Importance of Composting and Why You Need to Start Composting Right Now
Waste/Garbage
What are your first thoughts when you think of Waste?
Throw it away, dump it in the bin, dirty stuff, worthless, defective, and so on.
These were my thoughts earlier but not anymore.
Before we move ahead, let me share few facts about waste
Every year, 2.01 billion tonnes of municipal waste is generated worldwide.
This is projected to increase by 70% to reach 3.4 billion tonnes by 2050 due to rapid urbanization, population growth, and economic development unless urgent measures are not taken.
About 1.6 billion tonnes of CO2 emissions are generated due to improper treatment and disposal of waste in 2016. This makes up 5% of global emissions.
CO2 emissions are expected to rise 2.6 billion tonnes in the next 30 years.
Each person onboard generates a total average of about 9 kg of organic waste per day.
Organic waste when gets mixed with inorganic/recyclable materials makes it difficult to recycle and ends up in increasing landfills.
Also, a landfill is not the ideal place for organic waste to decompose. Instead, it leaches out toxic chemicals and methane gas due to lack of oxygen in landfills.
You can ask me, why am I sharing all these, what can we do about waste? Apart from generating less waste, we can make use of the waste by segregating it accordingly.
There is a lot you and I can do at an individual level.
The best way to start with is to start COMPOSTING.
So, What is composting?
Composting is a natural process of recycling organic matter into a valuable fertilizer that enriches soil and plants. Also, referred to as Black Gold
Organic matter includes fruits and vegetable peels, leaves, twigs, grass cuttings, shredded leaves, and leftover food.
How to start composting?
Composting can be started with any available container at your home. Just make sure that the container has 4–5 holes in it so that there is a flow of oxygen in it.
You can also buy any container online that is specially made for composting. Such containers will add to the beauty of your balcony and are very easy to handle.
You can check out stonesoup.in to buy your composter bin. They also have a compost brick that speeds up the process of composting.
The trick with composting is to maintain the balance between the greens and the browns.
Suggested Read- Different Types of Composting
So, What are these greens and browns?
Greens are materials that have Nitrogen in them. Examples of greens are vegetable trimmings, green leaves, grass clippings, seaweed, teabags, coffee grounds, human/animal hair, nail clippings, etc.
Browns are materials that have Carbon in them. They are usually dried-up materials such as hay, dry/shredded leaves, sawdust, chipped wood, wood ash, cocopeat, dried grass, shredded paper, eggshells, etc.
- Avoid using meat and dairy products in your compost.
- To build compost, start with a thick layer of twigs or course mulch at the base for drainage.
- Then add a thin layer of kitchen scraps (the greens/ nitrogen).
- Layer it up with the browns covering all kitchen scraps.
- Moisten it well. ( Using a few drops of buttermilk will add the microbes to your compost and speed up the composting process)
- Add air to the compost so it doesn’t smell by turning it with a garden fork weekly to allow air in.
- If your compost is too dry then add more greens and if it is too wet add more browns.
- Your compost will not be smelly if you keep a balance of green and brown.
Why should you compost?
Compost is natural and inexpensive and extremely good for the environment.
- It improves soil quality and garden vitality
- Conserve water
- Recycle valuable nutrients and reduce the use of artificial fertilizers
- Prevent greenhouse gas emissions and landfill impacts.
- Makes you a responsible citizen
How do you know when compost is ready?
- There is no hard and fast test to know that your compost is ready. It usually takes around 3–4 months for fresh compost to be ready.
- If you add mature compost to your compost pile then the composting process speeds up to a month.
- Mature compost material feels and smells of dark, earthy humus soil.
- It should be medium to dark brown, with very few chunks of noticeable organic material.
- Mature compost tends to crumble and is slightly warm and moist to the touch.
- Waste dumps have adverse impacts on the environment and public health. Open dumps release methane from the decomposition of biodegradable waste under anaerobic conditions.
Methane causes fires and explosions and is a major contributor to global warming. There are also problems associated with odor and migration of leaches to receiving waters.
The impacts of poor waste management on public health are well documented, with increased incidences of nose and throat infections, breathing difficulties, inflammation, bacterial infections, anemia, reduced immunity, allergies, asthma, and other infections.
Limited environmental awareness combined with low motivation has inhibited innovation and the adoption of new technologies that could transform waste management in India. Public attitudes to waste are also a major barrier to improving waste management in India.
Let us pledge to change our attitude towards waste, make composting a habit and encourage more and more people to start composting.
ARE YOU READY TO HARVEST BLACK GOLD?