Backyard composting also reduces the need for municipal composting sites and delays the need for more landfill space or incinerator capacity. Government expenditures on home composting average. Source: The Composting Council. Backyard composting provides the following benefits:. Backyard composting has other benefits, such as improving soil health and fertility, providing a hands-on method of science education especially worm composting , reducing traffic congestion less hauling of materials , increasing exercise and relaxation, and increasing a sense of personal responsibility and personal and community pride.
When households use their compost to improve the soil, they do more than just add nutrients to the soil. Compost worked into the soil increases aeration, helps control soil erosion, increases the soil water-holding capacity, reduces water demands of plants and trees, neutralizes soil toxins, and reduces mineral leaching from the soil.
Plants growing in soil with added compost have a sound root structure and deeper root growth, so they are better able to withstand drought and freeze. Residents can also divert organic materials from disposal through appropriate landscape design, grasscycling, mulching, direct soil incorporation, and vermicomposting.
Appropriate landscape design refers to designing around naturally occurring plant habitats, resulting in a landscape that is healthier, more resilient, and easier to manage. There are three components to selecting plants with this method: 1 design communities instead of individual plantings, 2 choose plant species native to the area, and 3 cluster plants that are adapted to similar conditions of sunlight, moisture, temperature, and soils.
An effective landscape design can be less expensive and take less time to maintain than one that requires constant mowing, fertilization, and pesticide application. Grasscycling is simple—just leave grass clippings on the lawn after mowing.
As the grass clippings decompose, they release nitrogen, phosphorous, and potassium back into the soil, so less fertilizer is needed. The lawn will also need less water because grass clippings tend to reduce water evaporation and keep the soil temperature cool, which promotes better growth.
Thatch buildup will not occur as a result of growth. Grasscycling does not cause thatch buildup because grass stems and roots cause this problem, not clippings. Each household that grasscycles typically diverts more than 1 ton of grass clippings each year from disposal. Grasscycling may be more cost-effective than promoting home composting, and community disposal diversion rates may be increased by emphasizing grasscycling. Mulch is any material like grass clippings, leaves, tree and shrub prunings, compost, or wood chips that is spread over the surface of soil to improve the health of plants, eliminate weeds, and save disposal costs.
Mulch conserves water by keeping soil moist and keeps soil temperatures from becoming too hot or cold. Mulch protects the ground from soil erosion and stops soil compaction caused by foot traffic or driving rain. As mulch decomposes, it becomes compost, which feeds the soil and provides ideal living conditions for earthworms and other soil organisms that healthy soil and plants need. The easiest way to compost food scraps is direct soil incorporation. Place chopped food scraps in a hole or trench, and cover them with at least 8 inches of soil.
Many people dig a trench in the garden in the fall, gradually fill it in over the winter, and have a planting bed prepared by spring. Food scraps improve soil fertility like finished compost. Vermicomposting composts food scraps by feeding them to earthworms. Red wiggler worms in bins convert food scraps to castings, which are a valuable soil conditioner Figure 1. People may choose vermicomposting because they live in an apartment, they are concerned about attracting pests to outdoor compost piles, or they consider it an easy way to recycle food wastes in the winter.
Figure 1. A plastic storage container can be modified to create a vermicomposting bin. Along with its ability to suppress the growth of weeds, compost is also full of vital natural nutrients that can help to promote the growth of plants, trees, and vegetables. In agricultural settings, compost is often used to supplement and improve the health of field soil prior to the planting season, or added to gardens between crops to help restore the soil and improve its nutritional contents.
While you might not be farming hundreds of acres of land, you can still use your own homemade compost to make your garden or urban farm happier and healthier.
One of the most productive uses of compost is adding it to your home vegetable garden. This practice is a great example of living zero waste, taking the scraps of something, and reusing them to create more of the original product. In this case, turning food scraps into compost, and using compost to grow more food. Vegetable gardens can be planted in even the smallest of spaces, and with the addition of nutrient-rich compost, you could be growing your own produce every Spring, Summer, and Fall.
Want to make your veggies organic? Be sure to only throw organic compostables in your compost bin. Adding your organic compost to your vegetable garden will ensure your seedlings get plenty of food, helping them to grow big, strong, delicious, and full of nutrition. Once you harvest your vegetable garden, throw weeds, rotting vegetables, dead leaves, and garden scraps in your compost bin.
Now that you know that composting saves the environment and money, you really have no reason not to start composting right away. Here are just some of the most common items people throw away but should be composting:. Composting is often considered inaccessible by people living in urban areas, largely because these individuals typically live in apartments, condos, or houses without much yard space.
What is Composting? Why Should I Compost? Will Composting Save Me Money? Tips for Black Friday Shopping November 11, Whether you love it or hate it, Black Friday is coming up! Some people are all about it — One of our favorite pieces of debt advice to give is to have a budget.
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JavaScript appears to be disabled on this computer. Please click here to see any active alerts. Even when all actions have been taken to use your wasted food, certain inedible parts will still remain and can be turned into compost to feed and nourish the soil. Like yard waste, food waste scraps can also be composted.
Composting these wastes creates a product that can be used to help improve soils, grow the next generation of crops, and improve water quality. EPA estimates that in , 2. In , Americans recovered over 69 million tons of MSW through recycling, and almost 25 million tons through composting. This is 1. Food composting curbside collection programs served 6. Gardeners and farmers add compost to soil to improve its physical properties. They may even use compost instead of soil to grow plants.
Mature compost is a stable material with a content called humus that is dark brown or black and has a soil-like, earthy smell.
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