authorisation Bill which will make extension for H-1B visas easier.

    It will also make it possible for more Indian doctors to live and work in the US once their academic programme is over.

    The extension of H-1B visas will particularly benefit the IT sector. This is good news for Indian H-1B visa holders, as nearly 50% of them are working in the high-tech sector. "

    http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/cms.dll/html /u ncomp/articleshow?artid=27499106

    • Re:This gets posted??? (Score:3, Interesting)

      by cscx ( 541332 )
      Welcome to the club.

      2002-09-01 22:46:39 Greek Government Bans *All* Video Games (yro,censorship) (rejected)
      2002-09-02 02:10:17 MLB Wants to Shut Down Fan Web Sites (yro,censorship) (rejected)
      2002-09-03 15:37:59 N'Sync Star Replaced With Cargo on Soyuz Mission (articles,humor) (rejected)
      2002-09-04 23:30:12 "Smart" Furniture (articles,tech) (rejected)
      2002-09-05 08:17:26 First Commercial Moon Trip OKed (science,space) (rejected)
      2002-09-06 17:02:22 RIAA Shuts Down Aimster (yro,censorship) (rejected)
      2002-09-08 09:50:52 Japan to Test Space Shuttle Technology (articles,space) (rejected)
      2002-09-10 23:43:26 Man Jailed For Playing Tetris On Airplane (articles,humor) (rejected)
      2002-09-11 08:30:34 How to Cook With Lava (articles,humor)
      2002-09-16 09:12:31 Saturn V Space Junk Could Strike Moon (articles,space) (rejected)
      2002-10-19 06:00:31 Jesse Helms Freezes Bill, Saves Small Webcasters (articles,news) (rejected)
      2002-10-21 03:04:41 Windows NT 6 (Longhorn) Screenshots Revealed (articles,microsoft) (rejected)
      2002-10-27 16:34:33 World's Smallest Computer (articles,tech) (rejected)
      2002-11-05 16:49:13 Self-Healing Battle Tanks (articles,tech) (rejected)
      2002-11-06 01:38:02 Google's 'Compute' takes on Distributed Computing (articles,security) (rejected)
      An interesting story is that a good 4 or 5 of those stories were posted A WEEK or more LATER. Note the one about cooking with lava is still 'pending.' Hemos might post that one; it's evident from this story that he's a tree-hugger. =)

      • Two comments here....

        1- This is exactly the kind of story that gets everyone weierded out...

        2This is why I stopped submitting stories. There are hundreds of geeks submitting the same story so (i believe) the editors toss most submissions except ones from their friends and/or long time /. residents.

        Off-hand, I'd say that over 600 people losing their jobs as Philips Semiconductors shuts down their fab in Albuquerque is more on-topic than this story. Google news [google.com] (And that's why I'm using my +1 bonus, instead of just letting it sit at a score of 1.)

        (And of course, it'll be modded down as troll/off-topic within minutes. Oh Well.)

  • Composting ideas (Score:5, Interesting)

    by nothing_23 ( 530363 ) on Friday November 08, 2002 @06:19PM (#4629491) Homepage Journal
    I am currently taking a class on Sustainable Resource Sciences. Last week we had a lecture [washington.edu]on composting. I can't believe that people pay the city to take their yard waste away, and then pay someone else money to buy soil amendments for their garden.
    Here are some other links my professor provided:
    http://compostingcouncil.org/ [compostingcouncil.org]
    http://www.oldgrowth.org/compost/ [oldgrowth.org]
    Or here is the lecture in pdf format [washington.edu]

  • "Four upside down pot plants." (Score:5, Funny)

    by NineNine ( 235196 ) on Friday November 08, 2002 @06:21PM (#4629501)
    In the article, the author mentions that "Four upside down pot plants." help with circulation. I don't know about him, but four pot plants, upside down or otherwise, don't help me with circulation... they knock me on my ass.
  • maybe it's because I have a compost pile in my backyard, and on cold September mornings, I would look outside and see it steaming. Seems to have gone dormant now.

    It's a nice change. Consider it kind an environmental-enema for those constipated with too much technology.

  • So? (Score:5, Interesting)

    by Tremblay99 ( 534187 ) on Friday November 08, 2002 @06:25PM (#4629522)
    I've been using a plastic worm compostor for years ... add kitchen scraps and paper, the worms digest everything several times faster than any compost pile.

    Oh yeah, standard designs all have drainage, and most are made to work indoors (low/no stink, if done properly). Just check out a link [cityfarmer.org] or two [cornell.edu].

  • Never quite understood (Score:5, Funny)

    by Dirtside ( 91468 ) on Friday November 08, 2002 @06:26PM (#4629529) Journal
    I've never quite understood what the purpose of a compost pile is. I'm vaguely aware of the organic matter in the pile decaying, and large piles can get rather warm (a big enough pile may burst into flame, or so I've heard). But, uh... why are we making compost piles, exactly?

    Oh, yeah, and add me to the growing list of people who vote this article Least. Relevant. Slashdot. Article. Ever.

  • Good article... (Score:5, Insightful)

    by NineNine ( 235196 ) on Friday November 08, 2002 @06:26PM (#4629532)
    What is this I see?? An article on Slashdot that's *NOT* about Evil Microsoft or the Evil government? Be still my beatign heart! Is this an acknowledgement that there are geeks that don't just sit around and write angry letters to senator's junk mail boxes about the evils or Microsoft and the lack of privacy while waiting for the last hour's version of Mozilla to compile on a Gentoo box used to play Quake 3? Dear God! I am *so* impressed. As a part time biology geek, I was fucking thrilled to see this post. Keep it up. There's more to true geekiness than OSS and boring anti-privacy law garbage.

  • How lame (Score:5, Informative)

    by jukal ( 523582 ) on Friday November 08, 2002 @06:27PM (#4629536) Journal
    why don't you instead turn the compost bins into electricity generators. There was a related story on slashdot, which I could not find, so instead, read this [blythe.org](generating electricity with biomass):

    Cuba is about to start the nation's first-ever sugar cane harvest in which a sugar mill will not make SUGAR, but instead will be generating electricity from the biomass.

  • don't roll your own (Score:3, Interesting)

    by TheSHAD0W ( 258774 ) on Friday November 08, 2002 @06:29PM (#4629557) Homepage
    Building a compost heap is an annoying piece of work; and you have to tend the thing, stirring it up. They make a rolling composter [buychoice.com] that, instead of having to dig and churn all that smelly stuff, you just roll the bin around to mix it.

  • Well done (Score:2, Insightful)

    by otisaardvark ( 587437 )
    Despite all the "rubbish" jokes here, environmental protection and awareness is to be applauded. A little effort (switching lightbulbs off when leaving rooms, putting scrap paper in a separate bin) can make a tangible difference. Sorry for getting all philosophical, but I reckon that in general, we can (and should) argue for our rights; enforcing our responsibilities (in this case, to the environment) should be a matter for the conscience but is just as important. Well done to the guy.

  • I have a compost pile, too (Score:5, Funny)

    by spun ( 1352 ) <loverevolutionary@@@yahoo...com> on Friday November 08, 2002 @06:38PM (#4629600) Journal
    It's in my sink. I use a stack of dirty dishes to protect it.

  • Rotten compost (Score:5, Interesting)

    by kitzilla ( 266382 ) <.moc.liamg. .ta. .gorfrepap.> on Friday November 08, 2002 @06:40PM (#4629609) Homepage Journal
    Slashdotted already. :-)

    Glad the guy is composting, but--for whatever a gardening discussion is worth on a tech site--I don't think he's got enough air circulation going on.

    The holes look too small. He also doesn't discuss how he's going to turn the pile, which is real important in closed compost bins.No oxygen equals stinky sludge. Mmmm...nummy!

    The simplest (and one of the most effective) compost heap is just a big ole pile laying directly on the ground. Put a bit of carpet remnant on the top to hold moisture, and you're golden. Piles can be made neater with a bit of chicken wire and some supports. Real low-tech stuff.

    Here's a link to all things rotten:

    http://www.oldgrowth.org/compost/

    Twinkies don't compost, by the way. Something my kids discovered.

    • Re:Rotten compost (Score:3, Interesting)

      by ultramk ( 470198 )
      Twinkies don't compost, by the way. Something my kids discovered.

      More than that, they're nearly immune to aging. Back when I was a freshman art student ('93, 94?) I made a sculpture [pacbell.net] featuring an ordinary Twinky, in a lexan case I created that was supposed to reference Lenin's final resting place... it's even internally lit.

      Before you ask, no, I didn't spray the Twinky with anything. Straight out of the package. The case is not air-tight, but it's close.

      Of course, it was in a couple of student shows while I was at school, but I figured when it started lookiing nasty, I'd pop in a new one. That was almost 10 years ago, and it still looks great, as you can see (I took those photos about 5 minutes ago). Notice the dust on top of the case? I do dust it every 6 months or so...

      I noticed a bit of shrinkage last year, but it's pretty slight. Of course, discussing art on /. is like asking the guy at TacoBell about optimal router configurations, but I thought you all might be amused.

      Michael-
      • Wouldn't you love to be a fly on the ceiling when some archeologist digs that thing up in a couple thousand years. You've created the stuff of doctoral dissertations in the year 4002:

        "The Cult of the Twinkie"

        "Ancient Snack Foods and Burial Tradition"

        "If Only We Could Dig Up an RC Cola to Go With This"

      • Does this mean that with my strict diet of Twinkies and Sobe I'm going to live forever? Or am I just going to be perfectly preserved after I die?
      • A friend of ours used to have a snack cake collection. In the original packaging.

        I can see this on "Antiques Roadshow" in a few years.
      • Of course, discussing art on /. is like asking the guy at TacoBell about optimal router configurations

        A lot of us who programmed routers so well they didn't require much attention are now out of jobs, so you might be surprised.

        I got to talking to one of the checkout guys I always saw on my 3 A.M. grocery trips in Portland, and found out he used to be a tech recruiter for guys like me... that's about when I decided I had to move back home before I ran out of savings.
  • garbage...!

    we're talking eco-garbage here, right...?

    i just wonder what the SMELL will be like.

    like most ecological efforts i'm aware of, in real life they STINK.

  • required reading about compost (Score:5, Interesting)

    by gordona ( 121157 ) on Friday November 08, 2002 @06:41PM (#4629613) Homepage
    A poem by Walt Whitman, innocently entitled "This Compost" (http://www.riles.org/compost.htm), reveals all there is to know about compost. On the earth beneath our feet he asks where all the rotting corpses have gone and how such sweet things like blackberries and apples can grow "out of such corruptions". But read it for yourself and behold the awe and mystery of the grand design. When looked at it this way, each of us becomes fodder for something else!
  • /. editors: If you are trying to when best headline that poll is already over. You've probably got weirdest article hands down though.
  • Now that the site is slashdotted, I can only make assumptions regarding what this post is really about.

    Did he use the decaying vegitables as a power source for his server perhaps?

  • I thought this was a story about yet another way a company could get around renaming the "Recycle Bin" similar to what MS did to Mac.
  • Even if you are not a pothead (I'm retired :) this site [overgrow.com] has such cool solutions to growing ahem...*plants* indoors, you could easily spend a hour there. DISCLAIMER: Obviously you take your chances, so don't actually do it. I don't and don't know anyone who does. This is proof of concept only. :)

    Don't be surprised when you're hungry after you visit.


  • And not the composting variety:

    >Critical Error! Unable to make a connection to the database.

    >Please be patient while we fix the problem. Thanks!

    I think we just helped him add a bit of silicon to his compost pile.
  • But she didn't do a webpage about it, so I guess that's why it's not on the front page of slashdot.

    In fact I spent many, MANY long hours teaching her how to use her mac.

    Anyway compost silos are cool, everyone with a house should have one unless they have enough people to justify an actual compost pile. This is, however, something like 20 people in most cases.

    The major advantages to having a compost silo over a pile are as follows: It takes up less space, it works faster because it traps heat, it ends up as a farm for earthworms which are good for your soil (and mine) and of course, it reduces the amount of stinky garbage in your trash can.

  • Compost Queen (Score:3, Funny)

    by Embedded Geek ( 532893 ) on Friday November 08, 2002 @07:11PM (#4629766) Homepage
    "My whole life had been spent waiting for an epiphany, a manifestation of God's presence, the kind of transcendent, magical experience that lets you see your place in the big picture. And that is what I had with my first compost heap"

    - Bette Midler [experiencethedivine.com], on being named "Compost Queen" in Los Angeles, c. 1990s

  • The scary part is that this will probably end up being a slashback subject once spring comes along and thaws his now-frozen compost pile.

  • Trashdot... (Score:2, Funny)

    by Zildy ( 32593 )
    News for worms, stuff that festers.

  • That compost bin sucks. (Score:5, Informative)

    by leastsquares ( 39359 ) on Friday November 08, 2002 @07:17PM (#4629803) Homepage
    1) Who cares about the compost getting wet when it rains? So long as the drainage is fairly good, a bit of rain won't hurt.

    2) It looks like it is sitting in the sun. That's going to really stink in the summer. Instead of being a nice place friendly mold/fungi/insects to hang out, it is just going to attact wasps and roaches in the summer.

    3) How do the worms get in? Worms really help to make good compost. They mix it around, while eating much nasty bacteria.

    Not that I'm an expert in composting or anything. He should have just cut a couple of 6 inch holes in the bottom of his box and sat it on some soil.
    • Our composter doesn't stink - you throw a layer of soil on top everytime you add.

      Worms make it in - not sure how - ours is packed.

      No wasps, and no roaches. We don't have cockroaches here. Wasps in the summer, but more attracted to flowers and garbage.
    • Yeah, that was my point. This bin will yield lots of nasty sludge, not new soil.

      Then he'll say composting doesn't work.

    • Who cares about the compost getting wet when it rains? So long as the drainage is fairly good, a bit of rain won't hurt
      Wet compost is bad. Compost must be moist in order to work. Wet compost gets moldy, mold is bad. (See below)
      It looks like it is sitting in the sun. That's going to really stink in the summer. Instead of being a nice place friendly mold/fungi/insects to hang out, it is just going to attact wasps and roaches in the summer.
      Heat is good. The bacteria that make compost go like heat. The mold and fungus make stuff smell bad, they don't particularly like it hot. (Warm, yes. Hot, no.)
      How do the worms get in? Worms really help to make good compost. They mix it around, while eating much nasty bacteria.
      Worm composting is an entirely different process from bacterial composting. Worm composting has its good points (like it gives you non-smelly organic fertilizer [aka worm pee]), but it's a lot harder than regualr composting.
      Not that I'm an expert in composting or anything.
      You have made that much abundantly clear.
  • Barlow: You know, there are three things we're never going to get rid of here in Springfield: one, the bats in the public library, two, Mrs. McFierly's compost heap, and three, our six-term mayor, the illiterate, tax-cheating, wife-swapping, pot-smoking, spendocrat Diamond Joe Quimby.

    Quimby: Hey, I am no longer illiterate.

    Jesse: I'm a level 5 vegan, I won't eat anything that casts a shadow.

    Lisa: Wow. Um ... I started an organic compost pile at home.

    Jesse: Only at home? You mean you don't pocket-mulch?

    Bart: Hey, Lawn Boy! You missed a spot!

    Willy: When I'm done with you, they'll have to do a compost-mortem!

    Marge: Now throw compost on it!

  • I used to grow my pot in compost! (Score:3, Interesting)

    by Newer Guy ( 520108 ) on Friday November 08, 2002 @08:16PM (#4630074)
    It grew well..nice sticky buds... and somehow it just seemed to make sense...mother earth's weed grown in mother earth's compost. Oh, those were the days!

  • I've been practicing organic yard management for years.

    Although in my case its known as

    1) "to cheap to replace the mower bag"

    B) "to fuckin lazy to rake the leaves"

  • If I was a slashdot editor I would not have filed this under "Science", but under which ever Topic John Katz hides behind these days?

    Speaking of Katz, has he not posted a story in a really long time? Maybe I just filtered him out.

  • The best reason for recycling: Laziness.

    The family compost heap at the family's northern holdings consists of two "wraparound" things -- rubbery, tough material with lots of holes in the sides which is basically collapsable, but stays up once there is a bit of material stretching the sides apart on the bottom. (Think of a botttomless, topless, pliant tube, with holes all over it.It exists as a shapeholder only when there is stuff inside of it.)

    Once in a while (ideally -- in practice we rarely do this, or feel the need to), you pull up the tube, relocate it, and pitch (as in pitchfork) in the pile of compost. you have left over, thus mixing it up, ensuring the different layers all get to know each other, etc.

    How is it Lazy? Simple -- the more that goes into the kitchen compost pot (in our case, actually old orange juice cartons fully opened so they have a large mouth ... in smarter houses, this is often a wide ceramic vessel with a lid), the less refuse Younger Son must carry to the garbage collection spot down the road.

    In the 8 or 9 years this system has been in place, I think we've emptied the resulting stuff only once -- super nice soil. Perhaps twice, but the point is the same. The point is, it is for our purposes a nearly bottomless sink for all the organic detritus we can toss in -- banana peels, dead plants, egg shells, mussel shells (ideally sundried and crushed), bread scraps, dead tea leaves, corn husks, onion peels, etc etc. Never noticed a bad odor, and have never seen rats or racoons near it. A few bugs, esp. when fruit items are left un-mixed-in, but that's OK. Acceptable tradeoff.

    If we were active gardeners instead of merely occasionaly putterers, we could probably both turn and empty this pile more frequently and get nice soil out of it more often, but ... we're not.

    So there you have it :)

    timothy
  • What site am I on again? I feel like I'm at kuro5hin.org [kuro5hin.org] the way this reads.

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