Composting for Our Future

Kelly MathesonAugust 3, 2009

From 1979 to 1990, the number of landfills dropped by 84%, while there was an 80% increase in the amount of trash created.

Today, landfills close at a rate of about1 per day.

http://www.cleanair.org/Waste/wasteFacts.html

About 40% of the world’s agricultural landis seriously eroded.

World’s worst affected areas:

-Central America: 75% of land is infertile- Africa: 20% of land is infertile-Asia: 11% of land is infertile

http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2007/aug/31/climatechange.food

There’s a way to lessen these problems!

Main Topics

1. What is compost?

2. Landfill waste can be reduced through composting

3. Soil erosion can be mitigated (to make less harsh) through composting

1. What is compost?

Definition: a mixture of various decaying organic substances, as dead leaves or manure, used for fertilizing soil

http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/compost

That’s all for

1. What is compost?

Moving on to…

2. Landfill waste can be reduced through composting

http://www.epa.gov/waste/conserve/rrr/composting/index.htm

Yard trimmings and food residualsmake up 24% of the U.S. municipal (household) solid waste.

Out of the 1,654 landfills in the U.S. (2005) 397 wouldn’t need to exist if people composted

This is especially important because of NIMBY:

NotInMyBackYard

Despite the care taken in design, this can affect our health

-Toxic gases-Radioactive waste-Leachate

Other garbage options

Incineration - much cleanerbut contributes to globalclimate change

Ocean Dumping - old fashioned way of making garbage “disappear;”it ends up on beaches and ruins ecosystems

If we became more world-conscious by composting (in combination with recycling), we would greatly reduce our need for landfills, incinerators, ocean dumping, and etc.

Moving from

2. Landfill waste can be reduced through composting

on to…

3. Soil erosion can be mitigated through composting

Parent Material

Clay

Soil

It takes thousandsof years to go fromparent materialto soil.

We don’t have thousands of years to wait for new soil.

The annual soil loss due to soil erosion is estimated at 5000 million tons.

Encyclopedia of Soil Science by R. Lal, 2006.

To deal with the loss of fertile soil, organic farmers in the U.S. rely on compost to provide nutrients for their crops rather than use synthetic chemicals.

http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2008/09/soil/richardson-photography

Yacouba Sawadogo of Burkina Faso introduced a farming technique that allows people to grow crops on dry, harsh lands. This method is called zaï.

Zaï Method-Farmers dig small round holes about 20 inches in diameter

-The holes are filled with compost, which holds rain waterand retains seeds

-Can increase crop yields by 500%

-Zaï has helped revive regions once thought lost to desertification in sub-Saharan Africa

http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2008/09/soil/richardson-photography

Main Topics Review

1. What is compost?

2. Landfill waste can be reduced through composting

3. Soil erosion can be mitigated through composting

We all live on this earth and all have a responsibility to take care of it.

Throw your organic waste into a compost bin to be collected

Start a home compost bin and use it in your garden (or give it away on Craigslist)

Use biodegradable products