Composting and Biodegradability: what’s the difference?

Mary-Ellen Lovinsky, East Hardwick, Vermont

Historical Perspective

“Composting is, in broadest terms, the biological reduction of organic wastes to humus. Whenever a plant or animal dies its remains are attacked by microorganisms and larger soil fauna and are eventually reduced to an earthlike substance that forms a beneficial environment for plant roots.” This definition in the 1992 edition of The Rhodale Book of Composting is a simple explanation of a natural process that supports life in every part of the world. 

 A Scientific Perspective

Compost decomposers consist of microscopic and physical organisms. Microscopic decomposers consist of organisms like bacteria, actinomycetes, protozoa and fungi. They work mostly on the chemical changes on the materials. Physical decomposers like; mites, millipedes, centipedes, sow bugs, snails slugs, springtails, grubs, beetles, ants, flies and earthworms all work to chew up and digest particles. Air, temperature and water are important factors. Together they turn organic wastes into humus and soil.

 An Agricultural Perspective

The North American native tribes and European settlers used compost to grow food. The New England farmers used an intentional composting process. They stacked muck and fish in layers using a recipe that was one part fish to ten or twelve parts of muck. This helped to build up the soils so that they would produce greater amounts of more nutritious food. Others, like our farmer president Thomas Jefferson, used cattle housed in moveable structures across his fields to deposit manure “dung” in rotation with buckwheat for a green manure crop. Another historical figure, George Washington Carver, a botanist - chemist - agriculturalist advised farmers to replenish fertility in their soils by composting materials and returning them to the lands they were farming. Land that is cropped continuously loses its fertility, intentionally composting waste materials and returning them back to soils adds humus and nutrients to the land to restore it. Fertilizer without expense. Frugal New England farmers and farmers everywhere used this method for generations. Somewhere along the way much of this system was left behind after World War II when chemical fertilizers were introduced and farmers were instructed that there was an easier way “better farming and living through chemistry.”

Today, the organic method of composting and farming is becoming more popular. It’s not just a fringe agricultural alternative but a viable choice that helps to reduce the costs of petroleum based chemical fertilizers and pesticides. It helps to  reduce groundwater pollution and toxic residues on foods and in soils. It helps to reduce costs to farmers.

Rural and Urban Composting and Solid Waste Issues

Composting is being used to help to deal with solid waste issues nationwide to help to cut the expense of municipalities. People in rural areas and people in cities can recycle food and yard wastes which can help to restore life. Municipalities have curbside composting programs. Farmers can recycle animal and plant wastes that can restore worn out soils to high levels of fertility. Gardeners can set up a variety of backyard systems. It’s a natural cycle that can be augmented and helped by human interventions. Composting can be done on a small backyard scale or a large urban scale. It’s a natural process that turns waste into “black gold.”