TRY COMPOSTING

 

According to Citizens for a Better Environment between 15‑20% of

the total municipal waste stream is organic material. All of these

materials are very bulky, quickly using up valuable landfill space ‑

 

BACKGROUND

 

Composting is the process of turning organic material you normally throw away ‑  from grass clippings to apple cores -- into a rich fertilizer.

 

This doesn't mean that you just throw fresh kitchen garbage directly onto the soil: You toss your organic garbage into a specially constructed receptacle, and then you have to maintain it.

 

How it works: In a compost heap, billions of organisms break the organic wastes down into the forms that can be best used by plants. The finished compost will add nutrients and humus to the soil, improving its texture and increasing its ability to hold air and water.

 

Besides being a source of natural fertilizer, composting helps cut down the amount of solid waste being dumped in crowded landfills. And we need the relief'

 

DID YOU KNOW

 

• Every year we throw away 24 million tons of leaves and grass.

 

• Leaves alone can account for 75% of the solid waste in the fall.

 

• The average American family produces more than 1,200 pounds of organic garbage every year.

 

About 70% of the garbage Americans create is compostable, including yard waste, food waste, wood, and paper.

 

It costs at least $65 per ton to dump solid waste in landfill; the average cost of municipal composting is only $35 per ton.

 

Success Stories: Composting, combined with curbside collection of recyclables, has allowed towns like Davis, California to cut their garbage in half. In New Jersey, state‑sponsored economic incentives have spurred 80 towns to develop composting programs.

 

SIMPLE THINGS TO DO Start your own compost pile: The simplest way is to just pile leaves, grass clippings, and weeds in a comer of your garden.

 


This isn't ideal as composting goes, and it takes up a lot of room.... But the clippings will decompose, and won’t use landfill space.

 

A more sophisticated compost pile involves more effort. You'll need to:

 

• Sort your garbage to separate the organics from the rest.

 

• Build or buy a small enclosure in which to create the compost.

 

• Learn how to stack and layer the compost.

 

• Turn it occasionally to avoid odors and allow the air to circulate.

 

It's a lot simpler than it might sound. But since we haven't got space to explain it in detail, a good way to start is to send a selfaddressed envelope to The Berkeley Ecology Center, 2530 San Pablo Ave., Berkeley, CA 94702, and ask them for their "Composting" fact sheet. It has the right info to get you going, and answers basic questions.

 

If you have a yard but no garden: * Composting is still worthwhile. Donate your compost to friends who garden; they'll appreciate it.

 

If you want to recycle your organic garbage without bothering to keep a compost pile, you can participate in community composting projects. These usually involve leaf collection, either curbside or at a centralized composting facility. Call your city government to find out if you've got a composting program in your community. Over 500 communities do, and more are in the planning stages.

 

Look for a commercial composter in the yellow pages.

 

SOURCES:

 

"Home Composting," a small how‑to brochure, is available for $3.50 plus a self‑addressed, stamped envelope (500 postage) from Seattle Tilth Association, 4649 Sunnyside Ave. N, Seattle, WA 98103.

 

For more detailed information, try:

 

The Rodde Guide to Composting, by J. Minnich (Rodale Press, 1979).

 

*Worrm Eat My Garbage, by M. Appelhoff (Flower Press, 1982).