We’re binning cash, without even noticing it.
Abono, Adubo, Компост, Κομπόστ, Composta, Compost…?
The age-old practice, that is falling into disuse as we become an increasingly urbanised population, disconnected from the environment and our rural past, unwilling to dirty our hands in the messy work of saving the planet. Firstly, a little on compost, for those still not receiving enough information from their local authority:
As Gardening Knowhow reminds us, creating compost from food waste is simply an extension of the now widely adopted plant-based material recycling process. Just as paper biodegrades eventually, yet we recycle to take advantage of its current molecular structure, composting makes the most of the energy contained in the food we don’t (or can’t) eat, by giving it back to the soil. Some may argue thus:
“But why is this different from allowing food waste to biodegrade naturally in a landfill? It will all eventually filter back into the earth right?”
Wrong.
The arrangement of food waste within a general landfill causes biomatter to rot in a process called methanogenesis, releasing methane into the atmosphere, a potent greenhouse gas with 21 times more global warming potential than carbon dioxide. Composting at a home or community level easily avoids this disgraceful middle-finger to the environment.
But many ask why they ought to dedicate time and thought towards composting, in a time of so many other economic troubles. It’s a fair point. Composting can be dirty work, forcing you to separate and handle those unpleasant leftovers you refused at the table, then regularly turn them to encourage their aerobic decomposition. An author at the Clarín newspaper in Argentina points out that composting, like house chores, can be integrated into a family project, disguising a seemingly unsavoury chore as a bonding exercise, which also reinforces the message of avoiding wasted opportunities to recycle by not separating our rubbish. Less rubbish necessitates fewer collections which in turn saves money for the taxpayer, an enviable situation for any municipal government.
Read more on composting methodology by clicking here.
All well and good for families living in towns and rural areas, this compost mantra brings little peace-of-mind to those city-dwelling climate sympathisers whom, limited by the geographical and logistical challenges of urban green-living, are often targeted as the scapegoats for climate finger-pointing. An online article has answers however, and recommend patio ‘tumblers’, small decomposition containers which envisage a lower food waste output from more modest living spaces with fewer inhabitants. These allow ease of use in a cramped space and address the problem of handling unsavoury material by providing a handle mechanism, which when turned aerates the residue inside. We at Fundación Biosfera use a many-tiered tower of plastic fruit crates, which are filled with uneaten food from lunch (a lower quantity since I arrived, it’s true) that can’t be saved, wrapped in plastic mesh (to deter fly eggs) and left to create a compost which is then sold for a healthy return.
While the UNFCCC campaigns and organises large-scale industry change, it’s important to remember the lessons of the 1992 Earth Summit in Río which fostered the ethos of ‘acting locally, thinking globally’. The COP24, which begins on the 2nd of next month in Poland, will aim to unite almost 20,000 participants from nearly 200 countries in assessing and planning the implementation of the Paris Agreement. This principle reminds us that we must each act not only as citizens of our neighbourhood, city and country but also of the world, and see our actions, however small as contributions to a global effort towards a more efficient, and healthier Earth.
Will Feakes