Learn About Composting Day
Learn About Composting Day is celebrated on May 29 and is a day to educate yourself and others about the simple, effective way of reducing household waste. The day has been celebrated since the early 2000s.
Composting is the practice of taking certain household waste (such as food, wood clippings, and even, in some cases, hair and fur) and putting them into a compost bin or pile where they will steadily decompose. Composting helps reduce the amount of waste sent to landfills and incinerators.
When household waste decomposes, it can be turned into natural fertilizers, which improve soil structure, enhance water retention and provide essential nutrients for plants. Composting prevents the release of methane gas, a potent greenhouse gas.
Composting can occur in both hot and cold conditions. Hot composting involves higher temperatures and faster decomposition, while cold composting is a slower process that doesn’t require as much effort.
There are many different types of composting, including outdoor piles and indoor kitchen compost methods. Depending on the amount of space and time you have to dedicate yourself to composting, there is a method available. Many cities have compost pickups for household waste, which are then converted to fertilizers.
Learn About Composting Day allows us to reflect on food and household waste and how we can minimize our environmental impact and give back to the planet.
How to celebrate:
- Start composting!
- Encourage your family, friends, and neighbours to start composting.
- Check out local workshops or events that promote composting.
- Join a local garden or community garden’s composting activities.
- Organize a clean-up event in your neighbourhood to collect organic waste for composting.
- Take a trip to a local farm that uses composting as part of its sustainable farming practices.
- Get your child excited about composting and processes and show them how it works and where to throw away their waste.
- Challenge yourself to try new methods such as hot composting, vermicomposting or bokashi composting.
- Write to your local officials to develop a composting program in your area.
Fun facts:
- George Washington is known as “America’s First Composter”.
- The Australian Brush-turkey builds a communal compost pile of decaying material to incubate their eggs.
- Composting dates back 12 000 years
- The heat compost produces can be used to heat greenhouses and houses.
- There are billions of microorganisms found in compost
- The US Army has successfully composted TNT – an organic compound that contains nitrogen and carbon.
- Human remains can also be composted, which is more eco-friendly than burial and cremation.
#LearnAboutCompostingDay
