COMPOSTINGText Box: Did you know… That 45% of all your waste is organic and could be composted – and most of it ISN’T! Why should you compost… Composting cuts down on materials going to the landfill. What are the benefits of composting… Composting adds valuable nutrients an organic matter to the garden. How can you compost… Composting can be done two ways - hot and cold composting. With the hot method, layers of green material (like grass) are layered with dryer carbon material (like leaves) and manure. The internal temperature of this pile can reach 140 degrees, which helps kill weed seeds. In this type of compost three types of bacteria are working to breakdown the organic material and turn it into compost. In the cool method of composting, vegan food scraps are layered with the green and dry material. This helps worms thrive, and the worms break down the compost into valuable nutrients. Who can compost… Anyone can start a compost pile; many people do build boxes and use special containers to store their compost. It is important to mix the compost pile several times a year to help with the decomposition process. The garden loves a two-inch layer of compost in the spring when plants need extra nutrients to flower. What can you compost… Green materials are vegetables and fruits, coffee grounds, tea bags and leaves, and yard clippings. Brown materials are straw, wood shavings/dust, dry/dead plants, shredded newspaper and brown paper towels. Composting helps keep the volume of material in our landfills to a minimum, and it helps our gardens, too! Text Box: Every year, each American throws out about 1,200 pounds of organic garbage that can be composted!!