Composting Saves Money and Resources

Composting is a great way to save some money while helping the environment.  The biggest savings with composting is the saving it does for the environment, but composting also helps save on fertilizer costs for outdoor gardening and indoor plants as well as saves on the cost of removal or disposal of organic waste.  By reducing food waste that is carted off to the local landfill, consumers can to help the environment and save money. 

Composting is an effective way to reduce waste and recycle organic matter.  Creating compost involves the natural process of decomposing plant remains and other once living or organic material.  Compost is simply an assortment of organic matter that is commonly used for fertilizer since it very high in nutrients needed for plant growth.  Decomposition occurs naturally anywhere plants grow but is not terribly efficient or effective in landfills with organic waste created by us.

Composting is a natural form of recycling.  Compost is produced by a process in which microbes decompose the organic matter such as food scraps and plants into an organic fertilizer.  Naturally occurring microbes are the primary agents for degradation of organic material that results in compost whether the compost is happening naturally on the forest floor on in a backyard compost bin.  The compost can be used to enrich soil, provide plant nutrients, or help with natural erosion similar to mulch use.

By creating compost at home, consumers are making their own natural fertilizer and mulch and help alleviate the stuffed landfills.  Yard trimmings along with some residual food waste can be thrown into a compost bin and this very same material accounts for roughly 25 percent of the solid waste we dispose of.  

Composting can takes many different forms, from simple and inexpensive backyard composting methods to more expensive and high tech methods of composting.  All organic material will eventually decompose.  The speed at which it decomposes can depend on the temperature, moisture content, oxygen content, surface area and the mix of carbon and nitrogen in the material.  Composting can vary in its complexity on how the material is manged and controlled as well as in the range of organic materials that can be recovered. 

Here is a simple list of some of the items that can be placed in a compost bin:

Yard trimmings, wood chips, tea bags, leaves, houseplants, hair and fur, fruits and vegetables, coffee grounds and filters, eggshells, nut shells, sawdust, grass clippings, fireplace ashes, shredded newspaper, cotton rags, hay and straw.

Here is a list of some of the items that should not be placed in a compost bin:

Pet wastes, dairy products, fats, grease, lard, or oils, meat or fish bones and scraps ( mostly because they attract pests ), yard waste that is treated with chemical pesticides, diseased or insect-ridden plants.

There are a number of options for making and containing compost.   Some people go with a simple binless compost pile on the ground, some people build compost bins from lumber or barrels and more and more consumers are buying commercial compost bins because of their ascetics and added features.

Finished compost can be applied to lawns and gardens to help condition the soil and replenish nutrients.  Depending on the contents of the compost, the compost may or may not be used as potting soil for houseplants because of the possible presence of weed and grass seeds.

There are several different reasons why composting is a great, cheap environmentally friendly activity.  Yard and food wastes contribute to the waste stream in landfills.  The waste that is sent to landfills cost money to transport and dispose of can often be useful and environmentally beneficial compost instead.  Composting therefor offers the benefits of resource efficiency as well as creating a useful product from organic waste that would otherwise have been wasted and is absolutely free to create.  Cheap home living that saves money and helps the environment, another win – win.