Page 38 - AreaNewsletters "Mar2023" issue

Residential
According to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the United States generated 292.4 million tons of municipal solid waste in 2018.1
That’s equivalent to 4.9 pounds per person per day in 2018. The top four categories of waste that year were the following: Paper and Paperboard (23.05%), Food (21.59%), Plastic (12.2%) and Yard Trimmings (12.11%).1 Three of those categories consist of items that can be composted (plastic is the odd one out if you’re keeping score) and accounted for around 56% of all of the waste in 2018. Those are categories that we all come into contact within our daily lives and can be a source of nutrient recycling in the form of compost.
ccording to Colorado State University, “Essential ingredients for the composting process include microorganisms, organic matter, water and air (oxygen).” 2 Creating compost simply requires developing a controlled environment that allows the decomposition process to occur quickly. The end product is a “soil conditioner,” used to increase organic matter in your soil. Soils with 4-5% organic matter will mineralize (release to plants) about 0.2 pound of nitrogen per 100 square feet per year. This should be sufficient for plant nitrogen needs.3 Before adding any compost to your soil, it’s a good practice to have a soil test completed that measures the Organic Matter (OM) within your soil so you can aim for the golden 5%. Additionally, compost has great water retention which can help reduce runoff. Therefore, when appropriate applications are maintained each year, you are improving your soil greatly which allows you to focus more on enjoying the process of growing your plants to maturity and spend less time diagnosing nutrient and water deficiencies.
Com posting Stop throwing away your money.
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March 2023 • Castle Rock “AreaNewsletters”
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Depending on your residential situation, your composting system could be in your yard using a bin or your apartment balcony in a tumbler, providing it to a Community Garden that accepts it or even using a smartphone application that connects you with a neighbor or company who will pick up your compostable waste. Vermicomposting is another option, but that’s a science project for another day.
Outdoor residential composting is possible in Colorado. While the decomposition process does slow down, even
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