Its National Compost Awareness Week May 2-8. Who knew that compost was such a big deal to have its own special week?

Compost is sort of like a miracle drug. Its full of lots of living beings like worms, bugs and microbes so small you can’t even seen them. Eeewww! Just kidding. All of those living things help make compost as beneficial as it is. So what is it and why is it like a miracle drug? Compost is organic matter, like leaves and grass, kitchen scraps and manure that have broken down and decomposed. And here’s why its so great. Compost can be used to help create better soils, reduce erosion, keep moisture in the soil, filter polluted water running off of streets and parking lots, reduce our dependence on foreign oil, suppress plant diseases and pests, and it can help local economies. Further, when food and yard “waste” are diverted to make compost instead of going to local landfills it extends the life of a landfill and it reduces greenhouse gases. We all need to give it a try. To learn more about how compost helps with all of these things, go to www.compostingcoucil.org

Compost: The miracle drug

One major benefit of removing yard waste and organics matter from the landfill to make compost is the reduction in greenhouse gases. When placed in landfills, organic matter and all other waste is covered over with dirt to reduce the smell and to help contain the waste. As a result, the breakdown of organic matter by microbes without the presence of oxygen (anaerobic) happens very slowly and results in the generation of methane1 . Methane is “more than 20 times as effective as CO2 at trapping heat in the atmosphere”2 and according to the EPA’s 2010 U.S Greenhouse Gas Inventory Report, landfills are the second largest source of methane in the US.

When organic matter is composted, the process requires aeration to generate the high temperatures which help the material breakdown quickly and with little odor. In composting, oxygen is present from the aeration process and as the microbes breakdown the organic matter, heat, CO2, water and humus are the by-products. Because the CO2 is less potent than methane as a greenhouse gas, this is a better option. Plus you have the benefit of the compost as a soil amendment.

How it helps the soil

By incorporating compost into soil, nutrients including potassium, sulfur and other micronutrients as well as living microbes are added to the soil. The compost improves soil structure in both clay and sandy soils. In clay, it helps improve drainage. In sandy soils, compost can add structure and help the soils retain moisture. Compost can hold 5 times its weight in water. As a result, there is less erosion as raindrops hit the compost and are absorbed instead of running off carrying little soil particles with it. In fact, because the compost can hold water, it helps with retention so that the water can infiltrate into the soils instead of running off and causing erosion or excessive amounts of water (stormwater) to overflow the sewer systems.

What about pollution?

Quite often when water runs off across parking lots, it picks up oil and gasoline residue before it empties into local streams. One company, Filtrexx, has designed compost-based systems to help clean water. They use compost blankets and compost filled socks to reduce pollution and erosion. As water flows through the compost, the gasoline hydrocarbons carried in the water are filtered out and made neutral by the microbes in the compost. If compost was placed in between the parking lots and storm drains or steams, the water entering the streams would be a lot cleaner.

The industry

The development of a commercial composting industry really began around 1990 as a result of the Georgia Comprehensive Management Act that banned yard trimmings from landfills in an effort to reduce overall solid waste disposal in Georgia. Attention is now being directed to reducing food waste being thrown away. According to the 2005 statewide waste characterization study, twelve percent – or more than 800,000 tons – of the waste sent to Georgia landfills was food waste, with approximately 48% coming from the Atlanta area. In the last year, there has been a burgeoning effort to reduce the food waste going to the landfills. Restaurants, hotels and other food providers have been partnering with GreenCo Environmental to divert their waste to GreenCo’s composting facility in Barnesville, Georgia. The program has been a great success. Radial Café on DeKalb Avenue has diverted over 10,000 pounds of food waste and bio-based take-out products in just 9 weeks.

Why does GreenPlate care?

The exciting news is that bio based take out and to go items are becoming more and more available all of the time. Many grocery stores carry alternatives and thanks to you and your asking them to change, restaurants are beginning to make the switch as well. Yet to close the loop, composting is an important piece in switching from petroleum based plastic take-out (that’s a mouthful) to bio based alternatives. We don’t want to just throw these items away because they too will end up in a landfill without breaking down. We need to encourage and support capturing these items and making sure they get composted. Some of the products like Eco-Orchards sugar cane products break down easily and can be added to home composting systems. Other items like corn based cups and to go ware need much hotter heat to break down so we need the commercial composters. Either way, we want all of the products that can be turned back into soil.

What to do at home

The interest in composting has grown because of the resurgence in home and community gardens. People are looking for ways to build gardens out of the Georgia red clay and adding compost is one easy, potentially inexpensive way to improve the soil. Composters can be bought at local hardware stores and make it easy to get started. They can also be built pretty inexpensively. For active composting, it is important to make sure there is the right mix of carbon (leaves), nitrogen (food waste and grass), water and aeration. The more you turn your compost, the quicker it will decompose and the quicker it can be used. Because most home composting does not reach a high enough temperature to break some things down, it is recommended that weeds are not included nor are meat, dairy and other items that might draw vermin. To see the 10 Easy Steps for composting check out www.gardeners.com.

Resources:

[1] Brown, Sally, Cotton, Mathew, Messner, Steve, Berry, Fiona, Norem, David.  Methane Avoidance from Composting. Issue Paper for the: Climate Action Reserve; Sept 15, 2009, p.1.

[2] http://epa.gov/climatechange/emissions/usinventoryreport.html Executive Summary p. ES-9.