Spare a thought and Save the Earth




Every time I see a fussy eater tossing with food in his/her plate or a dieter gently ignoring the food in the platter, I become serious not just because of the direct implication that we waste food in a country where many die of starvation, it is more because of the environmental ramifications associated with wastage of food. Wastage of food is by default a grave matter if either intentionally or apathetically you allow food to go waste.  It means you are wasting the resources needed to grow your food, it means you are increasing the landfill methane emissions; it means you are contributing to global warming and it definitely means you are an environmental traitor.
According to the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), every year 1.3 billion tonnes of food is wasted. At the same time, 1 in every 7 people in the world go to bed hungry and more than 20,000 children under the age of 5 die daily from hunger.  In fact the food waste in any country makes up the largest percentage of waste in landfills higher than plastic and paper products. The organic portion of the waste including vegetable peels and cooked leftovers are found mixed along with the other inorganic waste. The comingled waste finally enters the landfill and becomes a significant source of methane, a potent greenhouse gas. The leachate that is generated is also deleterious to the groundwater and subsurface region especially in unlined landfills and dump yards.
Instead of dumping food waste along with the inorganic waste in the landfill, a better option is to recycle food waste and turning into compost. Composting is nature’s way of recycling. Biological decomposition of organic matter under controlled conditions can do wonders in creating a valuable soil amendment, in feeding the ecosystems in the soil and turning the earth greener. Additionally, composting has been proven to absorb volatile organic compounds and odours in contaminated soils. One superfluous reason for you should consider composting is because of the economic benefits. Compost reduces the amount of water, fertilizers, and pesticides when it is replaced as the primary soil for gardens. Not to mention the large amount of fuel that can be saved when garbage trucks can cut down the many trips around town because of the decreased amount of waste.
The process is absolutely easy; either you can have standalone bins or you can easily start composting in free standing piles without any structure at all. I have been composting for a little over a year now and quite happy to reap its unique benefits. All you need is the organic waste maintaining proper balance between carbon rich and nitrogen rich stuff, cow dung slurry or a handful of worms. A little care about the moisture content and occasional turning of the compost pile is all that needed.  And believe me, it is not the stinky or maggot infested strenuous chore as you imagine it to be. So get set to recycle mode and start composting.
HAPPY COMPOSTING!

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