Home Composting
Benefits of Composting
Composting
Whether you’re an avid gardener or you’d just like an easy way to get rid of your excess green waste, you’ll find that a home compost project could be right for you.
Composting is similar to recycling plastic beverage containers or aluminum cans which are then transformed into new products. Green materials such as grass and plant trimmings, fruit and vegetable scraps, coffee grounds, eggshells and more can be recycled into valuable nutrients for your soil while reducing organic wastes. Currently, food scraps and yard waste together make up about 30 percent of what we throw away, and should be composted instead.
Composting organic materials reduces greenhouse gas emissions from landfills and offers many benefits to the composter. Finished compost is like a multivitamin for your soil. It promotes soil fertility, stimulates healthy root development, as well as reduces the need for fertilizers and pesticides.
Download our backyard composting how-to guide to learn all about composting.
You'll learn about what to compost, different composting techniques, how to use your compost and much more. We’d be happy to mail you a copy of one if you would like.
For additional information on the benefits of composting and composting basics, check out the University of California Division of Agriculture and Natural Resources guide.
Vermicomposting
Vermicomposting or worm composting is the practice of using worms to break down organic material, including food scraps and yard waste.
The goal of vermicomposting is to create the ideal environment for worms to thrive. The resulting material is a mix of worm casting (worm manure) and decomposed food scraps. Castings contain beneficial microbes and nutrients.
Worm composting is simple and fun for all ages. You simply need a box, bedding, yard waste, fruit and vegetable trimmings, and worms. Worms are very efficient at breaking down food scraps and can eat over half their body weight in organic material every day.
To learn more about creating your own backyard vermicomposting box or for additional resources and information about vermicomposting check out our backyard composting how-to guide.
Grasscycling
Grasscycling is the natural recycling of grass by leaving clippings on the lawn when mowing. Grass clippings will quickly decompose, returning valuable nutrients back to the soil.
Grass clippings are approximately 80-85 percent water, contain valuable nutrients, and decompose quickly. Grasscycling helps reduce fertilizer and water usage, which protect local creeks, rivers, and lakes from pollution since runoff from lawns contains fertilizers and pesticides. Mowing time is reduced since the bagging and disposal of clippings is eliminated. Grasscycling is simple, easy, and it works!
Grasscycling also reduces the amount of yard trimmings disposed of in landfills. Research has shown that lawns generate approximately 300 pounds of grass clippings per 1,000 square feet annually. This amounts to 6 ½ tons per acre each year. Grass clippings are too valuable to throw away, and grasscycling allows reuse of this green material.
For additional resources and information about grasscycling check out CalRecycle’s Grasscycling page.
