5 Reasons Why Composting Helps the Environment

Each year, Americans waste or cause to be wasted close to 1 million pounds of materials that could be recycled according to this report. Composting is a natural process of recycling decomposed organic materials into a rich soil called compost. Anything that was once living is able to decompose.

Compost is created by layering organic materials for example kitchen vegetable scraps or dry leaves and mixing them with a bit of soil to create a mixture that will turn into humus. We have two types of composting, hot composting and cold composting. Cold composting is when you layer your organic materials and leave them to decompose over time, which could take a period of over a year or so. Hot composting is for the more serious gardener that wants to quicken the composting process. For this process air, water, carbon dioxide and nitrogen are required. Together, these items speed up the process of decaying and during warm weather; one can get compost within one to three months. 

Over the years, composting has become more popular among homeowners and communities that are working to create a better environment. While it may take some time to set up your own composting system at home, the results that you get will be worth it. Composting is a great way to give back to the natural world and a great contribution to our healing planet. Here are five reasons composting helps the environment.

1. Reduces landfill waste and incineration – It is no lie that the modern methods used to manage waste are a tragedy to the environment. When waste is collected from our households or places of work, it is taken to a landfill site where it lies stagnant in a pile, where the vital oxygen needed to facilitate the decaying process cannot reach it. Greenhouse gases are also emitted by the landfill material contributing to major changes in the climate such as global warming. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) recently stated that a quarter of all landfill waste could have been thrown into compost.  Incineration which is the burning of waste materials, leads to the production of harmful chemicals like carbon dioxide and the even more harmful nitrous oxide.

2. Reduces the use of commercial fertilizers, pesticides and fungicides – These products play a part in water pollution and can be harmful to the environment and the animals that live in it. The need for commercial fertilizers and pesticides is a reality for now but this could however be changed and have a less impact on the environment with the use of more available compost. Fertilizers also bind to compost making it less likely for the fertilizers to pollute ground water and waterways.

3. Improves soil quality – Composting is known to regenerate poor soil by encouraging the production of beneficial microorganisms like bacteria and fungi, which help to break down organic matter to create humus. Humus helps to naturally increase the nutrient content in the soil as well as to retain soil moisture. As a result of this, food grown in composted soil is shown to have more nutrients which are beneficial. In addition, it helps lighten clay based soil and helps sandy soil hold water. It also helps balance the soil’s PH.
4. Cleans up contaminated soil – The composting process has been shown to treat volatile organic compounds (VOCs) like heating fuels and explosives as well as absorb odors according to the EPA. Some cases have shown that pesticides, wood preservatives and both non-chlorinated and chlorinated hydrocarbons in contaminated soils were removed by the compost process.

5. Controls soil erosion – Adding compost to soil prevents it from eroding. When soil erodes, it threatens the water sources because polluted, highly-pesticide and fertilizer-laden soils turns to run- off into ponds, streams and lakes. Compost increases the ability the soil has to harbor root systems which prevent this run-off and also to hold in water. A 5 percent increase in compost can increase the water absorption rate by up to four times more.

As well as being great for the environment, compost helps you save some money as it reduces your cost on the need to buy fertilizers, pesticides and other products. If you live in an area with a compost pick-up or drop-off at farmer’s markets in cities like Portland, San Francisco and some parts of New York taking up composting can be very easy. However if you do not have a ready option you can take matters into your own hands and start your very own project at home