Composting Creates 'Gardener's Gold'

Composting is nature’s way of transforming your trash into treasure and it’s one of the best things you can do for the environment. City dwellers are starting to discover how easy and rewarding it can be.

Composting turns dead leaves and kitchen scraps into a nutritious, life-giving soil. Often called “gardener’s gold,” this soil will give birth to healthy and surprisingly vibrant green plants.

All you have to do is put your waste (anything from coffee grinds to egg shells to veggies) in a bin outside where there is plenty of air and sunlight, and the composting process begins naturally.

For people who live in smaller spaces, vermacomposting can be done even in your apartment. Just add redworms to a small, lidded compost box and they will eat and break down the kitchen scraps, transforming it into the same nutritious matter.

Composting had been around for centuries, but today it can play a significant role in saving our earth:

- According to the U.S. Composting Council, the greenhouse gas impact of composting the organic waste sent to landfills is equivalent to removing 7.8 million passenger cars from the road.

- Reducing landfill space also reduces the production of leachate and methane gas.

- Compost helps to restore land by repairing soils contaminated by hazardous waste.

- As a natural fertilizer, compost reduces our dependence on fossil fuel-based fertilizers and pesticides.

The City of Los Angeles provides free workshops and discounted compost bins with proof of residency. Studio City residents can take advantage of these perks and see a little alchemy unfold for Earth Day.

http://www.lacitysan.org/solid_resources/recycling/composting/index.htm