In 1980, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), less than 10 percent of the nation’s Municipal Solid Waste (MSW), otherwise known as everyday household trash, was recycled. That’s like 100 students drinking from soda cans with only nine throwing them in the green bin when finished. The other 90 completely ignore it and throw theirs in the gray bin. Fast-forward 20 years and you’ll find that 34% of trash is now being recycled. That’s a 24 point increase! The amount of waste that the country generates has risen as well, from 3.66 to 4.43 pounds per person per day to be exact, but the recycling rate has consistently increased and will hopefully continue to do so, especially with the popularity and passion of the green movement. In 2010, about 65 million tons of MSW were recovered through recycling efforts. That astonishing number includes objects that normally come to mind when thinking of recyclables such as newspapers, plastics, soda cans and car batteries. While those efforts are highly commendable and need to continue, there is another type of recycling that is just as efficient and important, even if a little less popular – composting.
Compost is an organic material that can be used as an additive to soil or as a medium to grow plants. Anyone can make compost by recycling their organic materials, which can include anything from yard trimmings to tea bags. Meat products can technically be composted as well, but they produce an incredibly attractive scent that skunks, rats and other rodents can’t help but be drawn to. The rules of composting mean that a large portion of what we throw away on a daily basis can actually be reused in the form of plant food. We can crush up our eggshells, scoop up our rotten bananas and rake in our leaves all to be put in one big pile for future yummy plant nourishment. Composting could potentially mean a huge increase to the already-growing recycling statistics for this country. In fact, in 2010, 20 million tons of trash were recovered through composting. 20 million tons may look like an incredibly large number, but it actually seems kind of puny up against the staggering 65 million tons of other recyclables.
The amount of composting being done today will look even worse when you consider this next fact. Yard trimmings and food waste make up the second largest category of trash that goes into our landfills today, with a massive 27.3%. They follow plastics by a mere 1.2%. If you add in wood (because wood chips can be composted), organic compostable materials easily become king of the (trash) mountain. While over half of yard trimmings were collected for recycling in 2010, only 2.8% of food waste was recovered. Compare that number with the 72% rate of paper recycling in 2010 and it overwhelmingly shows that so much more can be achieved with composting. With recycling numbers increasing in every other category, why is composting trailing so far behind? It seems so easy, right? Walter Dodd of Soilutions, a composting company in Albuquerque, New Mexico had a few answers for us.
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According to Walter, the city government of Albuquerque, as well as many other cities, just simply doesn’t pick up green waste enough. “Twice a year or three times a year [the city] does a green waste pick up. You can put bags of leaves out on the curb and they’ll take it.” That pales in comparison to some other places, like San Diego County, where many residents can opt-in to have a green waste pickup once a week. To make it worse for citizens of Albuquerque, “they’re (the state composting facility) fifteen miles out of town, and the average Joe is not going to spend 20 bucks to go out there…” Obviously, the city is not making it easy on its inhabitants to get rid of their green waste. It’s incredibly easy to find a bin for recycling materials like aluminum and plastic in most major cities, but green waste just hasn’t caught up. Walter doesn’t really mind, though, because with the city making it more difficult for residents to compost, his company takes the opportunity to step up and provide that service. First of all, they are closer to town, so with gas prices rising, they are much easier to get to. They also provide pick up services for some businesses. “We go out and go to restaurants and provide containers. They fill it up, we exchange them and bring them back.” This is a great way to pick up green waste that otherwise would have been disposed of with regular trash. It’s easy to see that where the city is slacking, private businesses are stepping in. In fact, according to the EPA, the amount of private composting businesses has risen from 1,000 in 1988 to 2,280 in 2010. Obviously, these services aren’t free but they are much better than just letting your organic materials go to “waste.”
If you aren’t willing to pay to drop off your compostables and your city is lagging behind the times, you can always try your hand at composting yourself. With urban farming on the rise, there are tons of books and websites dedicated to homemade composting. You don’t even need to have a yard, composting can be done in buckets or tubs on your patio. Walter warns us, though, that some places may find it much easier to compost than others. “I think everybody that I know has a small composting operation in their backyard somehow. Most of them are failing, it’s not an easy thing to do. In [Virginia], you just throw it in the corner and it does it. Here you have to pay attention [because] you have to put water on it. Most of them are conscious of the possibility, but have families have lives and can’t go out there and turn it and take care of it.” According to Walter, composting requires four main components, Nitrogen, Carbon, Water and Air. All of those things are in abundance in Virginia, which is why a compost pile there will pretty much take care of itself. Unfortunately, in New Mexico, water is in very short supply. If there isn’t enough water in the compost pile, nothing will happen. Many people don’t have the time to make sure the ratios are correct and they’re adding enough water, so their composting piles fail. That’s where companies like Soilutions step in. If you don’t have time to do it yourself, you can just bring your waste to them and they will do it.
Not only will composting allow our landfills to have a much longer lifespan, but it will also positively impact your surrounding environment. According to the EPA, composting can do all of the following things: improve soil health and structure; increase drought resistance; and reduce the need for supplemental water, fertilizers, and pesticides. As opposed to spending extra money on fertilizers to keep your vegetables alive, you can easily make your own, homegrown compost that will achieve the same results, if not better. Furthermore, planting in the same soil repetitively can strip the normal soil of all of its nutrients. Adding compost to the mix will ensure that your veggies and flowers will have all of the appropriate plant food that they need.
So what can you do? Well first of all you can start your own composting pile! Go to your local bookstore or library, grab one of those books on “Composting 101” and dig in – literally! If composting really isn’t an option for you, then opt-in to your city or county’s green waste removal program and make an effort to throw your scraps and yard waste in the green bin. If your city doesn’t offer any of those programs then you should petition them until they start one. If that doesn’t work right away, then go visit your local composting business. If they are as friendly and helpful as Soilutions was, then they will surely work with you in figuring out a way to dispose of your waste in a green-friendly manner!
*You can find all of the data that I cited above and much, much more on several of the EPA’s extremely educational webpages listed below as well as their “Municipal Solid Waste Generation, Recycling, and Disposal in the United States: Facts and Figures for 2010.” You better check it out fast before Ron Paul becomes president!
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