Composting 101

The basics of composting to get you started

Photo by Sandie Clarke on Unsplash

What is composting?

Composting is the process of breaking down organic materials, such as food scraps, garden waste, leaves, even poop, into a nutrient-rich soil amendment that is full of life called compost. Anything that was once alive (and therefore organic) will eventually die and recycle back into the soil, thus completing the cycle of life. This process can be sped up by creating ideal conditions such as proper temperature, moisture, and aeration.

Why should we compost?

• Composting reduces land and water pollution: Organic waste, when trapped in plastic bags with other waste, undergoes anaerobic decomposition that produces leachates and causes land and water pollution in and near landfills. In certain kinds of composting that uses anaerobic fermentation, leachates are not in such quantities and concentration to cause pollution.
• Composting reduces GHG emissions: Again, when organic waste is trapped in plastic bags, at some point during the anaerobic fermentation, methane is produced. Methane is 25 to 36 times more potent than carbon dioxide as a greenhouse gas that causes global warming. Landfills with food waste contribute 6–10% of methane emissions.
• Composting improves soil health: Compost, rich in beneficial microbes and readily available nutrients for the soil, improves soil structure, health, and fertility.
• Composting enhances water retention in soil: Since compost is broken down organic matter, it does wonders in improving soil composition and retaining water in soil, supporting healthy plant growth.
• Nothing goes to waste: When managed properly, composting ensures that organic matter is recycled back into the earth, instead of sitting in some landfill rotting away. Humans call some version of this “circular economy” but really it’s just appreciating natural systems and learning how they work.
• Composting reduces agrochemical use: If the soil is healthy, there is absolutely zero need to use chemical fertilisers, pesticides, herbicides, fungicides, and other killing agents that not only kills soil microbes but our own microbes.
• Composting is fun: I haven’t heard of a single person that have gone back to throwing food waste into the trash can after learning about composting because it’s fun and it’s really great to know that you’re not contributing to contamination.
• Composting is natural: The unnatural thing is wrapping organic and food waste in plastic bags. The only reason they smell bad is because they’re trapped in plastic bags and not decomposing the right way, the way they should.

Who does the composting?

Composting is done by hardworking decomposers, which are primarily microorganisms such as bacteria and fungi, that break down dead organic material during composting. They digest complex organic compounds into simpler molecules, facilitating the transformation of waste into nutrient-rich compost. Other macro decomposers include earthworms and detritivores, like roly-polies, earwigs, springtails, fly larvae, millipedes, cockroaches, etc. which physically break down material and help aerate the compost pile, further aiding microbial activity.

Food web of a compost pile

How to compost?

Composting flowchart! Pick your weapon of mass decomposition

Did you notice… that electric ‘composters’ are not included, such as Lomi, Vitamix FoodCycler, Idoo, etc.? That’s because they’re not actually composters. Composting takes time and the hard work of the decomposers. More importantly, composting produces compost, which is full of life, even if we can’t see them with our bare eyes. What these electric ‘composters’ do is heat up the food waste and grind them up, using electricity. They produce a dried up and ground up substrate devoid of life. Only consider them if you want to spend a lot of money, jack up your electricity bill, and get rid of only a fraction of your food waste.

List of composting techniques

The following posts are coming soon — stay tuned!

• Enclosed compost bin
• Takakura composting
• Bokashi composting
• Terracotta pots
• Worm / vermicomposting
• Open air compost bins
• Paca Digestora
• Garden bed
• Green cone
• Chickens
• Outdoor tumbler

I reside in a country where Medium’s partner program does not reach, so I cannot receive any financial credit for my work published on Medium. I spend many hours researching, writing, thinking, editing. If you enjoy my work, please consider supporting me by ‘buying me a coffee’ here.

Join me on Substack here.