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
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 wont 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,
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,
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).