Recycling the Earth
[attach]5588[/attach]There’s a friendlier way to throw out your leftovers besides using a Green Bin.
Composting at home is better for the environment and has a greater benefit for your garden, says Susan Antler, executive director at The Compost Council of Canada.
“It’s nature’s way of recycling,” she says.
Antler describes compost as a nutrient-rich mixture created from the decomposition of food waste and outdoor yard scraps that’s meant to be mixed with store-bought soil. The result is a naturally healthy garden.
The City of Toronto provides free compost between April and October, but there are other reasons to take your own initiative.
Organics from the contents of your Green Bin make up 40 percent of materials in landfills, and 38 percent of greenhouse gas emissions come from landfills, Antler says.
She says at-home composting also eliminates gas emissions created from the transportation of Green Bins to landfills.
“It creates a product that is the essence of importance to soil,” she says. “Healthy soil is like taking vitamins.”
While composting can be done indoors, Antler prefers the outdoor method.
“It’s the only recycling process you can be totally involved in,” said Antler. “You’re totally in charge.”
She says you can put a composter in your backyard and add to it year round. The city even delivers composters for $20.
For compost to break down successfully into a soil-like mixture, it must contain browns and greens. Browns are yard scraps such as branches, twigs and leaves, while greens refer to any fruit and vegetable scraps such as apple cores, banana peels and eggshells. Your compost should be more greens than browns, Antler says, and be sure not to add meat, fish or oils because they attract insects.
The bottom layer in a composter should be twigs and branches to provide airspace. Antler advises to keep a bucket of food waste in your kitchen, let it fill up, add it to your composter, cover it with a layer of leaves and repeat.
“Like humans, compost needs air, food and water to survive,” she says.
Create airflow by stirring your compost each time you add to it. You can do this by churning with a shovel or poking holes in the mixture. Antler says the less you aerate your compost, the longer it will take to produce a finished product.
It takes approximately two months to produce compost you can mix with soil. Once it’s ready, combine the two and use it to plant flowers or vegetables in your garden.
Tips for maintaining your composter
Composting at home can be done year round, reduces greenhouse gas emissions and creates a healthy, organic garden, Susan Antler, executive director of The Compost Council of Canada,. With spring around the corner, now is the time to consider turning your kitchen and yard waste into nutrient-rich compost for your garden. Here are some extra tips from Antler to improve outdoor composting:
• Before adding kitchen waste to your composter, cut up bulky scraps such as banana peels into smaller pieces. It will be easier to churn your compost and help it decompose faster.
• Don’t have leaves in your yard? Shred black and white newspaper into one-inch wide strips.
• Variety is the spice of life — mix it up.
• Consider using a variety of fruits and vegetables in your compost.
• Don’t make composting a chore. Set it up so it’s convenient for you. Place your composter where it’s easily accessible. Keep a bucket for food scraps in your kitchen so you don’t have to run outside each time you make a meal.
• Your compost needs water to survive. If you’re using newspaper and your compost mixture is dry, spray water so it stays moist.
• To avoid excess, empty your composter in the fall and mix as much as you can with soil. Return any leftovers and continue adding to your composter through the winter.