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Composting for Healthy Soil and Nutritious Food

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As we continue to work towards a more sustainable future, our modern food system is confronted with challenges such as soil degradation and declining crop yields. The United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) have identified Zero Hunger as a key objective. SDG 2 focuses on ending hunger, achieving food security and improved nutrition, and promoting sustainable agriculture.

Composting plays a vital role in enriching the soil, which in turn supports the growth of more nutritious food. It not only helps protect the environment but can also help reduce food shortages experienced globally.

For Healthier Soil, Healthier Food…Compost!

Food is only as healthy as the soil that it was grown in. When crops don’t have access to enough of the right nutrients they can’t grow properly. Crops grown in depleted soil can suffer from stunted growth, reduced yield, and an increased susceptibility to pests and disease.

More: What Happens When Soil Deteriorates?

Agricultural fields in the midwestern U.S. have lost, on average, two millimeters of soil per year for the past 160 years. Primarily due to this soil depletion, modern crops contain fewer nutrients than they have in the past.

Healthy soils are essential for a healthy food system. Compost can be a key to improving the health, resiliency, and productivity of crops and agricultural systems.

Compost improves soil structure, conserves water, replenishes lost nutrients, and supports beneficial microorganisms. This excellent source of organic matter and microbes provides the essential nutrients and minerals that all plants and crops need to grow and thrive - Composting helps to create healthier soil that supports the growth of healthier food.

"Improving soil health can be as effective as irrigation at increasing yields"

- NRDC, Using compost to improve soil health and crop productivity

What’s the Difference Between Compost and Chemical Fertilizer?

Whereas chemical fertilizers only feed the plant, compost provides organic matter and microbes that support the entire soil food web.

The benefits of chemical fertilizers are only short term. Healthy soil has a complex soil food web which is teeming with microorganisms! Chemical fertilizers disrupt this soil food web, causing harm to these crucial microorganisms.

The microbes present in healthy soil help to break down organic matter and release nutrients. When soil has everything it needs, plants receive the nutrients and moisture they need to live and grow.

Additionally, chemical fertilizers cause additional problems such as groundwater pollution, changes in soil pH, and ingredients that are harmful for humans. They are also expensive! Each of these effects will intensify with continued use, farmers will need to purchase increasingly larger quantities of fertilizer in an attempt to feed the crops suffering as a result of damage done to the soil.

Compost helps to reduce the need for chemical fertilizers and pesticides by feeding the microorganisms in the soil. Their digestive process and waste transforms organic matter into soluble nutrients that plants can use. Compost provides the healthy soil conditions needed to increase yields, and regenerates soil biology to grow more nutrient-dense crops!

Find More Composting Information and Resources

Let's Celebrate Compost!

This week we’re celebrating International Compost Awareness Week, with a goal to spread the word about the incredible benefits of compost for our soil, crops, and environment. We want to make composting mainstream!

The Soil Food Web

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Let's Celebrate Compost!

For Healthier Soil, Healthier Food…Compost! Get ready to celebrate International Compost Awareness Week! Mark your calendars: May 7-13, 2023 will be a week of promoting awareness and celebrating compost. This year’s theme focuses on the role of compost in helping to end world hunger. Recycling organics into compost reduces waste and improves soil health. Applying compost to farmlands [...]

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The Compost Movement is Growing!

Composting is continuing to gain momentum! Thanks to more education and awareness about its benefits, as well as increased availability of organics collection programs, composting is becoming a more attractive option for environmentally conscious communities. Many cities across the United States are implementing municipal compost collection programs, while community-based composting organizations are also seeing growth. Composting diverts [...]

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What Are PFAS?

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How to Use Compost

Composting creates a sustainable, closed-loop system. It keeps organic material out of landfills and uses them to produce nutrient-dense compost. The resulting compost can be used to enhance existing soil and restore soil damaged by climate change. Whether you're composting at home or use a collection service, let’s find out what to do with that compost [...]

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The Compostable Packaging Life Cycle

Approximately 36% of all plastics produced are used in packaging, with around 85% of that packaging ultimately ending up in landfill or as litter. In 2018 the U.S. sent 10 million tons of plastic packaging to landfill, with only 2 million tons being recycled. With these statistics in mind, it’s more important than ever for the [...]

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Sustainable Packaging Design: End of Life

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Sustainable Packaging Design: Marketing

“Nature and the modern retailer have similar goals. They must advertise their wares, attract consumers, and protect the wares during transit. Moreover, the product has to deliver as advertised to its consumer if it is to keep its base of customers.” - Don Norman, Turn Signals Are the Facial Expressions of Automobiles. What does marketing have to do [...]

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