Why Is Composting So Important?
Composting may not seem like much more than throwing kitchen scraps into a pile in the backyard, or a plastic recycling system on the balcony, depending on your space, but don't write off the importance of reducing your household waste. In 2009, the EPA estimated that Americans threw away 243 million tons of trash. That's about 4 pounds of waste per person per day. Composting is one small step that can have a major impact on the health of the planet and your community. Does this Spark an idea?
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Reducing Municipal Solid Waste
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Even your basic backyard or kitchen composting systems keep tons and tons of waste out of the nation's landfills. Many towns and cities participate in large-scale composting operations that break down materials that are difficult or impossible to compost in the backyard -- materials such as sewage sludge, woody yard waste and industrial organics. The compost from these operations can be used around the city. This is important on a large scale, because a number of states have pledged to reduce their overall waste production, and eliminating organic, recyclable materials from the waste stream is one effective and efficient way to meet these goals.
Returning Nutrients to the Land
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Fruits, vegetables and grains come from the earth, and composting these same materials returns those valuable nutrients to the land, thereby supporting the growth of new food. A variety of soil nutrients are currently supplied by commercial fertilizers, even in backyard gardens. Fertilizer runoff from large agricultural operations is harming the ecosystems of the Mississippi River and the Gulf of Mexico, causing what are known as dead zones, where no sea life can live. Reducing the amount of synthetic fertilizer in the soil and water is important to the survival of major American waterways.
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Reducing Carbon Dioxide Emissions
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According to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), a lot of municipal solid waste must be loaded onto trucks or ships to be transferred to a suitable waste facility. Other waste is incinerated for lack of space. Those trucks and ships require fuel, and those incinerators produce harmful emissions, all of which deposit more carbon dioxide into the air we breathe. In 2009, the EPA reported that recycling and composting prevented 82 million tons of material from ending up in landfills, thereby preventing the release of millions of metric tons of carbon dioxide.
Making Smart Choices
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Even on a small scale, composting allows people to take one more step towards responsible stewardship of the land. Composting is a simple way to teach children about the importance of reducing waste, as well as the basics of growing their own food when that compost is returned to the garden in the spring. Composting increases awareness of choices individuals make when making purchases and encourages them to begin to use reusable shopping and produce bags or to purchase items with recyclable packaging or with no packaging. Focusing on small-scale food production in the home garden can lead people to seek out more local produce, grow and buy organic food and make healthier choices for themselves and the planet.
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References
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