The perfect nourishment to make your grass greener and roses rosier, compost is the ideal ground force for your garden. And you don’t have to be Alan Titchmarsh to know how to perfect it.
Wiping out waste and helping your flowers flourish, here’s how compost helps the environment, as well as your garden.
- 1. How composting reduces food waste
Food production produces more than a third of the greenhouse gases clouding our planet, despite the fact one-third of our grub goes straight into bins and landfills.
Food waste is a huge problem that we can no longer stomach. Because when your leftover lasagnas and surplus spaghetti are tragically tossed in your bin, they break down and rot to form methane, a gas more potent than a chickpea-loving, flatulent skunk.
These emissions linger in our atmosphere like the last guest at a party, but fortunately for those of us hungry to save the planet, there are many ways we can cut down on the 9.5 million tonnes of grub we waste per year (WRAP).
As well as only ordering what you need, when you need it, using our handy green milkround, you can also treat your garden to the scraps, stems and stalks in your kitchen.
Almost half of the food wasted in your average rubbish bin could’ve been composted (Recycle Now). Almost half! And when you go from bins to blooms, you significantly reduce the greenhouse gases generated from organic waste in landfill.
Want to learn more about food waste? Check out our eco guides below:
- • What is food waste?
- • How to use eggshells in your compost
- • How to grow veg from scraps
- • What to do with cauliflower leaves
- 2. How composting helps fight climate change
It’s no secret that greenhouse gases contribute heavily to global warming, and the more we rely on landfills, the more harmful emissions enter our atmosphere.
Waste disposal in landfills results in unwelcome guests like carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide and non-methane hydrocarbons entering the party. These harmful emissions are called greenhouse gases because they trap and hold heat in our atmosphere, leading to climate change, rising sea levels and many more dangers to our lovely planet.
Burying your food and garden waste in landfill creates an anaerobic environment. Not to be confused with the Zumba, pilates and other spandex-laden rooms in your local gym, an anaerobic environment is when waste rots without oxygen, thus producing more greenhouse gases.
Composting, on the other hand, not only reduces our reliance on landfills, but uses our waste to feed plants and trees that filter out the toxins in our atmosphere and supply us with that refreshing ol’ oxygen we can’t get enough of. It also improves water retention in soils, which prevents erosion and drought.
Shaped like Daleks and munching on scraps, compost bins exterminate waste and recover our balanced relationship with nature, creating a circular economy of consumption and giving back to the environment. Kind of like our return and reuse bottle collections!
The mulch created from your compost helps stimulate plant, flower and grass growth, so you no longer need chemical fertilisers that add to the global-warming shaped elephant in the room. Agriculture accounts for 8.5% of global greenhouse gases but using compost instead of chemicals increases crop yields and helps to farm without causing the planet harm.
- 3. How composting helps wildlife and the natural world
Composting shifts the focus away from rubbish heaps, landfills and plastic-filled oceans, and more towards flourishing flowerbeds, tremendous trees and super soil. This, of course, is only a good thing for Mother Nature and our wildlife.
Composting can be used to combat deforestation, restore wetlands and protect habitats. By enriching our natural world, we’re also enriching the lives of all those that live within it.
The better the soil, the more plants we produce. And the more plants we produce, the more food, habitats and homes for our birds, bees and critters!
- 4. How composting helps your garden
As your garden flourishes, the planet will too. When your waste breaks down into compostable mulch, it produces a wealth of nutrients and nitrogen that can be used to make your plants as strong, healthy and aesthetically pleasing as Chris Hemsworth.
Explore our composting tips to ensure you get the mulchiest mulch in town.
Ready to start composting?
Learn everything you need to know with our Composting Guide and get a great head start on your pile or bin with our range of baked goods and fruit and veg in compostable kraft paper!
