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By some estimates, 30 percent of materials going into U.S. landfills could be repurposed. I don’t mean boxes and containers. I’m talking about living things. Or, more accurately, once living things.
Food, plants, dried leaves, inedible produce and other organic materials can make your gardening and farming efforts, well, bloom.
Out of the Trash, Into the Bin!
What to Leave Out of the Compost Pile
- black walnut leaves or bark
- pesticide-treated grass or plants
- diseased plants
- magazines, catalogs, printed cards
- most printed or metallic wrapping paper
- animal products (bones, blood, fats, waste)
The EPA provides a primer on getting started with backyard composting and includes a PDF which can be downloaded.
Why Compost?
It may seem like another trendy thing that’s more trouble than it’s worth. But there are viable benefits to composting. For the community at large, the EPA says it can
- help aid reforestation, wetlands restoration, and habitat revitalization efforts by improving contaminated, compacted, and marginal soils.
- be used to remediate soils contaminated by hazardous waste in a cost-effective manner.
- capture and destroy 99.6 percent of industrial volatile organic chemicals (VOCs) in contaminated air.
- significantly reduce methane emissions which develop from organic material dumped into landfills.
For backyard farmers and home enthusiasts, composting can
- improve soil
- reduce or eliminate the need for chemical fertilizers
- improve soil’s water retention
And it reduces the amount of trash there is to throw out. I note this especially since our County decided to cut back on trash pickup, moving from twice a week to weekly collection day which includes recycling pickup.
Needless to say, that first summer there were a lot of complaints about the increased smell emanating from neighborhood trash cans.
The things that can make a trash can reek – sometimes in spite of super strong/deodorized bags – can go into a compost pile. When properly managed, a compost pile smells like dirt and not the decomposing organisms that go into it.
A Business Case for Composting
Composting can be a cost-savings measure for businesses. According to Recycling NJ, “The Hyatt Regency Hotel in Princeton started recycling organic waste from its restaurant and reduced their annual running costs by over $10,000.”
Since organic materials can weigh more, businesses save on the cost of removing heavier waste.
Home gardeners can see savings from fewer purchases of fertilizer and top soil and perhaps even grocery bills since compost makes Mid-Atlantic red clay and sandy loam more receptive to growing a wider variety of plants.
The U.S. Composting Council (USCC) is a non-profit organization that provides standards, research, advocacy, and public education. It works with organizations, communities, and consumers.
But you’re reading this to learn to take waste into your own hands, right? OK, that doesn’t sound pretty but we are talking about things that usually go into the trash, perhaps with a generous sprinkling of borax or baking soda to cut the smell. So let’s start from the beginning.
Composting 101
All living matter comes undone down to the molecular level (decomposes) and can become food for other things to grow. Composting controls that process by using heat and oxygen to first sanitize matter and then allow it to slowly decompose.
Microbes that use oxygen, moisture and food to grow and reproduce will then “generate heat, water vapor, and carbon dioxide as they transform raw materials into a stable soil conditioner.”
The USCC explains: “Compost has the unique ability to improve the properties of soils and growing media” in the following three ways:
- Physically it changes the structure of clay/loam soil so that it holds water better and is more workable. Humus, a stable residue produced from the composting process, ‘glues’ soil particles together, making it more erosion- and drought-resistant.
- Having moisture-rich soil is a cost-saver, reducing or eliminating the need for irrigation techniques that can be pretty pricey.
- Chemically it improves and can stabilize the acidity (pH) of the soil. It enables soil to hold onto nutrients longer, improving the nutrient-uptake by plants.
Compost provides important micronutrients – including nitrogen, phosphorous, and potassium – that plants need for strong growth. It can improve the effectiveness of fertilizer.
Biologically, it provides important elements in healthy plant production:
- Bacterias that fix nitrogen, synthesize compounds which facilitate nutrient uptake, and lessen or prevent diseases,
- Protozoans, single-celled animals that grow up to 1/50 of an inch, provide nitrogen which serves as plant food,
- Actinomycetes, a large bacteria group that produces antibodies and is the source of that rich dirt smell
- Fungi, organisms that eat hard inorganic material, like rocks and iron, converting them into material that is more readily useful to the plant
These microorganisms encourage the presence of earthworms which help to aerate soil and improve the way that water saturates and is held by the soil.
Compost suppresses plant diseases such as pythium, fusarium, and nematodes. It also:
- binds heavy metals and pesticides in soil, reducing their ability to contaminate soil and plants
- degrades petroleum (hydrocarbons) and other toxic organic compounds
- key in programs to restore wetlands and prevent soil erosion
- immature composts have proven effective in depressing weed growth
- herbicide
Those are the highlights of the science of composting. The USCC has more information and you may even want to check out the Soil Biology page on the website of the United States Department of Agriculture Natural Resources Conservation Services for a really in-depth look at this most basic of growing mediums.
The Look, The Tools
Composting may be considered a job for those with cast-iron stomachs because frankly, decomposing anything is never pretty to look at. But, oh, the end result – rich, black loam that delights a grower’s heart and colors dreams of a bountiful cornucopia. What’s needed to get started?
For many, composting may bring to mind large trenches or mounds of decaying produce, managed with small earth movers or, as my dad had, a large drum in the backyard that required periodic rotation.
But composting can be done on a smaller scale, even indoors. Search on indoor composters and you’ll find a plethora of purchasing options, from small plastic $8-40 bins to $360 high-tech electric models, all of which can fit in with your kitchen décor. Or sit out back of the house, on the balcony or porch.
Composting By the Book
One of the more important tools you’ll need is a knowledge of state regulations if you’re going large and/or outdoors. The USCC is a great resource for finding those regs.
Give the Garbage Disposal a Break
Composting is another facet of recycling and can probably go miles towards assuaging guilt feelings over letting something linger too long in the fridge, like the eggplant that got shoved to the back of the shelf and is now really – well. Into the composter, not the garbage disposal!
For juicing devotees who remain unenthusiastic about those creative cracker recipes made from veggie pulp, composting is a great option for disposal without waste.
Dryer lint, nut shells, and fur are all candidates for the compost bin. Long-hair pet families rejoice! Composting can make the trash can feel deprived and may make the recycling bin a bit jealous. For gardeners, composting is the natural solution for recycling plant matter. And nut shells…
Composting Notes
A few basics on the process:
- The smaller the pieces going into the pile, the faster the process.
- Bury new content 10 inches down into the compost pile.
- Regularly mix and turn. If outdoors, pitchforks, square-point shovels, or machetes are very useful.
- Water with a spray hose to keep everything moist. A tarp cover can also be used to hold in moisture.
- Optimal temperature: 131° – 155°F (55-68°C)
Indoor compost bins should yield useable soil in about 5 weeks. Large outdoor piles can take up to two years.
Bokashi
Meats, fish, and dairy are on the NOT list when it comes to conventional composting because of harmful toxins that develop as they break down. But there is a method that enables the safe composting of protein and any cooked food.
Developed in Japan, bokashi employs the use of Effective Microorganisms (EM), a blend of beneficial food grade microorganisms. The classic site Compost Guy contains a lot of useful information on bokashi which it helpfully describes as an “anabolic fermentation process.” In plain-speak that basically means composting that occurs in an oxygen-free environment.
Once fermented, the waste matter can go into the compost bin for further decomposition. A beneficial by-product of bokashi is a ‘tea’ which contains the living microbes; it is used to improve plant growth and clean drains.
Yes. Drains.
Amazon sells Bokashi Kits, if you’re interested.
Vermicompost
As every seasoned gardener knows, worms are excellent soil aerators. Using them as composters creates additional benefits to whatever is being grown.
Eisenia fetida, known by several names including red worm or red wriggler, is the go-to worm for this type of composting. Basically, your waste is their food, their waste is good soil.
This process requires more time and care because you’re dealing with living things that need nurturing – food, water, stirring (gently) – so they can do their job.
Vermicompost yields happier plants that are protected from germs and parasites courtesy of beneficial microbes produced by EF‘s digestive tract. Time-to-compost is shorter than non-worm composting because worms are fast eaters and digesters; 1000 can consume a pound of waste a day.
Vermicompost kits and supplies are also available on Amazon.
A Glorious End
At the end of the composting process is humus, the rich soil that is bought by the bagful at the local DIY retailer. Those in the know will obtain their composted soil from State and local composting centers. But if you want to be completely at home with composting, read on.
DIY – All or In Part
Organic waste hauling, or waste management, is a resource employed by an increasing number of restaurants and businesses to reduce the amount of waste that goes into the landfill. This can represent a tremendous cost savings. But what about consumers?
As it turns out, you don’t have to have tons of waste to benefit and be benefited by composting.
CompostCab
Since 2010, CompostCab has served residential and commercial customers in Washington, DC and Baltimore, MD. This subscription-based service picks up material from residences and businesses on a weekly basis. It even provides bins and liners for storing material.
In the Spring and Fall, if so desired, subscribers of six months or more receive a supply of humus, an average of 50 pounds a year. Drop-off points are also available in the Dupont area of Washington, DC throughout the year: Sundays at the Dupont Circle Farmers Market between April and November and alternate Sundays at the Dupont Market between December and March.
Garbage out, compost in. Their pick-up zone is based on the zip code of subscribers. So if your area isn’t currently on their route, it could soon be if you make your interest known. Follow them at @CompostCab on Twitter.
Run a Compost Business
If you’re looking to bring the convenience of composting to your local community, there are several general articles on eHow on becoming a composter. Specifics can be found at USCC, the EPA, and your state and local Environmental Resource departments.
Coming Soon to a Center Near You
Composting bins and centers may soon become as commonplace as recycling bins and centers. The rewards range from cost-cutting to cost-savings to truly embracing green living.
It’s a sensible solution that has the attention of large businesses, government, communities, and individuals. Composting – organic and otherwise – is here to stay.
Resources
Composting at Home. United States Environmental Protection Agency.
U.S. Composting Council
Facebook Twitter YouTube Instagram LinkedIn
Anaerobic Fermentation. Compost Fundamentals. Washington State University Whatcom County Extension.
Bokashi – Composting Cooked Food Waste. GrowVeg.
Effective Microorganisms – An Earth Saving Revolution. TeraGanix.
Benefits of Worm Composting. eHow.
BioCycle magazine on composting, renewable energy, and organics recycling.
Composting Companies That Pick Up
Veteran Compost (Maryland/DC)
Ag-Choice (New Jersey, commercial only)
Compost for Sale
Thanks for reading, and please share this article if you found it helpful.