garbage bowl

While Rachael Ray has taught the world the importance of a garbage bowl, a handy dumping bowl she leaves on the counter while cooking, it's 2010 and time for us to take it one step further. Meet the compost bowl! From garlic skins to mushroom stems, a lot of kitchen waste is compostable. To ensure that I remember to compost, I've started collecting unwanted scraps in a compost bowl. When the bowl is full, simply dump in the compost bin and wash as you would any other cooking bowl. Not only is it environmentally friendly, but it's quick and easy, and it promotes a clean-as-you-cook mentality.

Rachael Ray may have popularized the concept of the garbage bowl, but I have my own version that I think is even better. When peeling, trimming, and chopping vegetables, I like to cut open a plastic bag — the kind you get the produce in works just fine — and use it as a makeshift container for all the vegetable scraps.

Not only do I feel like I'm getting one more use out of a plastic bag that would sooner be trash, but I also don't have to worry about washing another dish. Cleanup couldn't be easier: dump the scraps into a compost pail, or wrap the mess into a plastic ball and toss it away.

How do you dispose of kitchen scraps?