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Q: What is composting and why is it so important?

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A: Composting is a completely natural, Earth-friendly process that blessedly takes care of two serious environmental problems at once – it reduces our landfill waste and it reduces our need for synthetic chemical fertilizers.

Composting is nature’s way of recylcing material that was once living and returning it to the Earth. Organic materials start to decompose naturally, given a right amount of heat, moisture and occassional turning, and then the byproduct is a nutrient-rich, crumbly dark brown soil that can be reused in the garden. Composting at home is just an accelerated version of doing what occurs in nature naturally.

A majority of our household trash can be composted, reducing the amount of waste sent to landfills. Fruits and vegetable scraps, coffee grounds, tea bags and other food scraps that don’t contain fats, oils, grease, dairy or meat can be tossed into a compost pile to decompose naturally. Yard waste such as grass clippings, leaves, straw and other plant matter (other than weeds and diseased plants) will also biodegrade.  Even paper and paperboard (from cereal boxes and other packaging) can be composted.

A compost pile can consist of a home-made composting bin, a ready-made composting bin or even a worm composting bin where tiny red worms will eat the compost materials and create nutrient rich liquid waste. Once you’ve created some compost, use it as a top dressing for your garden and houseplants to naturally enrich the soil and reduce the need for chemical-based fertilizers, which are polluting our waterways and slowly killing streams and oceans.

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