Tons of people these days avoid composting because they think it’s too time-consuming, or that it brings pests to their homes. These false assumptions give composting a bad rep, when in reality it has little to no negative effects and multiple positive outcomes.
Today we’ll be discussing the 6 reasons why you should try to compost at home:
1. Composting is easier than it seems
People often believe that composting requires special gadgets, but all you truly need are browns and greens. These are items that can be found in any household.
People usually store their browns and greens in outdoor containers, often waiting 3 months for the materials to decompose and become fertilizer. And voilà, they’ve successfully composted! See? Easy!
Another example of how to compost would be similar to what was done during the Stone Age, which was to dig a hole in the soil or dirt, add your food scraps (greens), and cover the hole. Eventually, the food waste will decompose underground, while also nourishing the surrounding soil.
Here are the easy-to-source items, that can help you on your journey to composting.
Browns
Items that have a brown color to them, such as:
- Cardboard
- Leaves
- Woodchips
- Sawdust
- Newspaper
- Eggshells
- Pet hair
- Plain bread
Greens
Items that can be found in any household, such as:
- Food scraps
- Coffee grounds
- Teabags
- Paper towels
- Fresh leaves
- All garden waste (except weeds and roots)
- Moldy bread
2. Home compost nourishes your plants
If you are a plant lover, get ready for compost to become your best friend, because compost and gardens come hand in hand. There are so many options when it comes to fertilizers, and all gardens need top-notch fertilizer for their plants to flourish.
Did you know that the best fertilizer can come from your home? It’s true! Composting can drastically change your garden for the better. When homemade fertilizer is added to a garden people notice better growth patterns, as well as improved water retention.
3. Composting reduces landfill waste
Tons of people think that waste, such as food scraps, eventually decomposes in landfills and causes no harm to the environment. The reality is that decaying organic material, for example, food scraps, or other items on the green list, releases methane gas when it is put into landfills.
In contrast, when we compost, we significantly reduce the amount of methane gas being created by organic matter and lessen the amount of carbon dioxide being released into the atmosphere.
Follow these top tips for reducing food waste at home
Aside from the gases, composting will also reduce the amount of waste being put into landfills, which are already packed full. At some point, we will not have any land to store the waste because the landfills will reach capacity. By composting at home, we can drastically change the outlook for our planet.
4. No need to purchase chemical fertilizer
People that use chemical fertilizers often disregard the negative effects they have on our environment. When chemical fertilizers are applied to the soil, they seep deep enough to reach groundwater, which causes water contamination. In turn, the sheer abundance of nutrients, including phosphorus and nitrogen, that leach into the sea is the cause of many oceanic dead zones.
The only true positive outcome of chemical fertilizers is the rapid production of plants, yet this extreme growth supposedly causes the plants to have a lower nutritional value.
What’s more, the chemical fertilizer helps crops grow at a faster rate, but so does compost fertilizer. The only difference is that the compost supports a healthy and balanced environment while the chemical fertilizers cause environmental degradation.
If that hasn’t convinced you yet, just think about the overall money you’d spend on fertilizer; chemical fertilizer ranges from $10 to $20 per package, while compost fertilizer is free of charge!
5. Composting saves money
The more you compost, the less waste you produce. When we produce less waste, we eventually need fewer and fewer garbage pick-ups, which will eventually save us money. Households use up to 25 to 30 trash bags every 30 days, therefore when our waste is reduced through composting we can spend less on trash bags than the average family, which will save money in the long run.
6. Reducing waste through composting makes you happy
As cliché as this sounds, composting does actually make you happy. It takes a group of people to make a change, and creating a home compost system is just the start. When people take a step towards living a more eco-friendly lifestyle, they become overjoyed by the fact that they are taking the advancements to make the world a better place.
Overall, the numerous benefits that are produced through home composting can change the world. The numerous myths and assumptions surrounding this process will never outshine the positive outcomes. The simple act of composting will help our society grow nutritious plants, reduce landfill waste, save money, and make the world a better place.
One Response
Incredible