This month we’re focusing our facts on compost!

1. Yard trimmings and food scraps accounted for 25 percent of all Municipal solid waste created nationally.

2. Organic material is bulky, takes up space in landfills, and produce methane gas that must be recovered or burned and produce liquids that contribute to leachate.

3. Disposing of food waste in a landfill contributes to global warming. Every metric dry ton of food that goes to a landfill may generate .25 metric tons of methane in the first 120 days. Thus, composting this food waste would reduce emissions by the equivalent of up to 6 metric tons of CO2.

4. Compost-enriched soil can also reduce erosion, alleviate soil compaction, and help control disease and pest infestation in plants.

5. Fifty-two percent of Metro single-family households engage in home composting or some other form of onsite organics management.

6. Grass clippings contain valuable nutrients that can generate up to 25 percent of your lawn’s total fertilizer needs when left on the lawn.

7. A compost pile can reach 150 degrees Fahrenheit; it’s all body heat given off by the decomposers.

8. Compost can be used as mulch. In this form, it suppresses the growth of weeds, and reduces the required irrigation for plants

9. Use of compost helps you save money, because it reduces the plants’ requirement for chemical pesticides and fertilizers.

10. Don’t ever add dirt to your compost bin–dirt and compost are two different things

1. The U.S. uses nearly $1 million worth of energy every minute. (Energy

Information Administration)

2. Air pollution from vehicles, factories and power plants is a major cause
for asthma attacks. (NRDC)

3. More than half of Americans live in areas with poor air conditions.
(NRDC)

4. The modern American generates twice as much trash daily as compared to
the average American in the 1960s. (Energy Information Administration)

5. Across the U.S., 12 million acres of lakes, estuaries and wetlands, as
well as 473,000 miles of streams, rivers and coast are contaminated by the
heavy metal mercury, which comes mainly from coal-fired power plants. (NRDC)

What YOU can do to help:
Plant more trees, shrubs, ornamental grasses and perennials. All plants, no
matter how big or small, help to clean our soil, air and water. These plants
help by removing toxins from above and below the ground, and by adding fresh
oxygen so we can all breath a little easier.

1. Glass reformed from recycled glass instead of raw materials reduces air pollution up to 20% and water pollution by 50%.

2. Americans use 50 million tons of paper per year, consuming a little more than 850 million trees.

3. If 25% of families replace 10 plastic bags with reusable bags, it would reduce production by at least 2.5 billion bags per year.

4. By turning your central heating thermostat down by one degree, your fuel consumption can be cut up to 10%.

5. In Malaysia, 125 acres of tropical forest has more species of trees than the entire continent of North America has.

1. Food is the #1 least recycled material.

2. The average American produces 4 lbs. of landfill waste per day; that’s more than 50 tons over a lifetime!

3. Food and paper are biodegradable in nature, but not in landfills due to lack of oxygen.

4. Food and paper are the two largest contributors to landfills and make up more than half of all landfill waste.

5. One ton of recycled paper can save up to 17 trees, 7,000 gallons of water and 4,000 kilowats of electricity.

(Source: www.smarthome.duke.edu/downloads/compost facts)