A Guide to Backyard Composting

By Karen Faverzani

Holmdel Green Team

Did you know that backyard composting is considered “nature’s way of recycling”?

It’s true. According to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), composting – the simple act of placing food scraps and yard trimmings in a bin so it decomposes into usable, nutrient-rich dirt – is an easy and inexpensive way for homeowners to reduce their trash, address climate change and build healthy soil. And Nature does most of the work!

With each household deciding to undertake backyard composting, the environment is improved that much more.

Here’s why it’s important for you as a Monmouth County resident to start composting:

-EPA estimates show that more than half the greenhouse gas emissions from landfills come from wasted food. That wasted food comprises about 24 percent of all solid waste in landfills.

-New Jersey alone reported that 1.46 million tons of food waste was generated in the state in 2017, according to the state Department of Environmental Protection.

-As the food decomposes in landfills, it produces methane, an extremely potent greenhouse gas that escapes into the atmosphere and contributes to climate change.

-If food waste can be reduced, about 11 percent of greenhouse gas emissions can be eliminated from the food sector, the World Wildlife Fund notes.

Now that you’re aware of the environmental importance of backyard composting, how can you get started?

• Begin by obtaining a composting bin either by making or purchasing one. Visit YouTube and search for different ways of making a composting bin. Or, the Monmouth County Office of Solid Waste and Recycling sells backyard compost bins for $35 which are available for pick-up at various municipal facilities. For more information on purchasing bins, go to https://www.co.monmouth.nj.us/documents/70/CompostBinFlyer2024.pdf
• Once the bin is in place in your backyard, start by adding kitchen scraps that are cut up into small pieces along with grass clippings and weeds. Layer the kitchen scraps and green material with brown dry leaves in a 1:1 ratio. Add enough water to keep the bin moist but not soggy. Then every so often, mix or turn the pile to help break it down into soil. In the summer, the material should decompose over several weeks; longer in the winter.
• Ideal kitchen scraps for the composting bin include vegetables, fruits, coffee grounds, tea bags, eggshells. Sawdust, hay/straw, feathers and dry lint are also acceptable. Don’t put meat, fats, cooking oil, dairy products, baked goods or pet waste in the composter.
• You can save your kitchen scraps in a small waterproof container stored in the house until the material can be relocated to the composter.
• Soon enough, the composting bin will produce nutrient-rich soil that can be used in gardens or to plant flowers.

In autumn, residents can also address those excessive piles of leaves by composting them in the backyard. Leaves and yard trimmings can be placed in a free-standing pile or contained in a holding or turning unit, according to the DEP. The material is then turned to accelerate the composting. For more information on how to compost leaves, visit https://njaes.rutgers.edu/fs074/.

Homeowners looking for more information about composting can visit the Holmdel Green Team website at https://www.holmdeltownship.com/507/Green-Team.