Compost for a Conscious Planet

Why should we avoid sending food to landfills?

By this point you might already be aware of the fact that Americans throw away 40 percent of the food we produce. One of the major consequences of that is the massive waste of resources that went into its production, transportation, storage, and distribution. But the invisible menace of this volume of food waste—about 36 million tons each year—is what happens when it gets to the landfill. 

When organic material is in a sealed environment like a landfill, it undergoes a process called anaerobic decomposition. Microorganisms break down everything that is biodegradable without the presence of oxygen. This process releases methane, a greenhouse gas with over 30 times the heat trapping ability of carbon dioxide. Landfills are estimated to be responsible for about 14 percent of methane emissions in the U.S., with organic matter making up the largest percentage of waste entering municipal solid waste landfills across the country. Diverting food away from them is an incredibly important part of our strategy for combating climate change.

What makes compost a better option?

The good news is that all of this organic material, whether it’s orange peels, coffee grounds, or yard trimmings, doesn’t have to go to a landfill, even if it is no longer in a condition to be eaten or otherwise repurposed. Composting—the decomposition of organic waste in a controlled environment—not only drastically reduces methane emissions, but it also creates a new product that can be used to grow more food. By boosting microbial activity, creating more space for air and water to move through soil, and preventing erosion, compost helps build nutrient rich soil without the need for chemical fertilizers. You can compost in your backyard and spread it right onto your vegetable garden, or you can send it to be processed by an operation that distributes it to farmers. 

Compost contains many of the chemical elements essential for growing food including hydrogen, oxygen, carbon, nitrogen, phosphorous, and potassium. Compost also makes these and other nutrients more available to plants through the work of bacteria, fungi, and other soil life. Microbes break down nutrients into forms that plants can absorb as food, and even pull minerals from the surrounding soil towards their roots. These microscopic critters also improve the soil’s capacity to retain all of the elements that plants need to thrive.

Compost has a varied, uneven structure thanks to the different speeds at which its ingredients decompose. This creates small pockets of air throughout the soil for roots to easily extend through and water to drain and distribute properly. The organic matter in compost helps bind soil together, acting as a buffer that protects soil against rain, wind, and other natural eroders. Additionally, spreading compost across land where crops are grown helps sequester more carbon in the soil, further mitigating the impact of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. 

What does composting look like across the U.S.?

With landfills projected to run out of space entirely by 2036, city, state, and federal governments have more reason than ever to direct waste away from them. Over the last five years, the number of communities launching compost programs has grown by 65 percent. From small towns to big cities, we are starting to recognize not only the benefits, but the necessity of more robust composting efforts. 

Some cities, including San Francisco, have implemented policies and infrastructure that encourage residents to deposit their compostables into designated green bins. The city’s mandatory recycling and composting ordinance requires residents and businesses to properly sort their waste into recycling, compost, and landfill. A three-bin curbside pickup system makes it easy to comply. Anything that was once alive, from food scraps to grass clippings, goes into the compost bin and is transported to a facility where it decomposes under carefully monitored CO2, temperature, and moisture conditions. The end result is a soil amendment teeming with microorganisms and essential nutrients that farmers throughout California use as an alternative to synthetic fertilizers.

San Francisco residents can request smaller landfill bins or decreased collection frequency to lower their bills. Businesses also receive a discount based on how much they divert, giving everyone an incentive to compost more. San Francisco now has the largest urban food scraps collection program in the U.S., diverting about 255,500 tons of organic waste from landfills annually. 

This January, Vermont passed a law banning disposal of food scraps into landfills by July 2020. The state requires trash haulers to offer food scrap collection services to businesses and apartments, and single family homes are encouraged to use local food waste drop-offs, curbside food scrap haulers, or compost at home. The Vermont State website offers plenty of tips on how to create your own compost and how to waste less food in the first place. The state also reports that food donation has nearly tripled since the law was passed, a win for everyone!

In some cities such as Seattle, failing to separate food and yard waste from the trash will result in a fine. The city offers a series of educational initiatives and warnings before issuing a charge, ensuring that proper sorting is accessible and straightforward.

In cities that don’t offer municipal composting, independent companies like Healthy Soil Compost in Chicago can streamline the process so residents and commercial spaces can still have their compost picked up curbside. Subscribers leave their filled bins out on scheduled pickup days, and the hauler swaps it out with a clean one. In their four and a half years of hauling Chicago’s scraps, Healthy Soil has diverted almost 2.5 million pounds of organic waste from landfills. 

Of course, no matter where you live, if you have a bit of outdoor space available to you, you can create your own living compost pile. Whether you want to build a pile directly on the ground, keep it sealed in a backyard tumbler, or even build a worm bin, maintaining a lively ecosystem is not as complicated as it may seem. The National Resources Defense Council has a helpful guide for getting started. 

So why aren’t we all composting already?

On an individual level, we can see how the benefits of composting outweigh the inconvenience of the forethought it might take to throw an avocado pit into a green bin instead of a black one. Even if you live in an apartment where you have less immediate access to outdoor space, it’s still relatively non-intrusive to keep a sealed container on your countertop or a bag in your freezer where you throw anything compostable to later take out and be picked up.

Unfortunately, stigma against composting still persists. Concerns about the smell and the creatures it may attract prevent people from trying it in their homes. In reality, food is going to rot whether you throw it in your trash or separate it out. As long as it is properly cleaned and regularly emptied, keeping a designated place for organic materials will actually lead to a less smelly home. 

Confusion over what can and cannot be composted and a lack of education surrounding the benefits of composting can also be barriers to wider adoption of the practice. Guidelines will vary depending on how your compost is processed—check the website of whomever your composter is for specific restrictions.  

If you are already an enthusiastic composter, help spread the word! Share what you know about the importance of keeping food waste out of landfills and tell your friends about what service or system you use. You could even direct them to this here blog post.