Taylor, John, Lauren, Vivian
statistics:
- Composting can reduce household waste by 30%
- Composting can reduce soil fertilization costs by 50%
- A small American city of 100k people creates enough waste in one year to equal three times the weight of the Statue of Liberty, roughly the equivalent of $165 billion of wasted food every year in the US.
- Over 60% of what we put in our what we put in our landfills is organic waste
- Composting prevented the release of 183 million tons of carbon dioxide into the air– that’s equivalent to 34 million cars taken off the road for one year
- Over ⅓ of landfill waste is compostable
benefitting water:
- Compost helps soak up water, slowly releasing it to plants. With enough compost in your soil, you won’t have to water as much. Also, compost applied thickly as a top dressing has some of the benefits of mulching. It will keep water from evaporating from deeper levels.
- Composting increases the volume of water by 3 quarts per cubic foot of soil resulting in less frequent watering (this could potentially help agricultural areas experiencing drought ie California)
- Compost helps to improve water retention in soil
benefiting fertilization:
- Composting is a natural alternative to chemical fertilizer
- Composting can reduce soil fertilization costs by 50%
- Cons of Fertilization and why we should use composting as an alternative
- Require multiple applications in one season
- Temporary solution, doesn’t add nutrients to soil
- Pollutes stormwater (more water treatment = increase in water cost)
benefitting the environment (CO2 Emissions):
- Reduces methane emissions from landfills and lowers your carbon footprint
- Food scraps in landfills generate methane, a greenhouse gas with global warming potential 84x more potent than CO2 in the short term
- ½ inch of compost applied to rangeland sequestered the equivalent of 1 metric ton of Co2e/hectare over three years
- Composting prevented the release of 183 million tons of carbon dioxide into the air- that’s equivalent to 34 million cars taken off the road for one year
benefitting human health:
- Composting can have an effect on physical health as well — we can ingest molecules of harmful substances such as fertilizer and landfill leachate
- Composting can make us more aware of what we eat and how that food is produces
- source: Davies, S. (2011). Composting Inside and Out : The Comprehensive Guide to Reusing Trash, Saving Money and Enjoying the Benefits of Organic Gardening. Cincinnati, Ohio: Krause Publications.
benefiting agriculture:
- Composting promotes higher crop yields
- Compost can be used to remediate soils contaminated by hazardous waste in a cost effective manner
- On a per-ton basis, making compost alone employs 2x more workers than landfills and 4x more than incinerators
- One study demonstrated in over five years, a natural (compost) turf program resulted in 25% savings when compared to a chemical one (SOURCE: GrassRootsInfo.org)