Posted by Snow in 
I passed a workshop today at the public library that was discussing composting and somehow I found myself wishing I could attend. How did THAT happen? This grungy granola industry topic is 180 degrees from my attitude concerning these issues out of high school, if indeed I had a point of view back then about sustainability at all.
Well, it started when I visited Oregon after a lifetime of California baked summers. The hot/rainy bipolar weather conditions were a world away from the cool green-supporting atmospher in the Pacific Northwest. While there I absorbed part of the sustainable living eco-friendliness that can be in short supply in Southern California.
There is no regulatory definition for mulch. This is surprising. Compost, however, can be derived from any single or hybrid mixture formula of feedstock materials like chipped, shredded or ground vegetation. All that green waste you get carted away curbside? Could have been compost.
Compost use for landscape and environmental purposes involves as many tropes of sustainable and eco-friendly methods or erosion control, climate protection, reduction of chemicals use, and water conservation. Clean process recycled wood, biosolids, manure and mixed food products have utility inside compost programs (excepting metal tolerances).
individual home gardeners and landscapers can learn from community water management professionals. Compost addition adds positive soil changes such as a better root growth environment porosity and enhanced soil structure. Binding and degrading specific pollutants is a side benefit.
In a state like California with triple digit summers coming up, that means savings for cash strapped local governments. Carbon dioxide sinks and compost berms can allow attractive husbandry of plants in municipal owned areas without over watering, water waste, and unecessary evaporation and erosion.
Suddenly waste management is the hot career. Garbology science is now a valuable career path asset. The compost fad is efficent due to hidden heat production that sanitizes plant pathogens and the seed beginnings of weeds. Anti erosion benefits of composting are the retention of soil structure that helps landscaping earth hold itself together, instead of draining into the water supply with potential pollutants.
Organic matter degradation is a science that has a growing following in municipal and community waste programs due to the cost savings associated with select materials. Playgrounds, park gardens, and city facilities can be managed with water use reduction and organic compost methods for plants and horticulture in mind.
Carbon footprint reduction on a community scale is now the career goal of waste management professionals. Compost blankets and composts “socks” enhance vegetation and improve surface water efficiency.
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