How to Start Composting

Composting has many uses and people create them for different reasons. For one, it helps reduce the amount of landfill that is sent out with the rest of our garbage. Others use it for fertilizer in their gardens because they help plants grow strong and healthy by enriching the soil they grow in. By using compost as a fertilizer, we can reduce the use of chemical fertilizers. 

You will want to start your compost pile on bare earth, so that worms and other organisms can reach it. Before you lay out your compost materials, a layer of straw or twigs that is a few inches deep should be laid down first to help drain your pile. Then, you should lay your compost materials in layers of moist materials(food scraps, tea bags, coffee grinds, seaweed) and dry materials (straw, leaves, sawdust, and even wood ashes). Materials that tend to clump together, like ash and sawdust, should be in thinner layers. If you mow your lawn, you can even add your grass clippings, or any green “manure” (clover, buckwheat, wheatgrass, any nitrogen source). These will activate your compost pile. If it rains in your area, you won’t have to keep your pile moist, but if you live in a dry area, you should add some water to your pile, even if its used water. However, the compost pile shouldn’t get too wet, so you might have to cover it. A tarp would even work. Once you have a compost pile started, every few weeks you should turn and mix your pile to work in oxygen and other compost materials. 

A good compost pile should have more carbon materials than nitrogen materials. Carbon materials include branches, dried leaves, peels, wood, bark dust, brown paper bags, corn stalks, coffee filters, egg shells, straw, and many more. Nitrogen materials include manures, food scraps, green lawn clippings and green leaves. A good mix includes about one part green materials (nitrogen) and two parts brown materials (carbon). Having more carbon is better than having more nitrogen, however this is a wonderful spot to use both. 

Happy Composting!

For More Information Visit:
http://eartheasy.com/grow_compost.html

Composting 101

Composting 101

In our blog survey, about one fifth of respondents stated that they do not compost. I, too, did not use to compost. But then when I learned how big of an impact composting can have on my local community and on the environment, as well as how little time it took and how easy it was, I easily switched to composting. Explore these websites to learn what composting is, and how you can start today!

For information on composting, including interactive games (for all ages), check out here.

For info on the composting program in Portland, Oregon, view this cool webpage.

For an awesome website on composting programs worldwide, explore this link.

Remember, food scraps are a significant source of waste produced each year, but can easily be diverted to compost for a better garden, reduced waste, and a greener world!

Composting Corner

       Based on our survey results from last week, we discovered that while recycling seems to be a fairly common practice, more than one fifth of our readers never compost.  For those unfamiliar with the term, composting is the process of recycling organic materials such as leaves and certain food waste into a rich, soil additive.  While composting may sound like a daunting endeavor, it's one of the easiest and most beneficial ways to make a positive impact on our environment.  And any positive impact towards slowing down climate change is a good thing!

Climate Change Survey Trends (so far)

It's still fairly early-on, but here are some of the trends in the results from our ongoing Climate Change survey (take it if you haven't already: http://goo.gl/fw6oby):

• 75% of the people recycle at least half the time

• 50% of the people do not compost at all

• 25% of the people have definite interest in environmental topics, while 37.5% "sort of" have interest

• 62.5% of the people don't really consider themselves to be green

• 50% of the people prefer to view data in chart and graph form

• 50% of the people have no preference between global, national, or local environmental topics --- or simply don't care

• 50% of the people are concerned with climate change, while 37.5% of the people are not at all concerned with it

• 87.5% of the people believe a combination of factors are the primary cause of climate change

• 37.% of the people are definitely interested in learning about ways they could possibly slow down climate change

• 40% of the people are definitely interested in a website where they can learn about things they could do on a daily basis to help slow down climate change

Once more results are in we will go ahead and post the full results of the survey. Take the survey to contribute to these results.

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