My family started composting as a way to cut down on smelly trash and make nice, free fertilizer. We keep a tin with a lid by the sink and put food scraps in it rather than just throwing them in the trash. We empty the tin every day or so into our big composting bin in the back yard and try to turn the pile every few days. It’s really very simple. When you compost, you are providing yourself with free, natural and superior fertilizer so it’s easy to see why you should. Your garden will grow healthier with the use of composted material, which is why many gardeners advocate the practice. However, if you already do compost your food scraps and yard trimmings, give yourself a pat on the back for helping the planet as well. Composting helps the environment in less apparent ways by reducing your carbon footprint.
Organic waste materials that are allowed to decompose naturally as compost release carbon dioxide. Normally, CO2 emissions are something that people try to avoid because CO2 is a greenhouse gas, and therefore is responsible for trapping heat in the atmosphere and warming the earth. However the CO2 that is released during the process of decomposition is natural and unrelated to human activity. Before humans walked the earth, all organic material decomposed naturally. When we talk about our “carbon footprints” we are referencing the unnatural amount of green house gases that humans are responsible for emitting into the atmosphere. Burning fossil fuels, by heating our home and driving cars, are some of the ways that humans release unnatural amounts of CO2.
When organic waste is thrown into the garbage and taken to a landfill, it decomposes without any oxygen, under huge piles and layers of garbage. This process takes much longer then natural decompositions but also releases methane instead of CO2. Methane is also a greenhouse gas, however it is about 21 to 23 times more potent than CO2. Organic materials that decompose in landfills in these anaerobic conditions therefore warm the earth 21 times more than materials that are composted naturally. (http://www.the-compost-gardener.com/global-warming-methane.html) In 2007, landfills accounted for 23 percent of human methane emissions in the US. (http://www.epa.gov/methane/sources.html) Methane accounts for about 22.9% percent of human generated green house gases which directly relate to global warming.
If you can’t be persuaded to compost for the benefits that it will have in your garden, then consider the bigger picture, and that throwing compostable food scraps and yard trimmings in the trash will have 21 times the environmental consequences of letting them decompose outside. The bacteria will do mostly all of the work for you, and you can feel even better about your beautiful garden knowing that you’re reducing your carbon emissions. Just remember to keep your pile oxygen rich or it will still emit methane. I was pleasantly surprised to learn that we were unknowingly doing so. To learn how to compost, check out this website: http://vegweb.com/composting/how-to.shtml