Protect our planet

I have been a life long recycler and nature lover.  Gardening has also been a hobby of mine, despite my bee allergy.  A year ago I began a program at Miami University of Ohio called Project Dragonfly.   My goal is to work to help make this planet a healthier place.  After taking several classes and doing a lot of research I have decided that the best way to tackle climate change for me personally is through composting.   Composting is a natural and uncomplicated process.  If you do it often it will become a habit.  I will admit, I am a lazy composter.  I have a backyard bin.  I throw my kitchen scraps in and forget about them for a few days.  After a few inches build up I throw in a "brown" layer, shredded paper, or dead leaves.  The worms help with the process.  We have never had any issues with smell or animals getting in the bin.  I must confess that I have never used the compost from my bin in my garden.  However, the compost bin has acted like a magician and all of our kitchen waste has magically disappeared over the years.  This is a significant amount of food scraps with a family of six.  I could not begin to calculate how many pounds of kitchen scraps have been saved from the landfill.


According to the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency,  "fourteen million tons of waste is landfilled in Illinois every year.  Food waste accounts for almost 20% of that 14 million tons."  Food waste is the largest contributor to our landfills in Illinois.  When that waste breaks down it produces methane gas.  Methane is more harmful to the environment than carbon dioxide.  In fact, it is more than 25 times more damaging to the atmosphere.  It is a greenhouse gas.  It along with other greenhouse gases is contributing to the rise in the Earth's temperature by trapping radiation in the atmosphere.  This problem can be solved by the ones who are creating it, humans.  Composting is a low-cost solution.  Back yard composting, or D.I.Y., is easy and free.  It requires a small investment and delivers a huge environmental return.  


By creating compost we are recycling nutrients.  When we use compost to grow vegetables or flowers we don't need to buy fertilizers.  We improve the soil.  It is a win-win.  According to the City of Elmhurst website composting also helps with moisture retention, plant diseases, and can discourage animals from getting into your garbage cans.  


In a study by published in Resources, Conservation, & Recycling home composting is "the best waste management strategy at the household level".  It is a sustainable method of recycling municipal organic waste.  In a study in Vietnam researchers found that food and garden waste represented 58% of the municipal waste that was landfilled.  Of that, 38% was food scraps.  Utilizing home composting can significantly decrease that amount.


In Elmhurst alone, 1,844 tons of landscape waste was recycled (composted) in 2018.  There was no record kept of food waste or scraps as the curbside composting program had no yet begun.  It is also important to note that there is no official program for collecting food waste from schools or businesses.  In total, in 2018 there were 12,304 tons of garbage sent to the landfill.  Composting can help decrease that statistic.


The Journal of Cleaner Production has an excellent article by Zaman & Lehmann on the zero waste index.  One quote that I feel describes the relationship of composting to sustainability is the following: "Global non-renewable resources are depleted as a result of over-consumption.  Continuous depletion of natural finite resources by urban populations is leading to an uncertain future.  Therefore, to prevent further depletion of global resources, we need sustainable consumption and strategic waste management systems based on (1) waste avoidance, (2) material efficiency, and (3) resource recovery" (Lehmann, 2010).


Now more than ever when we are in a period of food insecurity it is important to manage our resources.  Gardening and composting can help us become more self-reliant.  At the same time, we need to realize that we are all interdependent and that our actions affect our neighbors and the environment.  It is the perfect time to come together to work for a better world and future.

Sources:

Environmental Division. (2018) Dupage County Waste and Recycling Report 2018

City of Elmhurst. (2019) Elmhurst.org

Illinois E.P.A.

Village of Lombard. (2019) Lombard.org

Mize, R. (2012). Composting Food and Yard Waste: A Guide for Individuals, Non-Profits, and the City of Buffalo. Retrieved November 10, 2019, from https://digitalcommons.ilr.cornell.edu/buffalocomons/178. 

 Loan, L. T. T., Takahashi, Y., Nomura, H., & Yabe, M. (2019). Modeling home composting behavior toward sustainable municipal organic waste management at the source in developing countries. Resources, Conservation & Recycling, 140, 65-71. doi:10.1016/J.RESCONREC.2018.08.016 

 Zaman, A., & Lehmann,S. (2013) “The Zero Waste Index: a Performance Measurement Tool for Waste Management Systems in a ‘Zero Waste City’.” Journal of Cleaner Production, 50,123–132. Business Source Complete, EBSCOhost, doi:10.1016/j.jclepro.2012.11.041. Accessed 14 Nov. 2019.