Marco Bitran: Composting: An Adventure With My 5-Year Old Son.

Used extensively by farmers and gardeners in climate regions where short growing seasons prevail, composted materials are considered agricultural gold as a growth supplement. Combining multiple organic wastes and allowing them the time to decompose into rich, organic and soil-like humus is the core of the process. In addition to creating a beneficial end product, composting reduces yard waste and other organic landfill bulk by as much as 50 to 75 percent. Recently, my 5-year-old son and I learned about the rudiments of composting and began collecting for our pile. Unconsumed vegetables and fruits, small yard waste, manures, and a variety of other carefully mixed materials can be used to create the chemistry of composting that differs from natural grass, leaf, or forest decomposition. Mature compost requires that high temperatures occur within the pile or vessel in order to kill pathogens and weed seeds that survive normal decay. Accordingly, supplemental ingredients and calculated materials ratios are employed to optimize the process. Among the many benefits of composting are a reduction in the need for chemical growth supplements, facilitation of increased crop yields, revitalization of contaminated, marginal or compacted soils, and achievement of similar results at less than half the cost of alternate methods. Marco Bitran is an analyst, runner and father of two children in Boston, Massachusetts. More information about composting can be found at http://www.epa.gov/epawaste.