Going Green With Composting

With Americans growing ever conscious of the need for our country to "go green", composting in the garden may be an area that is sometimes overlooked in contributing to this effort. Recycling is indeed a valuable tool in helping with the noble cause of going green. Recycling reduces the burden on our country's waste management systems and landfills on a local and national level. The benefits of recycling benefit us, not only on a national level, but globally as well. So, in essence, the process of composting with household materials that would otherwise wind up in landfills is a major contribution.

It is reported that nearly 2 percent of our nation's natural gas consumption is in the process of manufacturing nitrogen fertilizers. This consumption of natural gas is a drain on our overall supply of a non renewable resource. With Americans looking to lessen our dependence on foreign countries, any conservation of our natural resources is a step in the right direction. Nitrogen fertilizers, as most gardeners know, are not as beneficial to a home gardening project as composting is. With the simple act of using everyday household waste as a fertilizer, as opposed to using fertilizers that cause a drain on natural resources, the home gardener is "going green with compost".

American municipalities produce somewhere in the neighborhood of 200 tons of residential garbage each year. Approximately 68 percent of that total is in organic materials. These organic materials are household waste items such as food, paper, wood, and yard waste. This is a figure that is no doubt going to continue to climb in the foreseeable future. The tax dollars that are required to process this staggering total nationwide, are revenue that consumers could be pumping into our troubled economy. The tax dollars could also be put to work looking for alternative fuel sources, thus contributing to the concept of "going green".

Because composting can be accomplished by using the household waste products mentioned above,(food,paper,wood, and yard), this could drastically reduce the amount of refuse being either processed or landfilled. This reduction lessens the strain on municipalities and county governments in the areas of waste management. This in turn helps reduce taxes and puts more money back into the hands of the consumer.

So you see, home gardeners have been doing their part for years in helping our nation go green. Most home gardeners are very aware of the advantages that composting has over chemicals and fertilizers. By using these methods of successful gardening in areas such as fertilization, home gardeners already do their part each day to help reduce the amount of nitrogen fertilizers that need to be produced. This reduction in the production of these fertilizers benefits us all in a couple of ways. First it conserves approximately 2 percent of our natural gas supply. Secondly, the utilization of household refuse for compost as, opposed to overfilling landfills, saves tax dollars. These funds can then be directed towards programs designed to helps us, as a nation, develop "green alternatives".

Going green with compost. Gardeners have been doing it for centuries. The movement of going green is a concept that is not only good for the environment, but for the economy as well. Sometimes the solutions of improving the environment are obvious, other times they may be overlooked. The very simple act of a fundamental gardening principle can have a tremendous impact on a national and a global scale. Happy gardening.

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