How to start composting

 1. What is composting and why is it important?    

You may have heard the term “composting” tossed around, but you are not sure what it means. This is a way to recycle human waste into a valuable source of organic fertilizer. In other words, it is recycling! If you have even the slightest interest in learning about this process, there are many websites on the Internet that provide information for just this reason.

So what is composting exactly? For the process to be properly defined, we must first define what composting really is. Composting is an organism that converts organic matter into a carbon-rich material. The matter turned into this carbon-rich material can be from human waste, food, or manure from the animals in your garden.

So, what is composting used for, and why is it important? Through the process of composting, any organic waste that is considered usable can be decomposed and recycled into a more useful product. This process can help reduce the amount of garbage that ends up in our landfills by limiting the amount of garbage that is produced. Also, through this process, any trace of animal bi-products such as feces, milk and meat products can be decomposed and made into a beneficial product.

What composting used for is also significant. By recycling all of this unwanted garbage, we can reduce the amount of natural resources that are needed to support life. Compost is being used in a wide variety of different places such as greenhouses and schools to produce heat and fertilizer for plants. Schools will often create a compost pile where school students will add grass clippings, coffee grounds and fruit peelings to turn them into compost. This fertilizer helps to restore the nutrients that have been leached out from the topsoil of the grass during the school year.

Through the process of composting, there is a reduction in the amount of organic waste that is sent to landfills and a reduction in the amount of garbage that is sent to landfills every year. This means a smaller carbon footprint overall and a cleaner environment. The result is a healthier planet for us to live on.

This can be a basic answer to an age-old question that many people still have. Without this process of recycling and decomposition going on in our homes and gardens, there would be much more garbage than we know what to do with. With this, we are all doing our part to contribute to a cleaner earth for us and our children.

 2. Composting Tips   

Composting is an activity that many people do to help the environment and get rid of garden waste. However, many do not fully understand all that composting entails and how important it is to begin composting immediately. The following are some suggestions to help you compost right away: To begin with, you need a composting container. You can either purchase them or make one on your own. Here are some suggestions for making you own compost container:

Compost bins come in all shapes and sizes. For those who already have a garden, it might be easiest to choose a pre-made compost bin. However, if you’re just starting out with your own garden and composting, you may want to go the “do it yourself” route. A compost bin that is made specifically for gardens can be expensive, especially if you choose ones made of metal and glass.

If you’re interested in composting but you don’t have any experience with it, there are some effortless steps you can take to learn how to compost. Start by creating a simple garden compost pile consisting of the following materials: dry straw, grass clippings, vegetable scraps, eggshells, sawdust, pine needles, grass clippings, small branches from trees and fruit and vegetable peels. You should have a minimum of two compartments that are at least three feet wide and eight feet long. This compost pile will be your work area. Here are some additional composting tips:

When you’re ready to begin your composting job, the first thing you need to do is prepare the soil in your garden. In addition to making the compost pile, you’ll also need to aerate the soil. To do this, create a small depression in your garden where you’ll be mixing your food scraps. You should make sure you have a good drainage system in place before you start digging. Add two to three inches of organic material to the depression each week and add more as your composting bin and soil starts to go to full capacity.

To complete the final step of your composting tips, you should begin to add your worm castings. Worms love materials such as sawdust, oats and straw, but you can also add manure from your pets, leaves and branches, coffee grounds, and potato and egg shells. Adding these natural materials will greatly enhance your worm farm. Continue mixing and add your materials, mixing in well between your materials in order to keep your worm farm moist and healthy.

3. Other Things You Can Do For The Environment 

There are many things you can do for the environment that have nothing to do with saving our earth. But they have everything to do with saving your own health and your money. We all have ways that we can use to reduce and reuse energy in a more environmentally friendly way. Recycling is a huge trend right now in America and around the world. It reduces our carbon footprint significantly and makes us feel good about using resources more responsibly. You can further your foot print by conserving energy and looking for electric suppliers who offer renewable energy options.  Residential utilities make up a significant portion of the overall energy usage in states likePennsylvania and New York.  As such electricity production is a major source of carbon consumption, and creator of greenhouse gasses.

There are many other things you can do for the environment that reduce our water consumption or waste water. One of them is to reduce the amount of garbage that we produce. If you don’t throw anything away right now, go through your trashcan and find paper, plastic bags, tin cans and aluminum foil. Get rid of everything that you can and if it’s hard to do, buy some biodegradable packaging. This will reduce the amount of waste that you generate because when it breaks down, the garbage doesn’t add up to your landfills.

Consider purchasing water purification systems. There are models on the market that not only give you filtered water from your tap, but they actually lower the count of impurities that are in your water by as much as ninety-nine percent. If you are serious about saving money and protecting the environment, this is definitely the way to go.

Learn how to do things you can do for the environment around your home. There are things that you can do around your yard such as installing bird bath posts. This will make it easier for birds to bathe and pollinate. As you can see, there are many things you can do for the environment and the world around you. Even if you just want to save money, you can do it. You don’t have to go green all the time, but by doing a few simple things each week that make a difference, you can make a difference. The more you do things that make a difference, the less impact you will have on our planet and the less money that will go to harmful means. Go ahead, do some things you can do for the environment around you.