Save the Planet in Your Backyard by Composting

Before the recycling craze began in the 1970s and 1980s, there was composting. Making a compost pile in the backyard or garden is probably one of the oldest forms of recycling organic material and improving the planet. Composting is the best of both worlds, because it dramatically reduces the amount your household contributes to landfills while allowing waste to improve the soil. Although it might require you to do a significant amount of waiting, since it takes months for refuse to be transformed into compost soil, the resulting soil is rich and filled with nutrients and can maximize yields in your garden.

“Composting is the best of both worlds,

because it dramatically reduces the amount

your household contributes to landfills while

allowing waste to improve the soil.”

Types of Compost

There are many people who would love to create a compost pile, but do not feel they have the available outdoor space. Compost piles do not have to be large and can be used to deposit all kinds of organic material that can be broken down. You can buy ready-made compost containers if you have smaller spaces. The advantage of commercial compost containers is that they can break down items, such as cooked foods and in some cases, paper, that do not belong in a handmade compost pile. For a small investment, a commercial compost device helps you cut down waste, improve the environment and create your own rich soil.

If you have large or small backyard space, you can build your own compost pile out of wood and surround it by chicken wire or with bricks. Make sure there is significant space between the bricks to allow microbes and worms to enter the pile. It is important to be aware of what you can put into your compost pile and what should be left out. Keep in mind that the compost pile is for the breaking down of organic materials, namely, materials that come from plants or animals. However, not all organic materials belong in a regular compost pile. Avoid placing meat and dairy products into your homemade compost to avoid attracting maggots and flies. In addition, meat may be hard to break down and should be placed into a compost machine.

Paper is recyclable but should be placed into a recycling bin and not into a compost pile. Therefore, resist the temptation to place old newspapers, tissues, diapers and related items onto your compost. Materials that go well with compost are egg shells, used pet bedding, grass clippings, leaves, raw vegetables and fruits and other plant materials. Most traditional compost piles cannot accommodate cooked vegetables, but you may be able to break them down in a compost machine.

How A Compost Pile Works

When you put organic material into an outdoor compost pile, worms, bugs and invisible microbes get to work and start breaking down the items into soil. Although you may work hard to rid your house of pests, the same insects do you a big favor outdoors on your compost pile and may even prevent pests from getting into your home, because they are well fed out-of-doors. Through a gradual process requiring 3 to 9 months, these creatures create a rich dark soil from the organic material. You need to turn your compost pile by bringing the bottom layer to the top and using the rich soil as it is produced.

The Goal of No Waste

Environmental expert Jai Shroff and others discuss the importance of the “no waste” objective for preserving the environments. Ideally, the no waste strategy involves reusing, recycling and composting every item. While this goal seems to be ambitious, every individual can try their best in trying to reuse, recycle and compost as much as possible. You can start by collecting glass, aluminum, and paper items and bringing them to a nearby recycling area instead of throwing them in the garbage. Reuse old jars and plastic containers to store items in the kitchen.

A compost pile eliminates the need to throw away egg shells, tea bags, used coffee filters, vegetable peelings and pits. Once you start being conscious of your options to recycling, reusing and composting, you might find that it is almost unnecessary to throw anything away and can limit the amount that goes into landfills. This is important because it takes a very long time for many items to decompose in a landfill, and a lot of things we throw away contain harmful chemicals that find their way into natural bodies of water and even our drinking water and soil from landfills. To prevent this, use only natural products free of hazardous chemicals.

Protecting the environment requires the participation of every individual in small and large ways. One way you can improve the beauty and yield of your garden grown fruits and vegetables and to reduce the amount of household waste is due composting, you don’t need a large yard to make a compost pile and can purchase special devices designed for this purpose. The compost pile takes organic materials and transforms them into soil with the help microbes and worms. The result is dark rich soil filled with nutrients that will nourish your plants and create a beautiful garden.

Have you started composting yet?

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