What’s Going On Here?
It’s International Compost Awareness Week, and with so much time on our hands, we’re taking a good old look at the joys of composting and why it’s so important for our planet’s soils!
What Does This Mean?
Who woulda known that there’s a whole week dedicated to – yep – compost?! International Compost Awareness Week (ICAW) is an annual celebration increasing public awareness of the benefits of compost. From vermicompost (compost produced by worms) to aerobic and anaerobic compost – the process of organic matter decomposing into a nutrient-rich soil conditioner – is a simple but important one.
With WRAP revealing this week that UK citizens are managing their food better in lockdown, many of us have also taken to composting – with news outlets reporting a 250% surge in seed and compost sales over recent weeks!
This year’s ICAW theme is ‘soil loves compost’ – so why does soil love compost and what has it got to do with sustainability?
Why Should We Care?
When we chuck our food scraps into our general waste bins – it often ends up in landfill. Buried under layers of waste and without enough light or oxygen to breakdown properly – it hangs around for yearssss and produces huge amounts of methane ( a harmful greenhouse gas 25 times more potent than CO₂ ). Composting therefore helps to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, offering a significant tool in mitigating climate change. Plus, composting recycles organic materials that would otherwise be wasted!
Let’s not forget our precious soils – the foundation of our wonderful planet’s ecosystems. Soil filters our water, nourishes forests and crops around the world and helps regulate our climate as well as greenhouse gas concentrations. Compost adds nutrients to our soils, reduces soil-borne and other plant diseases and the need to use pesticides and chemicals.
Our soils are so important, but they are often forgotten within modern agriculture. But there’s one agricultural technique called ‘no-tilling farming’ ➡️ where soils aren’t disturbed through ploughing, helping to keep important nutrients within the ground, and preventing excess emissions being released. With fears that productive, nutrient-dense soil could run out within 60 years, there’s never been a better time to get composting!
Be Curious!
Check out the guys behind ICAW The Compost Foundation.
- Got a garden? Go full circle and nourish it with your home-made compost! ????????????????????
- Do you have a curbside food waste collection service? Find out when it is and USE IT! If the idea of collecting your kitchen scraps grosses you out a wee bit, get yourself one of these stylish kitchen caddies and remember to use those special compostable bags.???? You can buy a 20 litre bag of compost for £1 from Poundland ????, but where’s the fun in that? Start your own household composting (check out curious Fran’s recent insta post for some tips). I definitely need to up my compost game…who’s joining me?
