Learning A New Kitchen Habit

Unbreaking a habit and replacing it with a new one is hard.

On October 6, it became mandatory in New York City for residents to separate food scraps from regular trash for the purpose of composting. Apartment buildings are required to provide bins for collecting the scraps. That makes it easy for residents like me — we just need to collect the scraps in our homes and deposit them in the bins, which are located in the trash area on every floor.

In preparation for this big event, my husband I purchased a small Oxo bin and some composting bags. We set it up on the kitchen counter and waited with great anticipation for the collection bins to be available in the building.

What we discovered was that the habit of throwing food scraps in the trash can was so ingrained and automatic that we kept forgetting to divert it to our new bin. To counteract this, I took a sticky note and added the word “Compost” in big letters. I stuck it on the lid of our trash can in the hope that it would interrupt our automatic habit.

We have been diverting metal, plastic, and paper into recycling bins for so long that I no longer remember what it was like not to do it. I probably had trouble adjusting to that new habit as well. Now it’s second nature.

I think the key to solidifying this new habit will be for me to remain mindful as I am preparing food. If I tune into what I am doing and don’t let my mind wander, I may be able to remember more consistently to turn to the compost bin before the trash can.

I get a really good feeling when I deposit my food scraps into the little bin. I am hoping that this sense of excitement will help keep me focused enough to develop this new habit. We will see how long it takes before it becomes automatic!