In The Garden: The Facts Of Composting
By AMY MUNCY
Advanced Master Gardener
WARSAW — I was going to talk about Vermicomposting in this article, but many people would be turned off by this form of composting without knowing some facts first.
I have included several articles below about the impact our country is having on our environment from food waste. This includes our own kitchens, restaurants, school lunch kitchens, stores that sell food and even the farmers who leave some food in the fields.
I would suggest you read a few of the articles and determine for yourself if you are contributing to the food waste that is going on in our country.
If we as a country could reduce food waste by 15 percent, it would be enough to feed 25 million hungry Americans for one year. Food waste is the number one material taking up the space in landfills — more than paper and plastic.
Food waste also anaerobically biodegrades and causes the most greenhouse gases that goes directly into our atmosphere. The landfills try to burn this gas off through vents in the heap but I seriously don’t believe they get it all. Have you driven by a landfill lately. Ooohhh, that smell! That is methane gas you are smelling and can you imagine what it is doing to the ground water?
Methane gases are 20 times more damaging to the environment and increase of global warming than carbon dioxide. So here in lies the problem. What can you do? Learn as much as you can about composting and determine what you can do that way. Also, relearn how to buy your food so that there is less waste.
See the article that includes “moneycrashers” in the title and it explains how to buy your food in a smarter way called “Refrigerator Conscience.”
Or do you have a neighbor or friend that maybe not be as well off as yourself. Send food their way if they are accepting. Always discuss this with them first so as not to offend them or if they may have food allergies. You don’t want to make anyone sick. When cooking for one or two, this can create leftovers. It is hard to cook for just a few and sharing with friends and neighbors can eliminate the leftover situation. Also, consider food pantries for unused canned/boxed foods.
Organic foods need to be composted, not put in landfills. Canada has passed a law that no organic waste is to be put in the landfills. They have provided bins for those who don’t compost and these are picked up and are taken to a communal compost site. Be ready because this mandatory composting will be coming and has been put in place in some states…but not if we don’t talk to our state reps.
I would advise all people in this state to contact your state rep and ask that they reconsider composting and recycling projects in all communities. I have heard, and this is just hearsay from a very reliable source, that the state reps just met about landfills and the problems with them.
They have decided that since we have so much land in this state that there is no problem with making more landfills. Also, they are talking about stopping recycling pickups, as it is not cost effective for Indiana to do so. Recycling does cost money, but at what cost are we going to burden our great-grandchildren with the landfills and environmental factors that go with it?
My last comment will be that there are 1 billion hungry in the world, 50 million in the U.S.…The moral dimension is clear. It is up to us to change this.
The following links provide more insight into composting:
- www.usi.edu/recycle/solid-waste-landfill-facts
- www.worldfooddayusa.org/food_waste_the_facts
- endfoodwastenow.org/index.php/resources/facts
- www.moneycrashers.com/reduce-food-waste-in-america-statistics-facts
Amy Muncy was born in Wabash County and lived there for close to 40 years. Muncy grew up in the country, has always enjoyed gardening and mowing the lawn. She has been gardening since a small girl. She moved to Kosciusko County in 2000. She is a master gardener intern at this point, but will be a full master gardener before long.