Mother Nature seems to have it all sorted out. The leaves fall onto the soil as winter begins and they pile up. Scooting quickly about the garden and yard, settling under bushes and against fences, they mostly lie quietly on the ground until the autumnal rains dampen them into a sodden mat.
These leaves serve a valuable purpose. They provide excellent shelter and habitat for the insects and pollinators in our gardens. More importantly, they insulate the ground and the things in the ground from the ravages of winter — mellowing out those howling cold winds to something more like a gentle roar — that could destroy the plants, insects and microbes of the soil.
By the time spring arrives, the leaf mold has become a lovely crumbly topping that has begun to be one with the soil, providing nutrients for the seeds that were scattered last fall by birds and the wind to land hither and yon, hopefully in a likely spot that will encourage them to sprout and grow into this year’s plant.
We humans have figured out that we can artificially recreate this process.
We just need to mix appropriate proportions of “greens and browns” to create a chemical reaction that will generate heat and further break down the bonds that are holding organic matter together in what we recognize as “organic” material, also known as compostable- or plant-based.
This process is somewhat complicated in that it takes temperature and moisture control, specific quantities of material, the addition of adequate air and lots of agitation. If you have ever tried hot composting, you probably quickly discovered that it is a lot of work. Realistically, Mother Nature has it figured out — her method takes a bit longer, but it is significantly less energy input and the organic material that is created and ready to help plants grow is deposited exactly where the plants want to be growing. I think it’s pretty amazing.
The other problem, with us humans, is that we produce a lot of stuff that doesn’t break down easily. In the old days, when everything that man created was made from nature, it was all organic and compostable. It didn’t matter if you left an old footcovering in the middle of a trail, it was going to break down soon into its component parts and be uptaken by growing plants as food, or digested by bacteria or molds that would then die and become food for something else.
The challenging issue we now face is that the organic material gets mixed up with the inorganic material in our landfills and this combination does not have a positive outcome. Without proper exposure to air, compostable materials produce methane, which is a highly toxic gas. It is also many times more heat-producing to our atmosphere than carbon monoxide, greatly contributing to climate change.
It seems like a relatively easy solution. Keep the compostable materials out of the landfill. This will reserve our landfills for throwing away things we haven’t figured out how to deal with yet. Mother Nature has already taught us how to manage our compostables — turning them into valuable nutrients that can be used in our gardens to improve the soil and water retention capacity as well as sequester carbon and provide valuable nutrients for our plants. Healthier plants produce healthier produce, which directly benefits our nutrition.
In last month’s column, I wrote that the state passed into law HB 1799, now commonly known as the Organics Waste Management Law, in March 2022. This law provides for the reduction of compostable materials being deposited into Washington landfills by 75% by 2030.
Passing a law and implementing it are two different things.
We are fortunate in Whatcom County to have our own composting facility. Cascade Compost and Soil offers a local option and is the repository for our yard waste toters throughout the county. While taking a huge variety of compostable materials, they also sell compost and soil mixes in bags or in bulk.
The county is implementing requirements for businesses and residents to comply with the new law. Rather than complain about how much trouble it is, let’s get on board, learn more about how we can become better stewards of our environment and take responsibility for leaving that shoe in the path.
Kelle Rankin-Sunter is founder of Blaine CORE, which holds free home and gardening classes at Blaine Public Library. Rankin-Sunter can be reached at fruit@Blaine-CORE.com.
