Save Money And The Environment With A Compost Pile!

Today we have a guest post from Mandy at GardenMandy.com

Introduction To Composting

  Composting is the decomposition of organic matter, such as vegetables, manure or once living things.   Decomposition is performed mostly by bacteria.  There is home composting and industrial composting.  Though the process is basically the same between the two, the techniques will differ.  Composting itself is a fantastic additive to houseplants and offers extra nutrition to gardens.  It is an excellent natural way to recycle kitchen waste and to reduce the amount of garbage sent to public landfills. 

 Composting is not a new innovation, recently conceived in a laboratory somewhere.  As you walk through any forest, you will see the natural process of composting taking place every day.  The process starts when leaves and twigs fall to the ground, build layers on top of each other and begin decaying.  The roots of trees and other plant life then feeds off the decaying layers, as it is returned into the soil.  Composting itself is extremely easy and natural.  Early human races made piles of food wastes, as a way to rid themselves of their garbage.  What they discovered was these piles became habitats for seeds that were unintentionally and then intentionally planted there. 

 Composting today can start the same way, on the most basic level.  Simply make a pile of unwanted biological material, somewhere in your backyard.  You can also build a composting bin by using unwanted wood, such as wood pallets or recycled wood.  There are also commercial composting bins you can purchase.  But why go to the trouble of shopping for a bin, when keeping it simple is the most fun and least costly?

How Compost Helps The Earth

 Composting is a fantastic way of reducing the amount of waste sent to public landfills.  Landfills have been known to produce high amounts of greenhouse gases. These gases do not remain contained in landfills, but escape into the atmosphere. Greenhouse gases are no longer equated with the common sources of  planes, cars, and manufacturing plants. 

 So how does it differ, if biological waste decomposes at a landfill or is used at your home, as a source of a compost pile? When biodegradable materials decay at landfills, a mixture of greenhouse gases are produced and over half of the gases produced are methane based.  At home, the source of the compost decays with oxygen.  When the compost decays, carbon dioxide is produced rather than the more potent methane.  When you compost at home, rather than send these materials to a public landfill, greenhouse gases are then reduced. 

 So what are good materials for composting?  It is not as simple as just saying anything with a carbon or nitrogen base.  Common elements for composting include leaves, sawdust and wood chips, paper, cardboard, manure, fruits, vegetable (yes, even if it’s just their peels), teabags, egg shells and grass cuttings.  Even if you decide not to consider the toxins spewing into the atmosphere from landfills as a reason to compost, at least consider the money you will save, by using natural compost to feed your lawn and garden rather than buying the synthetic commercial brands.