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If you had a choice, which would you rather see grow -- your precious little garden or that expensive landfill on the edge of town?
Chances are the garden would win out. But once that choice has been made, you might want to get a few tips on how to turn yard clippings, fall leaves, or even vegetable or fruit scraps, into the marvelous substance of compost.
What exactly is composting, some of you may ask? Composting is the natural process of decomposing organic material, like leaves or grass clippings. Bacteria and insects consume this material leaving nutrient rich soil. Composting has been going on in forests since the beginning of time and can easily be done in your backyard. A major advantage of composting for any gardener is that the home-grown compost can be used instead of commercial fertilizers and mulches.
Composting techniques such as grasscycling, which refers to the practice of simply leaving lawn clippings on the lawn after mowing, can be integrated into a broad waste prevention campaign in your home or business. Though frequently thought of as nature's way of recycling, composting is really a waste prevention activity because it prevents so-called "green wastes" from becoming a waste in the first place.
And home composting is an easy, responsible way to keep millions of tons of organic materials each year from becoming a waste disposal burden. Despite common impressions, all of the "green" waste that is shipped to landfills never finds its way back to the soil because new liners designed to prevent toxic releases also limits oxygen to break down this organic material. Composting is, therefore, a way to "close the loop" right in your own backyard.
Many California communities now offer classes and guidebooks to help residents compost yard trimmings and kitchen scraps conveniently and safely. The California Integrated Waste Management Board (CIWMB) has produced videos for use by local governments to educate residents on various approaches to this environmentally friendly way to both reduce waste and produce soil product for yards and gardens.
To compost in your backyard, all you need is a little space (about a square yard) for an open pile or compost bin. Several composting bins are commercially available. Composting can also be done in open piles, though bins are often preferable as they keep the material contained, hold moisture better, and offer resistance to rodents.
Those persistent Fall leaves can go into the compost pile along with grass clippings, bush trimmings, weeds, and other yard waste. Kitchen scraps (no meat or dairy) can also be added, but should be covered with the non-food material in the bin. The pile needs to be kept moist; in the Fall, the rain may do this for you, otherwise use a hose or gray water. If you take out a handful of material, squeeze it and a couple of drops come out, it's wet enough. About once a week, fluff the pile with a pitch fork to give it air. You can also turn the pile completely over by building it into another pile, or remove the bin and repile it into the bin (to do this you'll need a couple of square yards of space). In a couple of months you'll have compost for your yard.
Fall leaves can also be piled up by themselves either in a bin or covered pile and left to sit out the winter. In the spring, the leaf pile will have shrunk considerably and can be mixed with grass clippings and other yard and vegetable trimmings in a new compost pile or put on the soil directly as a mulch. Leaves can also be used as a mulch in the fall by raking them directly onto dirt areas where they will break down naturally by spring.
Businesses are also jumping into the compost pile. For example, the Pebble Beach Company of Monterey County is developing an ambitious yard trimmings composting program at their internationally renowned seaside resort. The company, responsible for managing five world class golf courses, must also manage 2,500 tons of assorted trimmings generated from those courses as well as 3,500 acres of forest land in the Del Monte Forest. A majority of the materials generated at the golf courses is grass clippings, while the trimmings from the Forest include dead trees and exotic plants removed while replanting the area with native plants and trees. Historically, these "wastes" were sent to a local landfill.
Then something marvelous happened. The company purchased $175,000 worth of equipment to process plant material into compost at their on-site maintenance yard. The purchase was economically feasible due in part to a 40% recycling investment tax credit program administered by CIWMB. By composting yard trimmings instead of sending them to the landfill, the company will save $65,000 per year in labor, transportation, and disposal costs. The compost produced will be used as a soil amendment for the forest replanting program, potentially saving over $20,000 per year which is currently spent on soil amendment purchases.
By using compost on the same area where it was originally generated, the composting program at Pebble Beach is simply a large, but excellent example of "closing the loop" at home. |
| Author: Lee Young |
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Author Bio:
Maybe you don't have time to thumb through the quarterly catalog, which could be a great read with your morning coffee. If not, try CALMAX On-Line . Want to put a free ad in the CALMAX catalog, get on the mailing list or learn more? Call the California Integrated Waste Management Board at (916) 341-6603 or write the board at 1001 I Street, PO Box 4025, Sacramento, CA 95812-4025. |
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