Composting ABC’s: Why Waste Good Stuff?
Why bother?
Food waste is often 15% of a household waste stream, and when compostable materials go to the landfill, they can create methane gas, a green house gas 20 times more potent than carbon dioxide. By composting your home food wastes, you reduce greenhouse gasses and improve the soil. Finished compost is excellent for your garden and house plants.
One WOrld, Our World
Life as we know it is utterly dependent on earth’s thin layer of topsoil. More than 22,000 square miles of arable land on Earth erodes or becomes desert. So feed the soil — it’s something we can do for each other and for future generations. We only have one world.
Composting
Composting mimics and intensifies nature’s recycling plan. A compost pile starts out as a diverse pile of kitchen and garden “waste.” Left alone, any of these materials would eventually decompose. But when a variety of materials are mixed together and kept moist and aerated, the process accelerates. Compost matures into what soil scientists call active organic matter: a dark, crumbly soil amendment that’s right with beneficial fungi, bacteria and earthworms, as well as the enzymes and acids these life-forms release as they multiply.
What can I compost?
Generally speaking, anything that was once living can be composted. Composting is a natural process.
Yard Wastes like grass clippings, weeds, and leaves
Kitchen Waste/Food Scraps like tea bags, coffee grounds, eggshells, vegetable and fruit trimmings, even soiled paper napkins. Small amounts of meat wastes can be composted but care should be taken as it can attract rodents. Best to feed them to your pet.
Wood Chips and Sawdust
What can’t I compost?
Don’t try to compost anything that wasn’t once living — plastics, metals, drugs, chemicals, etc.
Yes you CAN compost meats, dairy products, and fats. These can attract rodents, so be aware to minimize these items and mix them well with brown matter to speed their decomposition.