strange customs

we keep a lidded container the size of a very small bucket (4L) on our kitchen bench, it is for fruit and vegetable scraps to be collected. On a regular enough basis the bucket is emptied onto the compost heap which is located down the back of our yard. I instigated the scrap bucket when B and I first moved in together, although the scrap bucket was used to feed our worm farm. We were renting, and the landlord may not have approved of a compost heap. When we got our own place I introduced a neat compost bin (less fuss than the worm farm, no need to filter out the onion and citrus skins) and vegetable scrap collections resumed. With yet another move and a bigger yard, the bin is no longer and we have a full scale compost going. Now where was I going with this.... yes I instigated the scrap bucket, my mum had one which she emptied on a compost heap, my grandmother, and great grandmother on my mothers side had one, and they too had compost heaps. Although now my grandmother digs a hole in her garden and buries the buckets contents, moving from petunia patch to rose bed, and so on. I can't remember whether my grandmother on my dad's side had one or not. The point is, and yes I am getting to it, it seems like a fairly normal doesn't require explanation sort of thing to do. But, maybe it is. You see we have a house guest with us, and she has taken to the scrap bucket without question, and has even taken on the responsibility of emptying it. The only thing is I believe that she is emptying it when the garbage gets emptied, into the garbage bin. So it is not making it to the compost. I can't imagine what she must think, why we would separate, only to put it all in the garbage bin. Do others have a compost, a vege scrap bucket for the compost, or a vege scrap bucket for the garbage bin? I am intrigued. Is my family weird carrying out a strange custom? Even if we are, we are doing our little bit for the planet, and our gardens. But it does make me wonder about others and their compost heaps and how they manage the kitchen to heap process*.

* I wonder a lot when I am meant to be doing an assignment.