30 Day Zero Waste Challenge
Day 13:
COMPOST IT!
Do you part to minimize emissions of methane, a catastrophic greenhouse gas, by keeping your garbage free from organic matter! And in the process you might even eliminate the need for a garbage can liner since your garbage will be dry and clean! What’s not to like? 🙂
You can compost so much!
https://www.recology.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/SHL_Funnel_FoodScraps_0811-1.pdf
FACT-16% of all methane emissions, are from organics that can’t decompose in landfills.
“Landfills and open garbage dumps are full of organic matter. Our garbage contains things like food scraps, newspapers, cut grass and leaves. Every time new garbage comes in it gets piled over the old garbage that was already there. The organic matter in our garbage gets trapped in conditions where there is no oxygen. This provides excellent conditions for methane producing microbes. They will break down the waste, which produces large amounts of methane emissions. Even after a landfill gets closed, bacteria will continue to decompose the buried waste. Which will emit methane for years.” https://whatsyourimpact.org/greenhouse-gases/methane-emissions
I keep compost at home and use the rich soil in my garden and since we’ve started this Zero Waste Challenge, I am putting so many more items into my system! That’s me putting my bread bag in my kitchen compost bucket.
Article – Composting vs Methane Capture: A Climate Smackdown
“While capturing methane from landfills is certainly worthwhile, evidence suggests that composting is far better. A nine-year study by the Rodale Institute, to be published in the next issue of Compost Science and Utilization, a peer-reviewed journal, found that applying compost to cropland sequestered a staggering 10,802 pounds more carbon dioxide per hectare each year than farming with conventional manure fertilizer. That’s more than the yearly emissions of a Chevy Impala. “That’s a pretty big deal,” says Rodale research director Paul Hepperly, the author of the study. “When you are composting, you are stablizing the carbon” in organic matter.”
“And though capturing methane at a landfill also reduces greenhouse gasses, it can’t match composting’s associated benefits. Compared to raw manure, Rodale also found that compost applied to farmland led to a 600 percent reduction in nitrate leaching, which can pollute steams and groundwater, and improved the soil’s retention of water by a factor of three. “This relates to looking at things wholistically,” Hepperly said, adding that the ultimate goal should be an “agricultural system that invests more in our environment and takes less out of our resources.”
A couple of great articles on methane:
- https://content.sierraclub.org/coal/sites/content.sierraclub.org.coal/files/Final%20Gas%20Report.pdf?scv=1516508616196
- https://e360.yale.edu/features/how-climate-activists-failed-to-make-clear-the-problem-with-natural-gas-mckibben
- https://www.edf.org/methane-other-important-greenhouse-gas
Quote of the Day:
“Sustainability, ensuring the future of life on Earth, is an infinite game, the endless expression of generosity on behalf of all.” -Paul Hawken
