Food scraps, paper, yard clippings, and wood make up more than 51% of the rubbish that ends up in landfills. Every year, we waste away over 1.3 billion tons of food worth nearly $1 trillion around the world.
Unfortunately, putting food in the trash not only wastes precious resources but also contributes to climate change unknowingly.
Food waste has enormous environmental consequences. The production, harvesting, transportation, and packing of (ultimately) wasted food releases 3.3 billion metric tons of carbon dioxide per year.
When food leftovers reach landfills, they degrade and release methane gas into the atmosphere.
Methane gas has a heating potential nearly 21 times that of carbon dioxide, implying that it has a greater global climate influence than CO2. Composting comes into play here.
We can benefit the environment rather than harm it by composting our food and other organic waste rather than dumping them out.
In a compost bin or pile, piling “browns” (dead leaves, branches, twigs, and paper) with “greens” (grass clippings, fruit scraps, old vegetables, and coffee grounds) can produce high-quality organic matter that can be used to nourish farms and gardens.
We can complete the nutrient cycle, put discarded food to good use, limit climate change, and help to create arable land by composting.
Why Is Composting Good For Climate change
Fighting climate change does not have to be a costly or time-consuming endeavor. It can be as simple as organizing a communal compost bin and giving the contents to a local farm to help the environment.
It’s sometimes as simple as buying only what you need and reducing your commitment to packaging as much as possible.
Using fall leaves to fertilize your garden rather than dumping them on the street for the garbage truck is one example. It’s sometimes just a matter of getting back into the natural nutrition cycle as much as possible.
You are bringing the entire universe back into equilibrium by doing so.
Compost is an important instrument in the global fight against climate change, among other things.
Compost helps the environment in a variety of ways, including lowering greenhouse gas emissions at landfills, encouraging carbon dioxide uptake by vegetation, and rendering our projects and gardens more adaptable to climate change.
Lowering new greenhouse gas emissions
Compost keeps organic materials out of landfills, where they would otherwise decompose and release methane, a highly strong greenhouse gas.
Compost, rather than wasting this “black gold,” put it to good use where it might improve the environment.
Retaining Greenhouse Gases (GHGs)
Compost not only reduces GHG emissions but also eliminates extra emissions from the atmosphere.
Compost is a vital element for plants to take in carbon dioxide and transform it into lush growth by fostering better and more significant plant growth.
While this may appear to be a minor advantage on a project-by-project basis, when viewed as a whole, it has a major impact on our climate’s well-being. Not to add that soil in the shade of plants is cooler.
Improving tolerance to climate change
Finally, compost aids in improving tolerance to the impacts of climate change, such as drought and severe weather.
Compost has an important role in preventing erosion during intense storm events and in water retention during droughts.
Both of these phenomena are becoming more often as a result of climate change, and compost can help to mitigate their consequences.
How Composting Can Save The World?
Composting, in general, helps to minimize greenhouse gas emissions that contribute to climate change by food waste reduction.
Food waste and loss account for 8-10% of global greenhouse gas emissions, while increased use of land and water resources puts biodiversity under strain.
Does composting affect global warming?
Composting aids in the fight against global warming. Organic garbage does not decompose in landfills due to the lack of light and oxygen.
Instead, over 20 years, it degrades into methane, a greenhouse gas 56 times more powerful than carbon dioxide.
Benefits Of Composting
- It helps to keep the soil from eroding.
- Assists in the management of stormwater.
- Encourages the growth of healthier plants.
- It saves water.
- It cuts down on waste.
- Combats global warming.
- Reduces the cost of project upkeep.
- Promotes the health of the soil.
