“Compost City: Practical Composting Know-How for Small-Space Living” (Roost Books, 2015) is a critically-acclaimed compost guide packed with fun and easy strategies that fit into any space, schedule and lifestyle.
I am so grateful to have had an opportunity to marry my passion for sustainable living with a lengthly career writing content for a broad audience. Compost City quells fears, eases ick-factor, and positions composting as a rewarding individual, family and community activity with a broad range of environmental and personal benefits.
Praise for Compost City
“Compost City is an excellent how-to book for anyone who wants to start composting, especially people who live in apartments and might not have a big backyard with ample space for a sprawling compost system. The book is both practical and funny, and is stuffed with DIY projects and anecdotes about urban composting success stories. TreeHugger.com
“Rebecca Louie’s small and handy book debunks the myths about composting, including the most disabling myth: that you can’t do it well in a suburb or a city … Louie makes the chemistry of compost and the various methods — open-air, vermiculture, trench composting, bokashi — easy to understand.”
The Denver Post
“A master composter and real-life eco-hero wielding a worm fork, Rebecca Louie makes composting fun, inviting, and accessible to everyone from beginners to gardening pros. She renews my faith in a sustainable future, and will inspire yours.”
Gabrielle Langholtz, editor of Edible Manhattan and Edible Brooklyn
“In Compost City, master composter Rebecca Louie explores simple and effective ways to compost almost anything you have in your fridge or garden, providing workable ideas with a generous helping of humour. Step by step guides to maintenance, worm farming or even container options for the urban gardener are detailed, yet digestible…Compost City is a playful and accessible book for composters new and seasoned alike.”
Sanctuary Magazine
“You’ve never seen a book on composting like this one—it’s wonderful. No excuses, no putting it off. Compost City guides even the most squeamish sophisticate into delightful partnership with browns, greens, and worms.”
Joel Salatin, farmer, author, and educator at Polyface Farm
“Compost City is a must-read for any would-be composter, urban or otherwise. In an informative, whimsical way, Rebecca Louie de-icks composting, debunks its myths, and DIY-ifies its methods. By the end, you’ll be able to compost this book, but you wouldn’t dream of doing so for fear of losing a vital resource.”
Jonathan Bloom, author of American Wasteland and creator of wastedfood.com
“Shelburne Farms is always looking for new ways to connect teachers and students with agriculture that goes beyond their time here on the farm. Compost is a crucial component to healthy food systems, but you don’t need 1,400 acres to practice this. Compost City illustrates all you need to know about recycling food, no matter how small the space at home or school. We believe that learning should be infused with joy and wonder, and Louie does just that with her fun, engaging style. Compost City will be well-used in our library.”
Alec Webb, President of Shelburne Farms, VT
“Composting is a great way to give back to the miraculous organism that is soil, and Rebecca Louie’s informative, hands-on, highly entertaining how-to makes this complex process real and doable for the home composter. It’s a fun read, and more important, it’s full of technical information and specific tips that empower anyone to go forth and compost successfully. Thank you, Rebecca! Compost City will help heal our cities and soil.”
Deborah Koons Garcia, writer, director, and producer of Symphony of the Soil and The Future of Food
Rebecca Louie 