Go Green With Compost

Reduce the waste going into landfills by collecting kitchen scraps for composting. Biodegradable Biobags make it easy and convenient.

On the outside your compost pile may look just like what it is: a mound of plants, corncobs and grass clippings. But it is also part of a much larger gardening revolution with wonderful environmental benefits.

Over the past 20 years, there has been a composting revolution. Backyard compost piles and municipal compost projects have dramatically decreased the amount of yard waste going to landfills. Instead, millions of tons of compost have been spread on gardens and farm fields and used for habitat revitalization and erosion control.

Gardener's Supply has been on the front lines of this revolution. When we began selling composting supplies in 1983, having a backyard compost pile was rare in suburban and urban areas. Most homeowners bagged their leaves and grass clippings and left them out with the trash.

Now compost piles have become almost as common as gardens. Almost half of the states in the U.S. prohibit taking yard waste to landfills. And there are over 3,500 municipal composting programs nationwide.

What You Can Do

Build a compost pile in your backyard. Or, take your food and yard waste to a municipal composting facility. If your community doesn't have a composting facility, call your local solid waste managers and tell them you'd like one.

Solid Waste By the Numbers

Tons of solid waste generated in U.S. in 1997: 217 million
Pounds of waste produced per person per day: 4.4
Percentage that was yard waste: 12.8 percent
Number of states that won't allow yard waste from landfills: 22
Tons of yard waste taken to composting facilities in 1997: 12 million
Tons taken to composting facilities in 1990: 4 million

Source: EPA 1998 report.

Meanwhile, scientists are finding that compost is a lot more than just organic matter and truly is "black gold." Here are some of the innovative uses for compost.

Bio-remediation and Pollution Prevention: Scientists have found that the microorganisms at work in your compost pile can also break down contaminants like hydrocarbons, wood-preserving chemicals, solvents, pesticides, petroleum products and explosives. Specific microbes are being put to work in programs all over the world.

Disease and Pest Control for Plants: Scientific testing has proven that compost-enriched soil can help suppress diseases and ward off pests. This keeps the plants healthier and decreases the need for pesticides. Farmers and scientists are experimenting with customized compost that is innoculated with specific microbes to treat and prevent diseases, such as pythium root rot and ashy stem blight.

Erosion Control: The U.S. loses more than 2 billion tons of topsoil through erosion each year, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Compost improves the growth of vegetation on steep slopes and decreases erosion.

Reforestation and Habitat Revitalization: Compost can help improve land that has deteriorated through erosion, flooding or logging. For example, at the Patuxent Wildlife Research Center in Maryland, scientists are using compost to help revegetate a 5-acre site with native plants.