Composting: Essential Facts for Successful Composting
Composting food scraps instead of discarding them in landfills holds benefits: less methane emissions, creation of organic material for plant growth, enhanced soil health, erosion reduction, and decreased need for pesticides or fertilizers. This also aids carbon sequestration and climate resilience. Two prevalent aerobic composting methods are vermicomposting with worms and hot backyard compost piles. While diverse organic materials can be composted, suitability varies for residential settings, with more options available in commercial contexts.
The resulting compost can enrich soil or serve as mulch. If municipal services are lacking, private haulers or community gardens are alternatives. However, not all collection services convert organic materials to compost; some create biogas.
Composting involves breaking down organic matter into nutrient-rich compost, curbing methane emissions tied to food waste. Finished compost enhances large-scale agriculture by fortifying soil health, diminishing erosion, and conserving water. By preventing anaerobic decomposition, composting mitigates climate change by averting methane production.
Different composting types include hot and cold methods, and vermicomposting. Backyard compost piles blend carbon-rich and nitrogen-rich components for aeration, generating compost in months. Vermicomposting leverages worms to create compost, suitable for indoor or outdoor setups. Vermicomposted matter doesn’t require curing, in contrast to hot composting methods.
If composting at home isn’t feasible, community gardens, farmers markets, and municipal programs offer solutions. Yard waste, tea bags, eggshells, and vegetable scraps can be composted. However, certain items shouldn’t, like pet waste, meat, and dairy products.
Food scrap collection programs vary; anaerobic digestion is one approach. The resultant biogas and digestate have multiple applications, from electricity generation to fertilizer production. Composting remains a potent method for waste reduction and sustainable agriculture.
Re-reported from the article originally published in Ecowatch
