“Only after the last tree has been cut down …the last river has been poisoned …the last fish caught, only then will you find that money cannot be eaten.” -Cree Indian Prophesy
Composting is a no-brainer because it provides us with free fertilizer minus the cost of the compost barrel which is inexpensive in the long run. Fertilizing your lawn and garden with chemicals is expensive and also bad for your health so why would you do that? Maybe you are a lawn nazi who hates dandelions so much you would prefer to roll in poison?
Fact
The municipal solid waste stream in the United States is 26 percent yard waste and food residuals. That is a lot of wasted resources traveling to our landfills when it could become useful and environmentally beneficial compost instead! Not only is the “waste” being wasted, but the extra fuel it takes to haul it to the landfill is also wasted.
(Don’t even get me started on the subject of racing cars as a sport. Driving in circles all day going nowhere – doing nothing but wasting resources)
Composting offers the obvious benefits of resource efficiency and creating a useful product from organic waste that would otherwise have been landfilled.
Natural Compost Can
- Suppress plant diseases and pests
- Eliminate need for chemical fertilizers
- Achieve higher yields in food crops
- Help reforestation, environmental restoration and habitat revitalization
- Cost-effectively remedy contaminated soils
- Capture and destroy 99.6 % of industrial volatile organic chemicals (VOCs) in air
- Provide 50 % savings over conventional environmental pollution remedies
Easy to Make
We use a compost tumbler which can produce compost in a month or two compared to a stationary composter which could take up to a year. A spinning composter is also faster than the stationary version. We put in some yard waste, some food scraps (no meats), a little bit of water, give it a regular “tumble” and the power of the sun.
The things we regularly use in compost are:
- Fruit and vegetable peels/rinds (even with freezer burn)
- Tea bags & coffee grounds (including the paper filter)
- Eggshells
- Cut grass, leaves and weeds
There is a heck of a lot more you can compost but I think the majority of people just use the everyday things that I listed. You kind find out more information by visiting the United States Environmental Protection Agency compost page.
We hope this inspires you to begin composting.
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I have been composting and encourage my tenants to do so as well. How much are the tumblers? the problem I have is I have 2 stationary composters in the back yard. Because it takes such a long time to produce compost I’m always adding more materials to it before it has time to completely compost.
Hello hauszwel, Tumbler and mixer composters can range in price from just under $100 up to almost $200. I just depends on where you buy it from and the quality. I say, hold out for quality. You stationary composters take longer than I’m willing to wait so the tumbler is perfect. We only have one but plan on at least one more – that way we can keep adding to one while the other is “cooking” in the sun. My mother has the same set up you do and she wished she bought the tumbler or mixer version. I think it’s great that you encourage your tenants to compost! Maybe you could invest in a tumbler and sell the old ones when the compost is ready?