COMPOSTING
Composting is a great way to reduce your waste even further by turning kitchen scraps and leftover food into soil for your garden. It is estimated that North Carolinians throw away as much as 420,000 tons of food waste every year, which is buried in landfills. Organic material produces methane in landfills, a greenhouse gas 23 times as problematic as carbon dioxide. By composting, you not only prevent material from taking up space in a landfill, you prevent the creation of harmful greenhouse gases and create new soil.
Compost also:
-Improves soil chemistry and water retention. That means that during droughts and freezes, your plants are much more likely to pull through.
-Alters soil structure and prevents runoff and erosion. Your soil stays where it should and our streams and rivers stay clean.
-Encourages healthy root systems to grow. This also helps prevent runoff.
-Reduces the need for synthetic fertilizers and pesticides
-Enhances soil fertility
-Cleans up contaminated soil
Want to start composting? The county sells compost bins for $55 each. Contact Henderson County Environmental Programs Coordinator Alexis Baker at 828-694-6524 or email at alexisbaker@hendersoncountync.org to purchase one.
Henderson County's composting brochure is available here.
You can also make your own composter using inexpensive materials such as wood fencing and chicken wire.
Click here to find out more about making your own composter as well as more in depth composting information.
Want to start composting but live in an apartment or condo? Not a problem! Consider vermicompost, or composting with worms. A worm bin is a great low cost way to recycle your kitchen scraps. Click here for a guide of what to feed your worms.
To make a worm bin all you need is:
-A plastic storage container with a lid. Depending on space limitations and the amount of food waste your household generates, the size can be anwhere from 8 gallons on up.
-A drill for ventilation holes, bit sizes1/4" and 1/16"
-Shredded newspaper
-1 lb of redworms or 'red wigglers'. Check with local bait shops, or purchase online.
1) Drill evenly spaced 1/4" holes in the bottom of the bin. These will provide drainage, so be sure the bin isn't sitting on anything important.
2) Drill evenly spaced 1/16th" holes all around the top of the bin and in the lid.
3) Shred newspaper in approximately 1" strips, moisten with water and add to bin. The bedding should be wet, but not sopping. There should be 3-4" of wet bedding in your bin.
4) Throw in a handful of dirt; this will help the worms digest the food.
5) Add your worms to the bedding. Feed them slowly at first by burying your food scraps in the bedding. The worms will go wherever the food scraps are, so remember to put them in different parts of the bin each time you feed the worms.
6) Make sure your bin is in a well ventilated, shady, temperate area. Remember, worms can't get too cold or they will die. Prop your bin up on blocks or upside down plastic cups and put something underneath for drainage. Any liquid that drains out will be a great fertilizer for house plants.
7) After some time, usually several months, the worms will have produced castings that you can harvest and use with potting soil or in the garden.
Want to know more about vermicomposting? Click here for more information.
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