By composting food scraps and yard waste, it prevents them from taking up space in landfills where they release methane gas.
Methane is a gas that can cause significant damage to the environment, since it naturally absorbs heat from the sun and therefore contributes to global warming.
When it comes to what is needed for a compost pile, it comes down to these three categories:
The next time you find yourself cutting up vegetables, think twice before putting the scraps into the trash. All those green vegetables are ideal and necessary for your compost pile.
For example, chopping up green peppers and celery.
The same goes for preparing fruit and mowing your lawn. Instead of scooping up those grass clippings and apple peels, and then tossing them into the garbage can, these can also go into your compost pile.
You’ll want to have other items from your yard too, such as dead leaves and twigs. Consider doing a big yard cleanup and then gathering everything together for a compost pile, then regularly contributing to it.
In order for your pile to properly compost, it needs carbon. That’s what your browns will do, such as coffee grounds and tree branches.
It also needs nitrogen, which is where all those veggies come into play. In order to break everything down, you’ll also need plenty of water.
All of these parts should be equal in size, too.
While it’s a good idea to compost as much as possible, there are certain items that simply cannot be composted.
For example, you should refrain from composting anything that contains dairy. This will cause your compost pile to give off a horrid smell, which in turn will attract insects and rodents.
Other scraps that have the same problem are fats, meat and bones.
Even though human waste is something used in fertilizers, you shouldn’t try to compost pet waste. These may very well contain viruses that are dangerous to humans.
For a complete list of items that should and should not be composted in your area, contact your local recycling coordinator.