CompostNow: Why It Matters

Recently, Galloway has begun using the company CompostNow to compost our food waste. During the Trash to Treasure excursion, we researched some of the most effective ways to reduce trash and what we can do as a community and as individuals to try to fix the growing problem of managing trash. CompostNow’s goal is to make the planet a better place and stop waste from going to the landfill.

The composting process all starts with you throwing your food waste from Flik into the CompostNow bins, which get picked up from Galloway every Wednesday. Next, all of the compost is taken to the CompostNow facility in North Georgia. The compost is put in piles of dirt with other food waste, of which there are about 10 to 15 piles. It generally takes about 6 to 8 weeks for the trash to transform from a piece of trash to a pile of nutritious dirt. Finally, after the trash has gone through the whole cycle and come out as the soil, it is sent back to the people who gave them the trash, so they can use the soil for their garden. This is so they can officially “close the loop” or the soil is sent to CompostNow’s farm and garden partners.

CompostNow’s biggest goal is to close the loop, which  is a term often used in sustainability. Closing the loop is a very simple but important concept; an example of closing the loop would be eating a banana, compositing the peel, and using the soil from the composted banana to grow more food. By doing this you are creating zero waste, and you are helping the environment by not allowing the banana peel to go to the dump.  

Not many people know that the food going to the landfill is very bad for the environment. The definition for aerobic digestion is a breakdown using oxygen, and anaerobic digestion simply means not having oxygen present. All compost is broken down aerobically which is faster, more effective, and better for the environment. When you send all of your organic waste with all the rest of your trash it will sit under piles of trash in a landfill. This will create a vacuum; therefore, not allowing any oxygen to get to the organic waste. This forces the food to break down via anaerobic digestion. When organic waste breaks down in this way it releases tons of methane. Methane is a greenhouse gas that is 23 times worse than carbon dioxide. Once methane gas is released, it absorbs the sun's heat and because of this, warms the atmosphere. Food waste sitting in landfills are responsible for 34% of all methane emissions in the United States.

Many students at Galloway do not understand the importance of compost, and why it is so much better for the environment than throwing it in the trash can. Putting compostable waste in a compost bin is one of the easiest ways to help the environment and it’s easier now than ever with the CompostNow bin. The environment is in bad shape and we students are the hope for the future.

By Ben Schleifer