Dear Umbra,
I was explaining to my neighbor (who doesn't even recycle) why he shouldn't throw out a bag of leaves with his trash. Just to clarify, he asked what to do with it. I explained composting; he doesn't want to. I explained the energy expended in transporting his leaves and that landfills emit greenhouse gases as the materials break down. It got me thinking. Why is it better for my kitchen scraps and leaves, etc., to break down in my compost pile vs. in a landfill? Doesn't it emit greenhouse gases at home?
Continually composting,
Sue R.
St. Paul, Minn.
Dearest Sue,
Maybe you should write in again with a verbatim account of how you approached your neighbor, so that we all can understand how to have a civil, neighborly, curbside discussion about waste disposal. Not an easy thing to do. What was the end result, by the way? Did he throw the leaves out?
Like a good neighbor, compost is there.
There are many reasons, including those you have already mentioned, for keeping organic wastes out of the solid waste stream. Solid waste goes to either a landfill or an incinerator, each costly and polluting in its own way, which is why many cities now invest in curbside yard waste and even food waste pickup. The major global warming issues with organic matter in landfills include the fuel-using machines on the road and at the site. In a landfill there is some anaerobic decomposition, which releases CO2, methane, and nitrous oxides. In 2001, the IPCC told us that U.S. landfill methane emissions were higher than agricultural methane emissions and just barely lower than energy-related methane emissions. Step aside, cows -- our garbage is worse than your burps and your pies.
To compost at home is to move toward a closed system of inputs and outputs, where less goes out and less is bought or brought in. In addition to reducing the general solid waste burden on your community, your organic discards don't emit any transportation-related emissions.
Studies on the greenhouse-gas emissions of compost itself have largely focused on commercial composting operations (understandably). The IPCC again, referring to commercial systems, says food waste composting results in "significantly lower" emissions than landfilling, whereas the greenhouse-gas emissions from yard waste composting are similar to those from landfills. The Compost Council argues that keeping food and grass clippings out of landfills significantly reduces methane emissions, and that the CO2 produced, being from plants, does not count as anthropogenic gas.
Home compost techniques and systems vary so widely that we can only tentatively generalize: They are insignificant producers of greenhouse gases. An aerobic compost pile has oxygen available to the decomposing organisms -- either because the composter (you) turns the pile regularly, or because of worms -- and hence avoids the methane production that would occur in an anaerobic landfill setting. Any methane produced in an anaerobic pile (one that just sits there with no help from you and that likely smells of ammonia) will develop in the stinky core of the pile and may vanish as it travels through the more aerobic outer layers, reacts with oxygen, and transforms into some other compound.
A pile of brown leaves has wonderful purposes in the garden, either used fresh in the autumn or stored for a bit and used in its leaf mold state. Pile leaves loosely to let air circulate, and your Climate Conscience should be trouble-free. As to your neighbor, if his leaves are clean, take them, too, to supply your garden with even more excellent mulch. Or just leave him to do as he wishes, but feel free to point out the beauty and low expense of your own yard.
Mulchily,
Umbra
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Comments
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marguerida Posted 4:17 am
05 Nov 2008
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mckuhl Posted 5:38 am
05 Nov 2008
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flomiller Posted 7:14 am
05 Nov 2008
But while I get that intellectually and it does motivate ME to compost, I don't expect my neighbors to care. So I tell people the truth, which is that the thing I like most about composting is that my smelly food waste doesn't sit in my trash can, stinking up my kitchen, until I take the trash out -- where it makes my big trash can outside smell. It goes into the compost bin at the end of the day and I forget about it. No more smelly rubbish! Hooray. (Admittedly, this is more true if you don't eat much meat, since you can't really compost meat and bones in most home compost piles.)
One other thing I like about composting is that since I started doing it (and recycling), my husband and I only produce one to two bags of trash a month. That means we only have to pay for trash pickup once a month -- and since the trash doesn't smell, there's no harm in it sitting around for a while outside in our trash can.
And FINALLY, when you are producing your own compost, you can, of course, put it on your garden, saving money on fertilizers (should you be tempted to use them) or store-bought compost.
Ah, the wonders of compost.
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Cyndi Posted 12:54 pm
05 Nov 2008
Stuff in landfills doesn't actually break down.
No matter what happens to stuff in landfills, it increases the volume of the overall stuff and this means the landfill gets full faster and new landfills have to be created.
Gardening compost is just letting nature do its work. The leaves aren't helping plants grow in a landfill.
Solution? ask the neighbor to give you the leaves. Give him some finished compost when he's planting his garden (or when he would otherwise fertilize)...don't make it a stated trade, just take the leaves because they are gold, he's giving you a gift.
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ClimateCriminal Posted 6:51 pm
05 Nov 2008
As mentioned by others, disposal in landfill cannot replicate a natural decay process. First of all is the enormous scale of the waste produced by a community, secondly the anaerobic nature and thirdly the energy used to transport it there.
It is perfectly ridiculous to claim that 'stuff in landfills doesn't break down'. There must be some decay of organic material in landfill, otherwise, what is the origin of all that methane? However is is fair to say that the decay processes in landfills are probably slower than the aerobic equivalent.
Small is truly beautiful, big is ugly.
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Gene Posted 11:20 pm
05 Nov 2008
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logocat Posted 12:00 am
06 Nov 2008
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oco Posted 1:51 am
06 Nov 2008
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SkyHunter Posted 5:22 am
06 Nov 2008
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sanderson508 Posted 7:08 am
06 Nov 2008
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howdenjoyce Posted 4:19 am
09 Nov 2008
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loohszeeh Posted 4:15 pm
09 Nov 2008
Here's why I ask:
My college has a program that takes scraps from food production in the dining halls and campus cafés to our organic farm where it is composted. Yippee. But we also use compostable takeout containers (basically just paper-cardboard containers) and throw them in the trash, where they are trucked to a landfill that cannot operate completely as a dry landfill and uses methane produced as natural gas. We don't compost these ourselves for one reason because they require a chipper, which is too much work, and the composting program gets enough input as it is. Any thoughts?
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robertjuk Posted 9:51 pm
10 Nov 2008
I have, for the UK, a fairly large garden part of which is my veggie patch. I also have a greenhouse and a nice patio which gets the sun most of the day in the summer.
I grow organically, which basically means the way nature grows, which means using compost. Compost comes in several forms, for example horse or other animal manure or typical garden compost. I have two large 6' X 3' X 4' compost bins I built into which I put all garden waste and kitchen waste. Some of this gets shredded to help speed the composting process, for example broad bean stems which are quite woody. I also collect the compostable material at my office as well as recycling all the other recyclables; paper, cardbaord, plastic and metal from the office too!
The two biggest contributors to my compost bins are grass and leaves. Without these the amount of compost I could produce in my two bins would be significantly reduced. This is what I do:
Grass. I have three neighbours with large lawns. We have municipal recycling bins which we can put grass cuttings in but instead I take all their grass cuttings which they are happy to give me - I do give them produce from my veggie patch, a fair exchange! The first and most important use for grass cuttings is as a mulch on the vegetable patch between crops and on paths. I have very free draining soil and this helps to maintain moisture in the soil. I should also say I live in the east of England near Cambridge. On average we only get 20" of rain and summers can be hot, well for the UK anyway! I usually lay this mulch 3" thick. By the end of the summer it's gone, rotted and dragged into the soil by the worms. In the autmn and winter I keep adding the grass cuttings to areas which are bare and this prevents the weeds gaining a foothold. Any additional grass is added in layers to the compost bins to ensure it doesn't go slimey.
Leaves. I have a large bag, the sort that sand and gravel gets transported by suppliers in these days. In autumn I drag this around the paths (pavements in the UK, walkways in the US?) close to my house and sweep up the fallen leaves and put them in the bag. People think I am a little nutty but it keeps the pavements clear of slippery leaves and saves them the bother of clearing them up. To me this is the basis for creating the black gold for my garden; people don't know what they are missing. Also for older neighbours with trees in their gardens I go and sweep their leaves up for them too. The bag is great because it holds large amounts of leaves rather than using a wheel barrow which I would have to keep emptying. Now I just add the leaves to one of my compost bins and tread them down. One could shred them but it's not really necessary although it does reduce the volume considerably. If they are dry I add water from my water butts and either a layer of earth, old compost or horse manure just to help the composting process get started. If I have grass cuttings available then I layer the two. Once all the leaves have fallen and I stop collecting I continue to add the usual kitchen waste to the pile. Come the spring I will empty one bin and turn the other into it allowing a good mixing and I cover the bin with an old carpet. This is about 4-5 months after I collected the leaves. By now the bin has reduced in size to about a half but the mixture will be full of worms and creepy crawlies, slugs and toads. I will use the compost at the end of the summer to refill my green house. By this time the compost has a wonderful crumbley structure, full of worms and smells wonderful. Now I repeat the cycle.
It takes about one bin to refill my greenhouse which I empty each year. Last years greenhouse compost goes onto the veggie patch. I also use some of it in 5 large containers I have that sit on the patio. I grow tomatoes in the green house and in the containers. I don't need to feed them at all and have huge crops of delicious tomatoes.
If you have inquisitive children they will love looking in a compost heap with all the exciting things that are going on in it. Mine particularly like the toads and frogs that then get introduced to the pond!
The other item I grow directly in compost are corguettes or Zuchini. These need lots of moisture which the compost can hold. They are really easy to grow and taste great.
I appreciate that compost probably only excites gardeners and leaves in a small town garden may just appear to be a nuisance but when you have seen the alchemy that is composting; effectively the creation of new soil, I thnk you will be amazed. Also you can do your neighbours a good turn in the process and trust me the tomatoes taste far better than when you use a grow bag or buy them in a shop!
Sorry this is rather long but I hope it will inspire some readers to take up composting.
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