Composting is a method of turning wet, organic waste into nutrient-filled humus. It is used regularly on an industrial scale but the method is simple enough that anyone can do it in their own home or yard. These days, it is a fairly popular method of reducing household waste, helping the environment, and producing fertile soil.1
What some people don't realize though is that you don't need a lot of space or resources to compost. Even people living in very dense urban areas can benefit greatly from the goodness of compost; it does not require a very large investment.
The most basic necessity to compost is a bin with a lid, preferably plastic or stainless steel. If you can keep it on a balcony, outdoors, you should punch holes into the bottom and sides, and the container should be raised a few inches from the ground. If you lack a balcony, compost bins can also be kept indoors: under the sink, in a closet, near a window… almost anywhere. You still need the holes though, so if it the bin is indoors you will want a tray with to catch moisture or small particles.
To start composting, add a few inches of soil or shredded dry leaves to the bottom of your bin, and you can immediately start adding your organic waste (omitting things like meat and dairy products, which will generally become rancid before decomposing, and attract vermin). As you add wet waste, add an equal amount of dry bedding (straw, dead leaves, strips of newsprint, shredded cardboard, etc).
Bacteria will decompose your waste, turning it into soil. Agitate the contents of the bin every once in a while to aerate it. Once your bin has become close to full, remove the humus that has formed and continue.2
Vermicomposting is a method of compost that uses worms, in addition to the usual microbes and bacteria, to transform waste into humus.
The bin is the same as with regular composting, but the initial bedding should be thicker and damp (about as damp as a wrung sponge), so the worms don't dry out before you add your waste. Human effort required for vermicomposting is reduced because the worms can decompose the materials without the bin being turned. The most common type of worm to use are red wigglers (Eisenia foetida) because they are specially adapted to living in compost and manure.
The worms digest the organic material provided and produce "castings" (faeces), which contain nutrients and microbes that break down existing nutrients into plant-available forms.3 The mucous excreted from the bodies of the worms also help prevent nutrients from washing away when the compost is watered.4 Vermicompost is very rich-- richer than normal compost-- and should be mixed with less nutritive soil, so as not to overwhelm plants.5
Worms are most productive at or slightly below room temperature, and can survive at as low as 10 degrees and up to 30 degrees Celsius. They are quiet and do not "roam"; they are very easily kept indoors.6
Human faecal matter and urine contain many of the ingredients found in store-bought fertilizers. They also contain pathogens. Raw, untreated human waste ("nightsoil") can be, and is in some places, scattered on crops to help them grow. Unfortunately, this method can spread disease quite easily.
When composted, human waste has come to be known as "humanure". There are many acceptable methods to compost human waste relatively safely, such as composting toilets. These specialized toilets turn the waste that would normally flushed into humus with minimal effort on your part. Blackwater recycling systems take the waste from all drains in a house and convert it to the same.
A less expensive method to produce humanure is to make your own, relatively inexpensive, "sawdust toilet". Joseph Jenkins, who largely popularized the term humanure, explains how in his handbook.
Authorities in urban areas with sewage systems in place and running smoothly are generally hesitant to permit the production of humanure because of perceived potential health and sanitation issues.7 Theoretically, if humanure is produced correctly, with enough heat, pathogens shouldn't survive and the humus produced should be entirely safe, but there will likely be taboo surrounding the issue in the first world for some time.
Any of these composting methods will produce some incredibly nutritious soil. If the composting is done right, the methods will be neither unsanitary nor malodorous. A good way to put the humus to use if you do not have a garden is to grow plants indoors (see: container gardening). There are a number of useful, hardy, and low-maintenance plants that one can grow indoors. For example: various herbs, pole beans, carrots, lettuce, and aloe vera. Growing plants with your humus is economical and useful.
- Allison Suffel
1. Marion King, "Composting for Apartment Dwellers," The Peace and Environment Resource Centre, December 7, 2003, http://www.perc.ca/PEN/1994-07-08/king.html (accessed November 1, 2009).
2. Keith Addison, "Composting Indoors," Journey to Forever, June 13, 2009, http://www.journeytoforever.org/compost_indoor.html (accessed November 2, 2009).
3. Collin Dunn, "Vermicomposting and Vermiculture: Worms, Bins and How To Get Started," Treehugger: A Discovery Company, February 8, 2007, http://www.treehugger.com/files/2007/08/green-basics-vermicompost.php (accessed November 1, 2009).
4. Avanish K. Panikkar, "Vermicompost," The Encyclopedia of Earth, August 25, 2008, http://www.eoearth.org/article/Vermicompost (accessed November 1, 2009).
5. Dunn, "Vermicomposting".
6. Wikipedia contributors, "Vermicompost," Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, October 27, 2009, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vermicompost (accessed November 1, 2009).
7. Envirolet, "FAQ", Composting Toilet World, November 2, 2009, http://compostingtoilet.org/faq/index.php (accessed November 2, 2009).
What some people don't realize though is that you don't need a lot of space or resources to compost. Even people living in very dense urban areas can benefit greatly from the goodness of compost; it does not require a very large investment.
The most basic necessity to compost is a bin with a lid, preferably plastic or stainless steel. If you can keep it on a balcony, outdoors, you should punch holes into the bottom and sides, and the container should be raised a few inches from the ground. If you lack a balcony, compost bins can also be kept indoors: under the sink, in a closet, near a window… almost anywhere. You still need the holes though, so if it the bin is indoors you will want a tray with to catch moisture or small particles.
To start composting, add a few inches of soil or shredded dry leaves to the bottom of your bin, and you can immediately start adding your organic waste (omitting things like meat and dairy products, which will generally become rancid before decomposing, and attract vermin). As you add wet waste, add an equal amount of dry bedding (straw, dead leaves, strips of newsprint, shredded cardboard, etc).
Bacteria will decompose your waste, turning it into soil. Agitate the contents of the bin every once in a while to aerate it. Once your bin has become close to full, remove the humus that has formed and continue.2
Vermicomposting is a method of compost that uses worms, in addition to the usual microbes and bacteria, to transform waste into humus.
The bin is the same as with regular composting, but the initial bedding should be thicker and damp (about as damp as a wrung sponge), so the worms don't dry out before you add your waste. Human effort required for vermicomposting is reduced because the worms can decompose the materials without the bin being turned. The most common type of worm to use are red wigglers (Eisenia foetida) because they are specially adapted to living in compost and manure.
The worms digest the organic material provided and produce "castings" (faeces), which contain nutrients and microbes that break down existing nutrients into plant-available forms.3 The mucous excreted from the bodies of the worms also help prevent nutrients from washing away when the compost is watered.4 Vermicompost is very rich-- richer than normal compost-- and should be mixed with less nutritive soil, so as not to overwhelm plants.5
Worms are most productive at or slightly below room temperature, and can survive at as low as 10 degrees and up to 30 degrees Celsius. They are quiet and do not "roam"; they are very easily kept indoors.6
Human faecal matter and urine contain many of the ingredients found in store-bought fertilizers. They also contain pathogens. Raw, untreated human waste ("nightsoil") can be, and is in some places, scattered on crops to help them grow. Unfortunately, this method can spread disease quite easily.
When composted, human waste has come to be known as "humanure". There are many acceptable methods to compost human waste relatively safely, such as composting toilets. These specialized toilets turn the waste that would normally flushed into humus with minimal effort on your part. Blackwater recycling systems take the waste from all drains in a house and convert it to the same.
A less expensive method to produce humanure is to make your own, relatively inexpensive, "sawdust toilet". Joseph Jenkins, who largely popularized the term humanure, explains how in his handbook.
Authorities in urban areas with sewage systems in place and running smoothly are generally hesitant to permit the production of humanure because of perceived potential health and sanitation issues.7 Theoretically, if humanure is produced correctly, with enough heat, pathogens shouldn't survive and the humus produced should be entirely safe, but there will likely be taboo surrounding the issue in the first world for some time.
Any of these composting methods will produce some incredibly nutritious soil. If the composting is done right, the methods will be neither unsanitary nor malodorous. A good way to put the humus to use if you do not have a garden is to grow plants indoors (see: container gardening). There are a number of useful, hardy, and low-maintenance plants that one can grow indoors. For example: various herbs, pole beans, carrots, lettuce, and aloe vera. Growing plants with your humus is economical and useful.
- Allison Suffel
Notes
1. Marion King, "Composting for Apartment Dwellers," The Peace and Environment Resource Centre, December 7, 2003, http://www.perc.ca/PEN/1994-07-08/king.html (accessed November 1, 2009).
2. Keith Addison, "Composting Indoors," Journey to Forever, June 13, 2009, http://www.journeytoforever.org/compost_indoor.html (accessed November 2, 2009).
3. Collin Dunn, "Vermicomposting and Vermiculture: Worms, Bins and How To Get Started," Treehugger: A Discovery Company, February 8, 2007, http://www.treehugger.com/files/2007/08/green-basics-vermicompost.php (accessed November 1, 2009).
4. Avanish K. Panikkar, "Vermicompost," The Encyclopedia of Earth, August 25, 2008, http://www.eoearth.org/article/Vermicompost (accessed November 1, 2009).
5. Dunn, "Vermicomposting".
6. Wikipedia contributors, "Vermicompost," Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, October 27, 2009, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vermicompost (accessed November 1, 2009).
7. Envirolet, "FAQ", Composting Toilet World, November 2, 2009, http://compostingtoilet.org/faq/index.php (accessed November 2, 2009).
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