Transform household & garden waste and save the planet Composting is one of the greenest things you can do for our planet. Some scientists even argue it is more important than recycling! It is also the most natural thing - nature composts all its own leaves and debris, just look at the floor of any woodland. The leaves break down on the floor under the trees, releasing nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium and many trace elements to help plants grow. So it may help our garden grow but how does that help the planet? Well, if a ton of vegetable matter is composted, rather than sent to landfill, this will reduce greenhouse gas emissions as much as taking one car off the road for two months.
■■ L ayer the contents like a huge sandwich, alternate moist and dry. Sandwich grass cuttings between plain cardboard, loo roll inners, egg cartons to avoid a soggy pile. ■■ D O NOT add meat, fish, cooked food, coal ash, nappies, cat or dog litter. ■■ D O ADD uncooked fruit and vegetable peelings, grass cuttings, plain cardboard, coffee filters, non-plastic tea bags, soft green prunings, leaves and chopped up smaller branches. ■■ Water heap to keep it moist NOT wet. ■■ Cover with a piece of plastic or an old bit of carpet.
Almost two-thirds of landfill waste is biodegradable.
■■ When crumbly and dark it is ready to use.
If we do not compost and send our waste to landfill, as the vegetable matter decays, it produces methane gas due to the lack of air in that environment. Methane gas is 21 times more potent a greenhouse gas than Carbon Dioxide. So, composting helps to minimize landfill’s damaging contribution to Climate Change.
Want it faster?
But all the guides on composting look so complicated! Just remember that Mother Nature manages to compost everything available with absolutely NO fuss, no research, and no complicated guides. For a simple compost heap, (known as a cold compost): ■■ Find a 3-foot square area, hidden by shrubs if you prefer. ■■ Y ou can enclose it with chicken wire/ similar, but not essential. ■■ F irst lay a couple of inches of twigs or straw to allow air in, place on the bare earth, so the worms can climb up from the soil.
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If you want a faster compost, try to turn it often, the more you turn it, the faster it will decompose (more air for the microbes). There are also easy construct wood compost units. So have a go! You will know you are helping the planet, reducing greenhouse gas emissions, providing excellent feed, more microorganisms and worms to promote growth in your plants and improve the water retention of your soil.
