This is a blog about the advantages of composting, but if you don’t have the space/energy/time to compost, then the environmental alternative is to use your council’s green waste disposal. In the UK a lot of general waste still goes into landfill. Landfills create anaerobic conditions (ie there is no oxygen) which means that when organic waste rots down it creates methane. Methane is a greenhouse gas that is 21 times more potent than carbon dioxide.
If you have a bit of space then a wormery, hotbin or bokashi composting are good alternatives to large open compost bins. You’ll not have the benefit of reason number 7, but six reasons is a pretty good achievement.
- Improve your soil by adding nutrition plus aiding water retention and drainage
OK, that’s really three reasons, but let’s not be picky. As a gardener I can tell you about many occasions where I encountered poor soils while bins of compostable materials were being carted away. Subsequently. in order to establish a thriving garden, a ton of compost needed to be brought in.
It’s the circle of life. Plants take nutrients out of the soil and upon death the nutrients get returned to the soil. By continuously removing plant material the soil gets worse. You can maintain the balance by giving it back to the soil. You can also go further and enrich it by composting (food) waste from plants you haven’t grown in your own garden. Mostly this will mean that you add the benefits of synthetic fertiliser to your soil, but still, it’s better not wasted.
The other reason to add organic matter to your soil is to improve its consistency. Organic matter enhances how your soil deals with rain. More organic matter means that it can hold on to water better, which means less need for watering and healthier plants. In case of clay soil, it also helps with drainage and prevents flooding.
- Save money
If you make your own compost, you don’t have to buy it. You don’t need a second green bin license which in Cambridge costs £45 per year. You don’t need to buy petrol to drive the car to the waste recycling to drop off green waste that doesn’t fit in your bin.
- Save time
Having worked in many people’s gardens (and set up several compost heaps), I am always amazed about the amount of time that is spent on trying to dispose of green waste outside of the garden. Trips to the tip after putting it all in the car, talking to several neighbours to see if they have space in their green bin, climbing in the bin to compact the waste, to name a few.
Of course your compost bins also costs time. You need to build them and turn the compost and cut up some of the larger plant waste. I am a pretty lazy composter as I have the space for several bins. Although I sometimes (but not always) turn my compost, I mostly let nature do its thing. I know I could speed the process up by turning it over more regularly.
I do make sure that grass clippings are pretty well mixed when they get put in and our hotbin needs clearing out a few times per year. But clearing out the hotbin is not only satisfying, it also takes less time than driving to the garden centre, buying compost bags and dragging those to the end of the garden.
Also, if possible, my green waste just goes straight back on the soil and I don’t even take it to the compost heap. If you throw your deadheaded roses out of sight under a bush, nothing bad happens. It only feeds the soil.
- Save transport and thus CO2
If all our green bins would be about half the size of what they are now, the council only has to transport half of the waste it does now. This saves CO2. Compost also doesn’t need to be transported to the garden centre and from there to your garden and you do not have to dispose of a plastic compost bag.
- Reduce the need for synthetic fertilizers
There are many reasons not to use synthetic fertilizer in your garden, but one of them is that its carbon footprint is massive. In 2019 1% of global annual CO2 emissions was as a result of ammonia production through the very energy hungry Haber-Bosch process. Between 75 and 90% of this ammonia went toward making fertilizer. When taken into account all aspects the synthetic nitrogen fertilizer supply chain is responsible for 2.1% of global heat-trapping gas emissions.
Half of the globe’s food production depends on synthetic fertilizer, so no need to add your garden to this list too. Compost will provide all your plant needs and you can even make liquid fertilizer with it.
- Reduce methane emissions from landfills
As opposed to landfills, compost heaps don’t create the greenhouse gas methane provided they get enough oxygen. By making sure that you maintain a rough 3:1 ratio of brown to green waste you should have no problems, but if you do, just turn your heap. If you are lacking brown waste, then add shredded paper and cardboard (including boxes from cereal, eggs, tea etc) to your compost heap. Wet paper and cardboard can’t be recycled, so those are good to put on the compost heap regardless if you are worried about your ratio or not.
You may also wish to invest in a garden shredder for branches and hedge cuttings. They deal quickly with large garden waste and take as much time as trying to cut everything up to put it in your green bin. Shreddings are great to put on the compost heap or to provide instant mulch. For aesthetic reasons, you can let it rot down a bit (ie so it all looks brown), but the soil, wildlife and the organisms living in and just above your soil, don’t mind the colour. They probably prefer a few green bits!
- Provide a haven for wildlife
Compost bins are full of life, from woodlice to worms to bacteria. If you have an open compost bin, it can also provide a refuge and feeding area for creatures such as hedgehogs, beetles, toads, bats, birds, grass snakes, small mammals and slow-worms. Don’t clear or turn your open compost bins from around October to March so as not to disturb hibernating bumblebee queens and hedgehogs.
What not to put in your compost bin:
Meat, dairy and fish waste is best not put on your compost heap as it may attract rats. For this reason, I would also not put cooked food or remnants of cat or dog food in it. Roots of certain weeds like bindweed, ground elder, brambles and horsetail are also best avoided. Certain diseased plant materials should also not be put in your compost heap. All of these I would put in your council’s green bin.
Also, don’t add any biodegradable plastics unless it very clearly says “home-compostable”. Home-compostable plastics from companies such as Riverford do break down in your compost heap (which is brilliant!), but others unfortunately do not.
Sources/links
- Oliver Franklin-Wallis, 2023, Wasteland: The Dirty Truth About What We Throw Away, Where It Goes, and Why It Matters (London, Simon & Schuster)
https://oliverfranklinwallis.com/wasteland/ - Talking Rubbish: A weekly podcast that unpacks the complexities of recycling
https://www.talkingrubbishpodcast.com/ - Suffolk Wildlife Trust
“Composting in your garden”
https://www.suffolkwildlifetrust.org/composting# - Chemical & Engineering News: Industrial ammonia production emits more CO2 than any other chemical-making reaction. Chemists want to change that
https://cen.acs.org/environment/green-chemistry/Industrial-ammonia-production-emits-CO2/97/i24# - The Price of Plenty: a collaborative reporting project from the University of Florida and the University of Missouri
“From the factory to the field, fertilizer is a significant source of heat-trapping gases. Can the industry lessen its footprint?”
https://projects.wuft.org/priceofplenty/nitrogen-fertilizer-releases-greenhouse-gases-throughout-its-life-cycle/# - Nature
“Greenhouse gas emissions from global production and use of nitrogen synthetic fertilisers in agriculture”
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-022-18773-w