In a
technique related to recycling, composting is a form of waste management that
is becoming popular in major cities. Composting is the act of recycling organic
wastes so they can be converted to fertilizer or a humus soil additive. Natural
composting took place thousands of years ago, when people reused most of their
crop waste like straw and manure as fertilizer. In the early 20th
century, farmers and scientists noticed the organic needs of plants and crops.
They realized that fish and manure were not the best form of fertilizer, but
food scraps were beneficial to plants. Currently, composting is much more
large scale than it was. Some cities have employed commercial composting
programs that involve removing organic waste from households. Minneapolis is
one of the few modern cities that takes place in this practice. At composting
plants, food and garden waste is shredded and loaded into open tanks that are
heated. In the 14 to 18 days that the waste sits in these tanks, the waste is sterilized,
thanks to the hot temperatures. Next, the waste is placed in a large room for
up to 6 weeks to mature. Once mature, the compost is screened to remove large
pieces and tested to ensure the highest quality compost.
Additionally,
composting in your home is essentially the same process done in a plant, just
slowed down and on a smaller scale. You can compost your food and lawn waste in
a pile in the backyard to be used as an organic fertilizer for a garden. Make
sure that there is enough water added to the pile to ensure that breakdown can
occur. If you do not have enough space in a backyard, you can even compost
indoors too! You can obtain a compost bucket from your local hardware store and
fill it up with your food wastes. In addition to the basics of how to compost,
lets discuss the things you can and cannot compost, though be sure to check
with your local compost coordinators to see what can be composted in your town.
COMPOST
·
Fruits and vegetables
·
Eggshells
·
Coffee grounds
·
Shredded newspaper
·
Cardboard
·
Grass clippings
·
Leaves
·
Dryer and vacuum cleaner lint
·
Wood ash
DO NOT COMPOST
·
Charcoal ash
·
Dairy products
·
Grease or oils
·
Meat scraps
·
Pet wastes
Again, please check your local waste collection services as
many of them may accept different items.
Each piece of food that is
composted instead of thrown away prevents it from filling up a landfill. Many
food wastes produce methane when they decompose in a landfill, harming the
environment and the atmosphere. Composting also reduces the need for chemical
fertilizers that can run off the land and contaminate nearby water bodies. It
is also a money saver for homeowners because creating your own compost
decreases the need to buy inorganic fertilizers for gardens. The increased
focus on compostable cups and wrappers also allows these items to be removed
from landfills.
One of
the downsides to composting is that commercial composting can take up a lot of
space. Also, composting is not regularly enforced or advertised in most public
spaces. There is no need for compostable cups if no one is educated enough to
compost them. With increased focus on the importance of composting and
additional access, composting could really become a widespread fad that
decreases the sheer volume of trash that enters landfills every year.
Residents
of Minneapolis: It’s so easy to sign up for organic recycling collection with
the city. Just sign up at this link: http://minneapolismn.gov/solid-waste/organics/WCMSP-171641
and your organics will be collected weekly with your garbage! Non-residents of
Minneapolis: Check on your city’s website to see if they offer organic
recycling collection. If not, urge them to! Talk to your city representatives
and mayors about the benefits of composting. Then, start composting practices
in your own home.
With
the increased threat of waste disposal becoming a problem in the near future, composting
may provide a solution to these issues and provide us with a cleaner, greener
world.
Stay Sustainable,
Shelby
Shelby
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