Compost Consciousness

What happens when you compost?

Composting is a way of recycling organic matter. In the home, food scraps may be placed in a backyard compost pile or put into a variety of compost bins, where they will break down into humus, or compost. On the commercial level, food scraps collected by an industrial hauler are put into a giant tumbler where they break down into humus, or compost.

Compost is recycled back into the ground in the form of fertilizer for gardens, houseplants, and commercial farmland. Most food-based biodegradable plastic and paper products break down easily and quickly in the commercial composting process.

Are your single-use items biodegradable?
Read the label! Look for items made from: bagasse, bamboo, PLA, or potato starch.

Or look for this logo:

Why not put food waste in the trash?
Every year in the United States, we throw away 27 million tons of garbage. Much of that is food waste or recyclable material. Biodegradable items put in traditional landfills are usually mummified in the capping process used to protect groundwater.

One study cited at BPIworld.org found 40 year old newspapers that were still legible in a San Francisco landfill! Additionally, food is a major producer of methane in landfills. Methane is a greenhouse gas that cows have been blamed for in the past several years. Conscious Cow is glad to clear the air on this subject!

Families and business owners will find that composting saves both money and the earth.

Businesses can visit Find-A-Composter to find the nearest commercial composting facility.

Home composters will find a variety of composting bins at:

Want to raise awareness about composting?
Check out our Compost Consciousness Clothing line.