Make Magic: Compost

Summary: Compost at Home or With a Service

Description

Composting is easy magic! It turns food waste — which might now go into the trash or down the kitchen sink drain via the “garbage disposal” — into a rich, sweet-smelling soil amendment. Applied to garden beds, it enriches the soil environment for plants and for the millions of tiny decomposer organisms that live under our feet. Bonus: it reduces household trash volume significantly! 

Why compost? (1) It’s magic. (2) It reduces household waste by up to 50% (and makes the trash bin smell way better). (3) Without organic waste in the trash, paper bags work very well to line the bin; this keeps many plastic bags out of landfills and incinerators. (4) Right now, more than half of the trash that ends up in landfills is compostable organic matter that generates methane. (Boo; unburned methane is a greenhouse gas on steroids.)               

Can I compost at home? Absolutely! Composting can happen at home — in a back yard, or on a deck or porch (or even via vermiculture, indoor composting with worms). You can make your own bin (simple to do, and it makes a fun science project for kids), or purchase one with added conveniences through the Acton Department of Public Works or from retailers. (Contact the DPW/Highway Department at 978.929.7740 or highway@acton-ma.gov.) Learn composting basics from the folks at the Rodale Institute and with the Town’s How to Compost guide. 

Are there other composting options? You bet! The Acton Transfer Station offers year-round, on-site collection of food waste; see more here. Also, weekly curbside pick-up of food scraps/organic matter is available locally through Black Earth Compost. Both programs offer participants the opportunity for some of the end product — that sweet black gold!

Deep Dive

U.S. Food Waste Facts 

• Food waste is estimated to be 30–40% of the food supply. (U.S. Food and Drug Administration)
• According to the World Wildlife Federation, the production of wasted food is equivalent to the greenhouse emissions of 37 million cars. (RTS)
• Food “waste” is the single largest category of material municipal landfills, where it emits methane, a powerful greenhouse gas (GHG). Such solid-waste landfills are the third-largest source of human-related methane emissions in the U.S., accounting for approximately 14.1% of these emissions in 2017. (U.S. Department of Agriculture)
• Food waste is a huge climate issue in the U.S. because, when it is placed in landfills, the anaerobic conditions cause its decomposition to generate methane, a potent GHG. By composting, we return this organic matter to the natural carbon cycle.
• Although home composting does not solve our national food-waste dilemma, it is an important step down a better path. Community-wide composting can make an even greater impact. Nature’s capacity for carbon drawdown is extraordinary, and returning food waste to the soil is a significant part of the equation. This is an action that most of us can take together, each in our own household, to increase the health of the soil and of the climate!
• Healthy soil provides additional benefits, as the illustration below demonstrates. (Thanks to the Mothers Out Front Massachusetts Healthy Soils group for the graphic.)

• It is estimated that for each ton of compost produced and used, one-half ton of CO2 can be sequestered in healthy soil. (BioCycle)
• Every 1% increase in soil organic matter — thus, soil carbon content — adds 1.4 acre-inches (approximately 38,000 gallons) of water-holding capacity.”  (Healthy Soils and The Climate Connection)

Steps to Take

Compost stores carbon and improves soil health! Composting can happen nearly anywhere (see Description tab). Check out these tips to start composting in a back yard:

• Keep it simple. Four posts and some chicken wire will do for a start. It is best to have at least two side-by-side “bins”: one where the compost will mature, and one to hold grass clippings and leaves, which are important to layer with food scraps for faster and more complete decomposition. The leaves and grass clippings also discourage animals from searching out food scraps.
• Remember that your compost piles will need a simple door to access the mature compost.
• The Town of Acton Transfer Station offers its How to Compost guide — a great primer on getting started. The Transfer Station also accepts yard waste materials, such as grass, leaves, flowers, brush, twigs, logs (under 18” diameter), wood chips, and Christmas trees. Finished mulch is available to residents with any Transfer Station sticker.  
• Some individuals and neighborhoods contract with companies that collect their organic food waste and compost it off site. Black Earth Compost provides this service in Acton, and is the vendor that collects the food waste from the Transfer Station collection bins.

For a wonderful video about two Acton students who organized neighborhood composting, click here.

Resources

Pro tip for sourcing your non-digital reading: support a local bookstore, check out a copy from your library, or start your own environmentally themed book exchange to share and borrow books from neighbors, friends, and family.

Composting at Home, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency

Books:

Let It Rot! The Gardener's Guide to Composting, by Stu Campbell (an adult resource)

Compost: A Family Guide to Making Soil from Scraps, by Ben Raskin (a kid-friendly book on composting)

Compost Stew: An A to Z Recipe for the Earth, by Mary McKenna and Ashley Wolff (a fun rhyming book for younger kids)

Articles & Documentaries (courtesy of Black Earth Compost)

19-Year Study Shows We've Been Undervaluing How Much Compost Can Boost Carbon Capture, Science Alert

Can Dirt Save the Earth, The New York Times Magazine (on storing carbon in the soil) Global Warming’s Dirty Little Secret, The [Manchester] Cricket 

Wasted! The Story of Food Waste, documentary available on YouTube

Kiss The Ground, documentary available on Netflix

Only 60 Years of Farming Left If Soil Degradation Continues, Scientific American

Compost Transport: City To Farm (a statewide compost allocation network shows promise), BioCycle

Compost and Mulch Utilization on California Almond Farm (farm saved money, increased yield, improved soil health, reduced water and pesticide use), BioCycle