Composting

Basic Information

Yard trimmings and food residuals together constitute 24 percent of the U.S. municipal solid waste stream. That's a lot of waste to send to landfills when it could become useful and environmentally beneficial compost instead! Composting offers the obvious benefits of resource efficiency and creating a useful product from organic waste that would otherwise have been landfilled.

Natural composting, or biological decomposition, began with the first plants on earth and has been going on ever since. As vegetation falls to the ground, it slowly decays, providing minerals and nutrients needed for plants, animals, and microorganisms. Mature compost, however, includes the production of high temperatures to destroy pathogens and weed seeds that natural decomposition does not destroy.

Did You Know That Compost Can...

Suppress plant diseases and pests.
Reduce or eliminate the need for chemical fertilizers.
Promote higher yields of agricultural crops.
Facilitate reforestation, wetlands restoration, and habitat revitalization efforts by amending contaminated, compacted, and marginal soils.
Cost-effectively remediate soils contaminated by hazardous waste.
Remove solids, oil, grease, and heavy metals from stormwater runoff.�
Capture and destroy 99.6 percent of industrial volatile organic chemicals (VOCs) in contaminated air.�
Provide cost savings of at least 50 percent over conventional soil, water, and air pollution remediation technologies, where applicable.�(Source: EPA.gov)

Frequent Questions�

Why Compost?
Composting makes sense. Instead of sending organic matter to a landfill, it can be transformed into a useful additive, which can even be sold. Compost use can result in a variety of environmental benefits. The following are a few of the most important benefits:

Compost enriches soils
Compost has the ability to help regenerate poor soils. The composting process encourages the production of beneficial micro-organisms (mainly bacteria and fungi), which in turn break down organic matter to create humus. Humus--a rich nutrient-filled material--increases the nutrient content in soils and helps soils retain moisture. Compost has also been shown to suppress plant diseases and pests, reduce or eliminate the need for chemical fertilizers, and promote higher yields of agricultural crops.

Compost helps cleanup (remediate) contaminated soil
The composting process has been shown to absorb odors and treat semivolatile and volatile organic compounds (VOCs), including heating fuels, polyaromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), and explosives. It has also been shown to bind heavy metals and prevent them from migrating to water resources or being absorbed by plants. The compost process degrades and, in some cases, completely eliminates wood preservatives, pesticides, and both chlorinated and nonchlorinated hydrocarbons in contaminated soils.

Compost helps prevent pollution
Composting organic materials that have been diverted from landfills ultimately avoids the production of methane and leachate formulation in the landfills. Compost has the ability to prevent pollutants in stormwater runoff from reaching surface water resources. Compost has also been shown to prevent erosion and silting on embankments parallel to creeks, lakes, and rivers, and prevents erosion and turf loss on roadsides, hillsides, playing fields, and golf courses.

Using compost offers economic benefits
Using compost can reduce the need for water, fertilizers, and pesticides. It serves as a marketable commodity and is a low-cost alternative to standard landfill cover and artificial soil amendments. Composting also extends municipal landfill life by diverting organic materials from landfills and provides a less costly alternative to conventional methods of remediating (cleaning) contaminated soil.
(Source: EPA.gov)

For information on building your own compost bin please visit:
www.stopwaste.org

I personally use several different composters.�The�Urban Compost Tumbler�is�one and it is the only composter on the market that contains a central aeration system that helps you make compost faster!�Made in the USA of 100% recycled plastic.

What to Compost - The IN List
�� Animal manure (Do Not include pet waste)
�� Cardboard rolls
�� Clean paper
�� Coffee grounds and filters
�� Cotton rags
�� Dryer and vacuum cleaner lint
�� Eggshells
�� Fireplace ashes
�� Fruits and vegetables
�� Grass clippings
�� Hair and fur
�� Hay and straw
�� Houseplants
�� Leaves
�� Nutshells
�� Sawdust
�� Shredded newspaper
�� Tea bags
�� Wood chips
�� Wool rags
�� Yard trimmings

What Not to Compost - The OUT List
Leave Out/Reason Why
�� Black walnut tree leaves or twigs
o�� Releases substances that might be harmful to plants
�� Coal or charcoal ash
o�� Might contain substances harmful to plants
�� Dairy products (e.g., butter, egg yolks, milk, sour cream, yogurt)
o�� Create odor problems and attract pests such as rodents and flies
�� Diseased or insect-ridden plants
o�� Diseases or insects might survive and be transferred back to other plants
�� Fats, grease, lard, or oils
o�� Create odor problems and attract pests such as rodents and flies
�� Meat or fish bones and scraps
o�� Create odor problems and attract pests such as rodents and flies
�� Pet wastes (e.g., dog or cat feces, soiled cat litter)
o�� Might contain parasites, bacteria, germs, pathogens, and viruses harmful to humans
�� Yard trimmings treated with chemical pesticides
o�� Might kill beneficial composting organisms
(Source: EPA.org)

Kitchen Composting

Composting kitchen scraps is a great way to cut down on your weekly trash. Compost needs green and brown organic materials in order to break down properly. Nitrogen is an important nutrient for plants and is created when green materials are broken down in compost. Brown materials provide carbon. �

Some people shy away from using a compost container in the kitchen. They think it will be smelly and dirty and the process sounds like a messy hassle. Really, it isn�t at all if you do it right. Using a compost kitchen container is very easy and becomes second nature after a very short time.

Simply emptying your container into the compost pile each day and washing it with soapy water will easily eliminate odor. Using a container with a tight fitting lid will also prevent odor.�The MaxAir is a fantastic kitchen counter compost container.�The�Max Air Composting Buckets�are ventilated on all sides, including the top and bottom. The Max Air buckets are attractive for countertop placement and are also hinged if you wish to hang the bucket inside the door of your kitchen sink.

Fill your compost container with any sort of organic kitchen scraps, but do not put meat, bones, fats or dairy products into it. These types of material need special composting or they will cause odors as well as attract animals to your outdoor composter. Here are a few examples of things to put in your kitchen composter:

�� Coffee grounds (even the paper filter)
�� Eggshells
�� Fruit and vegetable peels
�� Tea bags
�� Seeds from fruits and vegetables
(Source: Green Living)

Related Links:
www.earth911.org
www.composting101.com

All Green Things | 5321 Topanga Canyon Blvd | Woodland Hills, CA 91364