Composting as a climate solution

 

December 28, 2022



We are Youth for the Environment and People – a cohort of Skagit County teens working to complete a climate action project. Our project will improve food composting at Sedro-Woolley High School and educate about the importance of composting. Here we discuss how food waste contributes to climate change and how composting can limit its negative impacts.

Food waste is a big contributor to climate change. When people waste food, scraps usually end up in landfills, where they start to release methane, a greenhouse gas. Methane contributes to climate change by making the earth hotter in the same way that a greenhouse stays hot.

A big percentage of food waste occurs in the home, at around 37%. When food is wasted we are also wasting what it took for the food to get there. This includes transportation, packaging, processing, fertilizer, storage, along with the energy and water it takes to grow food. All these parts of the process create greenhouse gas emissions.

Composting lowers the impact of food waste. Composting turns organic matter (food scraps and yard waste) into fertilizer. Composting significantly lowers the greenhouse gasses our food waste creates compared to the amount it would create if it ended up in a landfill. The resulting fertilizer has the added benefit of being usable in many ways. While compost doesn’t solve the problem of food waste, it is surely a better way to dispose of our food waste than tossing it out.

Getting started with composting is really simple! Begin by storing food scraps in a closed, well ventilated container. Choose a place outdoors (if you plan to use it) and empty your container there. Make sure the area you choose is protected from animals (such as bears) that you don’t want attracted to your yard. Lastly, simply let the mix and scraps decompose, aerating it by turning it with a shovel periodically.

What goes into a compost mix? Include fruits, vegetables, eggshells, teabags, coffee grounds, uncoated paper products and yard waste. The only organic materials you cannot put in are diseased plants, pet wastes, yard trimmings with chemicals, coal or black walnut tree clippings. Do not put non-organic materials such as plastic or foil in the compost.

What are uses for compost once it has ready? There are many ways to use your DIY compost. Use it as mulch in gardens, add it to potting soil, distribute it on lawns, feed it to potted plants and add it around trees. These are many ways to return nutrients back to the earth and reduce the impact food waste has on climate change!

Addison Felty (Sedro-Woolley High School), Arden Trachta-Magruder (Sedro-Woolley High School), Kirra Horton (Mt. Vernon High School) and Megan Jewell (Burlington-Edison High School). YEP! is a program designed by RE Sources (in Bellingham) and co-run by North Cascades Institute (in Sedro-Woolley).

 

Reader Comments(0)

 
 

Powered by ROAR Online Publication Software from Lions Light Corporation
© Copyright 2024

Rendered 03/25/2024 18:53