editorial@post-journal.com
In today’s day and age, many are focused on protecting the Earth and doing their part. One simple way that anyone can do that is through composting.
New York State’s Compost Awareness Week, which was at the beginning of May, is a week set aside to raise awareness across the state of the many benefits for the environment that come from composting.
According to Cornell Cooperative Extension’s Master Gardener Volunteer Stephen Rees, about 60 percent of waste that ends up in landfills each year is organic waste that can just as easily be recycled or composted. “It’s really about managing your household waste stream and getting waste from places like your kitchen and yard out of landfills,” Rees said.
Organic Materials Management
Organic materials are carbon based compounds that come from living things and are readily biodegradable, making them a valuable resource rather than a waste. It is the organic matter and nutrients in these materials that lead to the useful products (e.g., compost, biogas, digestate, etc.) created at organics recycling facilities. From farm wastes to residential lawns, cafeteria scraps to biosolids, organic materials are a part of life. Managing these materials through reduction, reuse, and recycling is a high priority in New York State.
Following the waste management hierarchy, reduction and reuse are at the top, representing the highest priority for materials management. This is followed by recycling and then disposal. Recycling organic materials by composting, anaerobic digestion, land application, and other organics recycling technologies reduces the generation of greenhouse gases, creates soil amendments, energy, and jobs, and reduces reliance on wa