Focus on...Organics

Organics are anything that was once alive or came from a living thing: food, grass clippings, plants, leaves, paper, wood, manure. Organic waste has the ability to be broken down by microbes into humus, which builds soil quality.

In the waste world, we pay attention to organics for a couple of reasons. The first is volume. Organic materials typically make up a third of household garbage and up to a half in summertime. (This number is much higher if you include paper, more like 70%). People who are concerned about not filling up landfills can see the benefits of trying to keep organics out of them.

The second reason that waste folks pay attention to organics has to do with how they act in landfills. Landfills are typically designed and operated in a way that keeps air out. Under no-air (anaerobic) conditions, the organics that break down produce methane, a powerful greenhouse gas, and leachate. Leachate is a liquid that can pick up all sorts of nasties as it moves through a landfill and it has the potential to contaminate water sources.

In the gardening / agriculture / soil science world, organic materials are viewed quite differently: they are the feedstock for compost production. For the gardeners, it's not about keeping stuff out of the landfill, it's about the compost and how it can keep the soil healthy and make plants grow better.

Organics can be managed locally, very locally. Residents can compost (or otherwise handle organic materials) in their own yards. Each resident that deals with their own organics produces better soil and a healthier lawn and garden, as well as keeping about 1/3 tonne a year out of the local landfill. Municipalities should encourage residential 'on-site' organics management as much as they can. The best place to start is with the gardeners because they are motivated to compost because they value the finished product.

At the community level, organics can also be managed locally. Every municipality with a little space, a little equipment, a little manpower, and maybe a little water, can transform organic materials into finished compost. Most of the communities in Saskatchewan that have composting programs have set up a site at their local landfill or transfer station (see p.3 for a description of Saskatchewan composting programs). There are usually local uses for the finished compost as well, ranging from residents, municipal landscaping and parks, greenhouses, and local farmers.

SWRC has always promoted low-tech, low-cost composting as a good solution for nearly every community. Visit our resources on backyard composting, case studies on larger-scale composting and our wealth of related information.

(Source: February 2010 WasteWatch)

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