Did you know that the average household produces nearly 200 pounds of kitchen waste every year? According to the King County Solid Waste Division in Washington, more than 35 percent of waste collected from the county's single family residences is composed of food scraps and soiled paper. That amounts to over 250,000 tons of food waste and soiled paper per year in only one county. All of that could be recycled into compost.

If you currently have a compost bin or pile on your property consider saving food scraps from your kitchen, if you don't already. You can take the material to your main bin daily or even weekly. If you plan to wait more than a day, though, I would suggest you consider purchasing a compost keeper for your kitchen. Compost keepers typically are sealed containers for storing food waste. Some models are even equipped with replaceable carbon filters that are useful for eliminating odors between trips to your compost pile.

For those more adventurous souls, vermiculture, or worm composting is another option. Worm composting can be done inside your own home. Gardeners who choose this method often have a bin directly under their sinks. This bin, filled with living earthworms, is the new waste bin for food scraps instead of the trash can. The worms quietly go about turning your waste into "castings" that make up an extremely fertile material that also conditions your soil.

Composting in the kitchen can add beneficial nutrients and amendments to your garden soil while saving landfill space at the same time. Have you begun to take part in this recycling effort? I have.