International Compost Awareness Week
International Compost Awareness Week is taking place this year from May 2nd through the 8th. It is celebrated nationwide and in other countries each year during the first full week of May. This year’s International Compost Awareness Week theme is Grow, Eat…COMPOST…Repeat, which empowers us to recognize and promote the importance of composting and the use of compost in growing healthier food, supporting healthier soils and, ultimately, creating a more sustainable world.
You have probably heard of composting before, but what is it exactly? Composting is a natural way to recycle decomposed organic materials, or once living organisms. This process of decomposition creates compost, a nutrient rich material similar to soil. Composting organic waste at home will return nutrients directly back to the soil to support the “circle of life,” as nature intended. Many organisms are involved in the composting process. They include bacteria, fungi, protozoans, centipedes, millipedes, beetles, ants and the most famous - earthworms! Composting is an aerobic process (meaning it requires oxygen), since these organisms use oxygen as they break down the materials and turn them into compost. Heat is a by-product of intense microbial activity. It indicates that the microorganisms are munching on organic matter and converting it into finished compost.
The average person generates 4.5 pounds of trash per day, or 1.5 tons of solid waste per year! According to the EPA, up to 75% of solid waste is recyclable. Sixty percent of the waste being taken to landfills is organic and therefore compostable. When these materials are dumped in a landfill, they slowly decompose in a compacted, oxygen-free environment. This anaerobic (oxygen free) decomposition of organic materials in landfills produces methane (CH4), a greenhouse gas with global warming potential approximately 85 times higher than carbon dioxide (CO2) over a 20-year time period. Landfills are one of the top emitters of human-made methane in the United States. The US EPA Landfill Methane Outreach Program estimates that 60%-90% of the methane emitted from landfills could be captured, dependent upon the system and its effectiveness. But recalling that methane is 25 times worse than CO2, you would need to collect about 95% of the landfill gas to simply break even.
The composting process can keep organic materials out of landfills where they take up space and release methane, the potent and harmful greenhouse gas. It is an easy step to further reduce your carbon footprint. If the 21.5 million annual tons of food waste were composted, it could reduce greenhouse gas emissions equivalent to taking over 2 million cars off the road.
In addition to reducing greenhouse gas emissions, compost is one of nature’s best mulches and soil amendments. Compost is a safe and inexpensive alternative to chemical fertilizers. Even if you are lucky enough to have great soil, you can't expect that soil to remain rich and productive without replenishing the nutrients that are consumed each growing season. No commercial fertilizer, even one that is totally organic, provides the full spectrum of nutrients that you get with compost. The nutrients are available gradually, as your plants need them, over a period of months or years. The microorganisms in the compost will also help your plants absorb nutrients from fertilizers more efficiently.
Compost can help to enhance soil fertility, condition soil, and support healthy plant root development. It also helps retain moisture in the soil and suppresses plant diseases and pests. For serious gardeners, compost is an inexpensive alternative to peat and other soil enhancements. Compost is teeming with all kinds of microorganisms and soil fauna that help convert soil nutrients into a form that can be readily absorbed by your plants. The microorganisms, enzymes, vitamins and natural antibiotics that are present in compost actually help prevent many soil pathogens from harming your plants. Earthworms, millipedes, and other macro-organisms tunnel through your soil, opening up passageways for air and water to reach your plants' roots.
All composting requires three basic ingredients:
Browns - materials like dead leaves, small branches, and twigs
Greens - materials like grass clippings, vegetable waste, fruit scraps, egg shells, and coffee grounds (no meat/fish/bones/fatty foods)
Water - having the right amount of water, greens, and browns is important for compost development
Ideally, it’s good for your compost pile to have at least an equal amount of browns to greens. It is fine to lean towards more browns though. The brown materials provide carbon for your compost. The microorganisms use the carbon in leaves and other browns as an energy source. As the microbes breakdown this material, heat energy is released. The green materials provide nitrogen, and the water provides moisture to help break down the organic matter. Nitrogen helps the microbes build proteins to grow and multiply. The decomposing organisms need a certain amount of both carbon and nitrogen to work well.
There are countless ways to start your own compost pile or bin at home, with equally countless types of bin/mound setups. Take some time in exploring online sources to figure out what system will work best for you and your home.
Sources:
https://www.epa.gov/recycle/composting-home
https://www.nrdc.org/stories/composting-101
https://www.gardeners.com/how-to/all-about-composting/5061.html
https://www.livescience.com/63559-composting.html