Composting is one of the best ways to help reduce your environmental footprint. Most people don’t think about it, but we produce a lot of waste every day- and not just trash. The average person throws away up to 10 pounds of food each month! Food that you could turn into compost for gardens or animal feed for livestock. A compost bin is a perfect way to make this happen, as they turn all organic material (including food scraps) into soil-enhancing matter with little effort on your part. This article will outline some great reasons why you should get a compost bin and start composting today!
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Increases Organic Matter In The Soil
You can think of compost as a way to provide your soil with much-needed organic matter. Organic matter provides your soil with nutrients to stay healthy and helps retain water in the root zone, which results in less runoff. It also aids in preventing nutrient imbalances, improves aeration, increases microbial activity in the soil, supports beneficial organisms, breaks down toxins, keeps soil from compacting, and adds important allies for crops like mycorrhizae fungi.
When you use compost regularly, you’ll notice that your soil becomes softer over time. The aggregate structures formed by decomposing organic matter will prevent soil particles from clumping together, making it easier for your plant’s roots to grow and spread. Since the soil doesn’t pack down as easily, water retention greatly increases, and drought stress reduces.
Leachate In The Soil
Leachate is the liquid that drains from a compost pile as it sits or after it has been applied to the soil. Leachate contains liquids, soluble carbon compounds from the decomposing organic matter, and nutrients, which can benefit plant growth. With these nutrients in your soil, they mix with naturally occurring mineral ions and become available to plants. It’s important not to over-apply leachate, though, as too much of any one kind of nutrient can cause imbalances in your soil. If you notice signs of a salt build-up in your soil, you can dilute it with water to prevent plant damage.
Increase In Plant Yields
A study performed by the Rodale Institute found that using compost increased organic matter in the top 10 inches of soil by 7-8%. If you’re growing crops for human consumption, this means that yields will go up and costs will go down. On the other hand, growing crops for livestock feed or fiber (like cotton), this increase is likely to bump up the value of what you can sell, as more people will need to buy the product.
Builds Soil Structure
Soil structure refers to how soil particles group together and holds onto each other. The ideal soil is high in aggregate stability. This means the aggregates are large enough, so they don’t break apart easily when they’re bumped or tilled by raindrops or soil tillage equipment, but not too big where there isn’t a lot of air space between them. Regularly using compost helps make this happen over time.
Attracts Earthworms To Your Soil
The presence of earthworms in your soil is a great sign. They are nature’s recyclers. Earthworms release castings containing nutrients like nitrogen and phosphorus while retaining some moisture. If you’re familiar with gardening practices, then you may know that earthworms improve soil structure by creating channels for water to travel through; this is why their presence significantly increases the rate at which topsoil develops over time.
Increase In Microbial Diversity And Activity
Microorganisms make up an incredibly diverse group of organisms; they include single-celled organisms like bacteria and archaea to multi-cellular organisms like fungi and molds. They are the decomposers of the world, breaking down organic matter into smaller pieces that plants or other microbes can reabsorb.
Conclusion
While composting may seem like a daunting line item to add to your weekly chores, it’s quite easy to do. Most modern city or suburb dwellers can easily install a small compost bin in their backyard. And this is great for the environment- all of the decompositions that happen in our landfills produce large quantities of methane gas, which contributes significantly to global warming. It’s always better to reduce landfills than recycle.
