Hot take: freezing my banana peels before composting killed the fruit fly problem in my 400 sq ft studio

Simon Bell · 2026-10-01T22:25:05.228675+00:00

I live in a 400 square foot studio in Portland and my compost bin was a nightmare for about 5 months, mainly because of fruit flies. Every time I opened the lid, a little cloud would puff out and I'd spend the next 20 minutes swatting at them with a dish towel. My neighbor Jen told me she freezes her scraps first, so I tried it. I filled a gallon ziplock bag with banana peels, coffee grounds, and onion skins and kept it in the freezer door for two weeks before dumping it in the bin. When I finally emptied it, the scraps were mushy and broke down way faster than usual, and I haven't seen a single fruit fly since. The freezer basically kills any eggs or larvae that ride in on the peels, which I never would have guessed on my own. My bin also smells way less now, which my roommate appreciates since it sits near the kitchen. Has anyone else tried this and had the same luck, or does it mess with the moisture too much over time?

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Hot take: freezing my banana peels before composting killed the fruit fly problem in my 400 sq ft studio | Apartment Composting - Topic Shares