The United States produces an estimated 70 billion pounds of food waste each year (“Food Waste In America”).  One possible solution to the growing problem of food waste is composting.  Decomposing organic material into fertilizer is inexpensive, creates new soil, and is environmentally sustainable.

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Composting is an inexpensive alternative to the large amounts of food waste entering our landfills.  The only mechanical tools required for composting are shovels, pitchforks, a bin, and a water source (“Composting At Home”).  The tools listed above can range in price from $55 to $75 in total, excluding the water source.  The most inexpensive shovel costs $5.94 ("Jackson Eagle Long-Handle Round Point Shovel”), a pitchfork costs $21.56 (Do It Best), and a large compost bin costs $46.76 ("Fiskars 75 Gal. EcoBin Composter-57056935").  In addition, composting doesn’t require fertilizers or constant watering, eliminating a major expense.  At the end of the composting process, usable soil will be created from organic matter.

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As bacteria digest and rapidly break down organic matter, material is excreted and soil begins to form ("How Does Composting Work?").  This new soil can be used in gardens, lawns, and farms, where it acts as a fertilizer that won’t impact the natural ecosystem with harmful chemicals.  Plants can improve their growth with the various nutrients contained in the soil that are resistant to being washed away.  Additionally, the texture of the soil allows young roots to penetrate with ease, accelerating growth ("Benefits and Uses").  Since composting creates new soil, it is more sustainable than traditional disposal practices.

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Composting requires no harmful chemicals, only naturally-occurring microorganisms, so it does not create contaminated runoff.  It also “reduces carbon dioxide emissions from vehicles used to transport waste” (Elmore), and removes waste from landfills that “break it down anaerobically (without oxygen) to produce methane gas, a greenhouse gas that is 21 times more harmful than CO2 (Elmore)."

Ultimately, compositing is beneficial in multiple ways.  It is efficient, inexpensive, creates new soil to improve plant growth, and reduces the volume of waste entering landfills.  It also does not require harmful chemicals and minimizes greenhouse gas emissions.