Are you interested in composting at home?
Composting may be something you associate with farmers and gardening, but it offers a simple way to reduce food waste and your carbon footprint at home. Composting is a low-maintenance and affordable climate solution that is great for avid gardeners, busy parents, and even renters. With the help of experts from the Truly Living Well Center for Natural Urban Agriculture, Drawdown Georgia has created a comprehensive toolkit all about composting to help you get started.
So, what exactly is composting?
Essentially, composting is the natural process by which bacteria and fungi work to break down organic materials such as food scraps, garden trimmings, and wood chips over a period of time. Once the organic material has naturally broken down in the compost bin, it can then be added to gardens and houseplants as a rich natural fertilizer that improves soil health and water retention.
Drawdown Georgia’s “How to Compost at Home in Georgia” Toolkit will walk you through the process of starting your own compost system at home, and also introduce you to the various composting programs in the community that you can join.
Some common questions and ideas addressed by the toolkit include:
Composting diverts organic waste from landfills and allows for it to decompose with limited amounts of methane released. When food and yard waste decomposes in landfills, significant amounts of methane can be released, a big contributor to climate change.
Plus, compost enriches garden soil to help grow more nutritious produce, healthier plants, and more fertile soil.
If you are interested in keeping your household’s food and yard waste out of landfills, but don’t have a use for finished compost, then connecting with a municipal or private composting service could be the solution.
You can learn more about both county-wide and private services in Georgia in the new toolkit.
The type of bin you end up using to compost really depends on your lifestyle and how much time you want to devote to it.
Options include continuous composters, batch composters, indoor/outdoor composters or easy DYI projects. You’ll find a wide range of options available with very affordable price points to get started.
Some food items you can add to your compost bin are coffee grounds, eggshells, onions, carrot tops, banana peels, corn cobs, and avocado pits.
Non-food items can be added, too: paper towels, cardboard egg cartons, paper bags, dryer lint, and newspaper, as well as grass clippings and old flowers.
Composting is a simple solution that can be done virtually anywhere – your house, apartment, office, etc. Diverting all of this organic waste from landfills prevents a large amount of greenhouse gasses from being emitted into the atmosphere. Drawdown Georgia’s “How to Compost at Home in Georgia” Toolkit is great for those curious about composting or those looking for a guide to help them get started.
If you would like to find out more about climate solutions that are particularly effective in Georgia, check out Drawdown Georgia’s other toolkits and join the growing number of Georgians working on climate solutions together. To be notified when Drawdown Georgia publishes more toolkits like this one, subscribe now.