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Composting |
Composting is an easy and environmentally
friendly way to recycle grass clippings, leaves, table
scraps, weeds, rotten vegetables, and sawdust into useable
soil or mulch. This soil is excellent for adding to your
potted plants in your home or enriching your garden soil.
It’s a great way to reduce your garbage bill and the
unnecessary filling of landfills. Today the use of
composting to turn organic wastes into valuable resources
has expanded due to environmental awareness.
Composting works by simple decomposition. In nature, organic
wastes are broken down through a combination of biological
and chemical processes. Worms, insects, fungi, and bacteria
chew up the materials, which are then transformed by
exposure to air and water. |
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| For successful composting, you need: |
| 1. |
The right amount
of water and air to keep the chemical process
functioning. Place your bin where you have
access to water.
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| 2. |
The right
temperature. Composting produces its own heat,
so find a shady place with partial sun to make
your pile. You should also have good drainage in
the area.
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| 3. |
The right C:N
ratio: This is the proportion of carbon to
nitrogen in your compost unit. This ratio will
affect the speed of decomposition. Ideally, your
C:N ration should be 30 to 1. Sawdust, dry
leaves, straw, and wood chips are high in
carbon. This should compose most of your pile.
Grass clippings, plant trimmings, and kitchen
scraps are high in nitrogen and should be added
to your pile. A mixture of kitchen and yard
waste should give you close to the ideal ratio.
Remember you cannot put whole tree branches into
your pile, but you can grind them up in a
chipper.
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| 4. |
The right
container. You can buy a compost bin or make
your own. The essential features in a compost
bin are a lid that protects the pile from rain
or snow and lets you control how much moisture
enters the bin, holes or vents for air
circulation, and a way to remove the final
product. |
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