Composting is a vital step that we all take to reduce the current garbage crisis. In other words: roll up your sleeves!

Composting is an option to manage food waste. It is the process by which organic material is decomposed in order to provide nutrients and fuel to enrich the soil. In case you are unaware, there is a difference between food waste decomposing in compost and decomposing in a landfill. Composting organic material doesn’t create methane, a harmful greenhouse gas.

There have been different studies on the efficiency of household composting. One of these found that on average, composting saved 125 kg of waste per person per year. (The link of this research can be found at the end of this post.) If you do not trash your organic waste, your garbage doesn’t fill up so easily as well.

Let’s get back to those harmful greenhouse gases, which appears when food decomposes in a landfill. As it is underground, which means that it doesn’t have any access to oxygen. It undergoes a process called anaerobic decomposition. This releases methane, a greenhouse gas that contributes to climate change. The better and less harmful is when organic matter decomposes above ground in compost. Since it has access to oxygen, it undergoes aerobic decomposition, which doesn’t generate methane.

All you need to know on composting

If you choose to compost, the process is quite simple, but there are some guidelines to know.

You can compost eggshells, nutshells, teabags, coffee grounds, fruits, vegetables, and other plant matter.

You cannot compost dairy products, grease, oils, bones, and meat scraps.

If you are composting at home:

• Select a dry shady spot in your yard to keep your compost.
• Mix food scraps with plant materials such as dead leaves or branches.
• Add water to your compost pile as needed to encourage decomposition.
• Turn over your compost pile regularly to mix the top additions into the base of the pile.

Composting at a small apartment, the cold method

If you have limited space in your apartment, which is common in big cities, you might think that composting is not for you. Luckily there are two easy ways to compost indoors.

The simple way is called vermicomposting, which is managed by the help of worms to break down the organic matter.

The idea is simple:

You need a bin with a lid, filled with soil and some red wiggler worms. Now, your organic matter is ready to dump in there. The worms will do the work to break down your garbage into something called castings, which are extremely rich in nutrients. Then you can transplant your castings into potted plants or a small garden. At the end of the post, you can find a link, which describes vermicomposting in full-depth.

Composting in the backyard, the cold method

This method of composting for people is for those who live in the suburbs, in the countryside or just happen to have a backyard. The low-maintenance composting is the so-called cold method. It requires an enclosed area or an unused spot where you dump all available leaves, yard waste, and grass into the pile. Now, wait six months to two years, then continuously more stuff to it, and turn it around a bit with a rake or a shovel. You’re done, it will eventually decompose.

This is what the gardeners in our area are kindly doing, though I do not think that people actually turn the piles around.

The hot method of composting

The hot method is for those, who do not want to wait around but rather do some muscle work. For this method, the right type of “starter” material is needed. That involves an equal balance of ingredients that are carbon-rich and nitrogen-rich.

Things like paper, twigs, and leaves are rich in carbon, while grass, coffee and, tea grounds, fruit, and vegetables are rich in nitrogen. The proper mixture is key – you should have far more carbon than nitrogen. Once you have enough material to create a pile that is at least 1 by 1 meter, start adding the organic matter in. When carbon and nitrogen are mixed, the microorganisms inside will begin their work immediately and the mixture will keep heating up at first, but after about a month, it will cool down and finish the composting at about half that temperature. It takes a few month’s time, but the process will yield nutrient-rich soil that you can use throughout your garden.

The fact is if you are composting at home or bringing your food scraps elsewhere to be composted, you are benefiting the environment with minimal effort.

If you happen to keep a home garden, you will soon see the benefit as your soil quality improves and your plants and universe thank you!

Tips for writing this post came from Maximumyield.com and Popsci.com

Read more: How about organic waste?

Study of decomposing at home

Composting 101

How to vermicompost?