The average South African generates about 5.4 kgs. of general waste a day. That’s about 4.4 million tons of garbage each year, and it’s only going to increase as our population grows. Composting is one solution to help keep food waste out of landfills and save energy and resources used to produce new materials. Here are five science-backed reasons why composting might be the best thing you can do for the planet.
Why is composting good for the planet?
Composting is good for the planet because:
- it keeps food waste out of landfills,
- saves energy and resources used to produce new materials,
- and creates a sustainable source of chemical-free nutrients for the soil.
The average South African generates about 20 kgs. of food waste a month. That’s about 3.5 million tonnes of food waste each year. Composting is one solution to help keep food waste out of landfills. Composting can help reduce greenhouse gas emissions by up to 98 percent, which is important for combating climate change in an environmentally responsible way. Composting also helps break down organic material, which means no methane gas is released into the atmosphere when you compost instead of throwing your food away in a dustbin. The composted material that results from this process can also be used as a rich gardening soil additive or conditioner for lawns, resulting in healthier plants with more vigour and fewer insect pests.
Have you heard of “bokashi composting”? Essentially, it’s two different processes; bokashi is the initial process of separating food waste at source and treating with an inoculated bran. This part of the process ferments food waste and stops it from rotting and smelling.
The second phase is composting. Why they call it “bokashi composting” is because, with bokashi, you can compost absolutely all food waste, including cooked food, proteins or meat products and dairy. These three food wastes have traditionally been kept out of composting because of the pathogens generated.
Bokashi makes it safe to compost all food waste now.
Composting your food waste will lead to a healthier planet!
It keeps food waste out of landfills.
Food waste is a big problem. In South Africa alone, food waste accounts for about 30-40% of all landfill disposal. That’s almost three times more than any other type of disposed of material.
It saves energy and resources used to produce new materials.
Composting is a natural process that takes waste and turns it back into something useful. It starts with a pile of organic material (called “green” or food waste), which is then mixed with brown material (like leaves) to create the perfect compost for the garden. This process breaks down the organic material, releasing heat that kills food-related bacteria and producing gases like carbon dioxide and nitrous oxide. The effective micro-organisms in bokashi assists with eliminating bad bacteria from food waste; also known as pathogens and speeds up the composting process.
One way composting helps the environment is by saving energy and resources used to produce new materials, such as paper, cotton or plastic. When you throw away your rubbish in an ordinary landfill, most of it is mixed and cannot be recycled. By taking out the food waste for composting, other waste streams are easily recycled and reused.
5 science-backed reasons why composting might be the best thing you can do for the planet.
One reason to compost is that it reduces your carbon footprint. The average household produces 150 kg of CO2e a year, and by composting you can reduce this number by as much as 98%. Composting also has the potential to reduce the amount of plastic in landfills by up to 40%. Composting helps produce healthy soil which means better crops, greener landscapes, and cleaner rivers. Composting may not be for everyone, but if you’re committed to being eco-friendly then it’s for you. There will also be Bokashi Bran agents in your area soon who will collect your food waste and give you compost in return.
Compost makes plants grow better.
Compost is used by gardeners to increase the quality of the soil and make plants grow better. It can be applied as a mulch, incorporated into a soil mix or added to your compost pile. Compost contains lots of nutrients for plants including nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium.
Compost boosts soil’s ability to hold water and nutrients.
Composting helps the soil in your garden to hold more water, which means less water is needed for watering or during a drought. Compost also provides nutrients to the soil, which means that plants don’t need fertilizer.
Compost breaks down into fertilizer.
Composting is the process of breaking down organic material into a nutrient-rich soil. It’s not just good for your garden, but it also breaks down into chemical-free soil amendment. This means that composting can be incredibly beneficial to your plants and crops—especially if you practice organic planting. Composting is especially helpful for people living in rural areas that rely on subsistence farming, as it’ll help them grow their own food, rather than buy it from elsewhere.
Compost can make communities healthier with less garbage to deal with.
We all know that the average South African produces a lot of waste each day.
But what do we do with all of this garbage? A lot of it ends up in our landfills, which is where it sits and creates methane gas – an unbelievably harmful greenhouse gas. It does not naturally decompose at a landfill and turn into compost.
Composting diverts food scraps from the landfill and allows them to break down into nutrient-rich compost. This compost can then be used as nutrients for gardens, meaning less food waste ends up in the landfill and more trash gets recycled into something useful for communities. In fact, compost is often the key ingredient in organic fertilizers that help make crops healthier, grow stronger, and produce more food than they otherwise would without it.
Conclusion
Composting is an easy way to make your home and the world a better place! Fortunately, it’s not difficult to get started.
The first step is to buy a compost bin and find a place for it in your home. You can make one yourself or buy one.
The second step is to set up a compost pile in your backyard and start turning your food scraps into soil! Get your bokashi system working so that you can safely compost all food scraps including cooked food, meat products and dairy.
The third step is to turn the compost every four weeks and use the compost from the bottom of the pile back in your garden.
There are lots of self-help videos on how to do this. Check out our compost tabs to see the different methods of composting you can use at home.
You must be logged in to post a comment.