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c/climate-action•finley777finley777•1mo ago

The day I realized I was rinsing my compost bucket with hot water (the horror!)

For like 2 years I was rinsing my little countertop compost bin with hot water every morning before emptying it. I thought I was being super clean about it, you know? Then my buddy who works at the city's waste diversion program saw me doing it and literally yelled 'stop!' with this look of pure shock. Turns out hot water kills off the good bacteria you actually want in your compost pile (whoops). I was basically nuking the whole microbiome before it even had a chance. Now I just give it a cold water rinse and let it air dry. Has anyone else had that moment where you find out your "clean" habit is actually making things worse?
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3 Comments
wells.brooke
Whoa I read this gardening blog that said hot water sterilizes compost faster than anything.
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butler.mark
Tbh that blog might be exaggerating a bit, cold rinse is totally fine.
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xena_miller31
One time I bleached my whole kitchen counter and then couldn't figure out why my sourdough starter stopped bubbling for a week. Bet my microbiome was just as sorry as yours.
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