To Compost or not to Compost


“When you do common things in your life in an uncommon way, you will command the attention of the world”, said teacher, inventor, agriculture-scientist, botanist, nature-lover and my sustainability hero, Dr. George Washington Carver. An early proponent of composting, he said “Waste is man-made; nature produces no waste; whatever is consumed is returned to the whole in a reusable form. Man fails to utilize appropriately the bounty of nature”. While I am inspired by his words, work and philosophy of life, I started small, by doing common things in a common way. Such as separating my kitchen and organic waste in a separate bin than my trash bin. 

We got a smell free, rust free, indoor composting pail with charcoal filters (there are other options). Instead of dumping kitchen and food scraps in with the regular trash, it was easy enough to separate it into this pail. We were already separating recyclables, so separating the wet waste reduced our trash to ¼ of the original, and much lighter and cleaner. We changed our trash pickup service once in two weeks from every week. With just a little discipline, and negligible effort from us, we were able to make an impact towards a cleaner, better environment. It also helped assess food wastage and to plan better.

Through summer, we had started a home compost, which can be a little involved. To make our lives easier, I had heard of a curbside pickup service which was willing to start a weekly service for a nominal fee in our area, when they reached a minimum number of customers. I wasn’t sure we could continue maintaining home composting through snow and frost. So I had been on a lookout of a curbside pickup for winter. Our friends in a neighboring town were already using the service and highly recommended it. Being aware of the magnitude of difference composting makes to the environment, and believing that it provided a high return on investment, a few of our neighborhood friends who were not yet ready to take on home-composting, were actively looking for a third-party service to make their impact as well. Unfortunately we didn’t have enough people yet in our area for the service to start.

That’s when a couple of young climate activists from our community stepped up to make an impact in what I saw as Dr. Carver’s “uncommon” way. Shankara Rao, an eight grader with a passion for climate activism started spreading the word in our community by creating a slideshow about the benefits of composting and presenting to various groups. Abhijay Potuluri developed a simple yet compelling animation titled “A Scrap Story: Take Charge and Save our Planet”. To some of the older people climate change may seem like a “gloom and doom” exaggeration, but to these young people who believe in science, it is literally a life and death situation and a real threat. Beyond the longer term goal, they were focussed on the immediate one, which was to get enough people signed up so the curbside service could start in our community.

There were multiple hurdles. The most common one is the perception that composting is hard and time consuming. My experience and that of many others who have formed the habit will vouch for the ease of this effort, for a much bigger gain, especially with the curbside service. “It is as easy and important as brushing our teeth, and more impactful than keeping the tap turned off while brushing”, says one avid composting believer. Another hurdle was that some people felt they did not create enough organic and food waste to make an impact. 

I am greatly appreciative of a neighbor and friend who at first was apprehensive, yet agreed to separate her food and vegetable scraps for a week, just to get a sense of how much she collects. She figured out she collected a small aluminum tray full (approx 13”x10”x3”). This does seem minuscule, though when multiplied by a population, it is huge. Composting all of a family’s wet waste also gets humanity closer to zero-waste consumption habits and discipline. And all that for a negligible effort from every family. I applaud this person to take the effort to try, sign up for the service and take a step in the correct direction. There were also concerns of not meeting the strict contamination policies of third party composting facilities, and it was reassuring to note that our service of choice accepts dairy, pasta/pizza scraps, meats and bones, and seafood and shells, which have been a no-no for our home composting due to critters. During the scouting process it was encouraging to see that for years some families have been using the town transfer station that provides recycling and composting facilities. Some other families have home composters, or use traditional composting methods. And a creative composting buff found a drop-off in a close by Whole Foods Market.

There is always the question about studies and the environmental impact  of composting in numbers. There have been multiple studies such as this one from Myanmar about alternative approaches to waste management that impact greenhouse gases (GHG). Per the study “.. the total amount of annual net GHG emissions by business-as-usual, Scenario-1, Scenario-2 and Scenario-3 was estimated at 2,000, 1,850, 900 and 1,500 Gg of CO2-eq per year in 2018, trending around 3,350, 3,050, 1,500 and 2,600 Gg of CO2-eq per year in 2025, respectively”, which clearly identifies scenario-2 with 10% recycling and 10% composting to be the most impactful out of the ones considered.



The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) which tracks MSW (Municipal Solid Waste) reports that 75% of food related organic waste ends up in landfills, which is the third largest human related cause of methane emissions, methane being 28 times more potent than CO2 in global warming. In the US since 1990, we have moved to about 7% composting of food organics, with ~3 million tons out of ~43 million tons, and a slow upward trend. This area has the most room for improvement. EPA has set a food loss and waste reduction goal for 2030. U.S. PRIG’s report on composting among other points, recommends multiple policy changes such as making organics disposal cheaper than trash, mandating commercial facilities to divert organic waste to composts, subsidize composting facilities with grants and funds, and more stronger policy to ban organic materials from landfills.

Being a nature-lover, my heart always leans towards natural processes. It was rewarding to understand how my tiny action of separating food scraps contributes towards a cleaner environment. With support from these young crusaders, and enough environmentally aware neighbors, it was great to be able to take this first small step with the curbside pickup starting off. For those who are yet to start, my 2 cents - that it is easy and it is worth it! “The earth is not just a treasure house to be ransacked, and plundered, and to be profited from. It is our home and a place of beauty and mystery”. Salute Dr. Carver!




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