Composting Transforms Waste

Organic waste — food scraps, yard trimmings, paper — makes up roughly thirty percent of what households send to landfills. Buried without oxygen, it rots and releases methane, a greenhouse gas more than 80 times as potent as CO₂ over a 20-year span.

Composting diverts that waste into nutrient-rich soil that feeds gardens, cuts the need for chemical fertilizer, and locks away carbon. Cities like San Francisco divert more than 80 percent of their waste through municipal composting. Even apartment dwellers can use a worm bin that tucks under the counter and produces no odor when managed well.