Compost- What is it and Why it's important?

Composting Made Easy

Composting has quiet a reputation. It gives off a connotation that it is difficult, messy and not worth the effort. However, compost can significantly reduce your household's waste and it great to use for you own home gardening, and there are even cities throughout the country that provide places to donate all of your kitchen waste to use compost for the city itself.

What is

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Compost is just organic material that can be added to soil to help plants grow

That's all compost is! 

Food waste that is already in your kitchen, but instead of throwing it away you recycle your food waste for your garden or lawn. 

Food scraps and yard waste currently make up 20-30% of what we throw away. 

Making compost keeps these materials out of landfills where they take up space and release methane, a potent greenhouse gas.

Why Compost? 

Benefits of Compost

Here is a short list of some of the many benefits from at-home composting:

• Soil conditioner: With compost, you are creating rich humus for lawn and garden. This adds nutrients to your plants and helps retain moisture in the soil.

• Recycles kitchen and yard waste:Composting can divert as much as 30% of household waste away from the garbage can
  
• Introduces beneficial organisms to the soil: Microscopic organisms in compost help aerate the soil, break down organic material for plant use and ward off plant disease
  
• Good for the environment:Composting offers a natural alternative to chemical fertilizers.
  
• Reduces landfill waste: Most landfills in North America are quickly filling up; many have already closed down. One-third of landfill waste is made up of compostable materials

What to compost:

Here's a quick guide for what you can compost from your kitchen at home:

Composting can be broken down into two different categories:

1. Green Materials

• Fruit scraps
• Vegetable scraps
• Eggshells
• Coffee grounds
• Grass and plant clippings

      2. Brown Materials 

• Dry leaves
• Finely chopped wood and bark chips
• Shredded newspaper
• Straw
• Sawdust from untreated wood
  

There are numerous resources online that can guide you for how to start composting and what is appropriate for you home. 

To learn more, visit the US Environmental Protection Agency's website on composting at home