Earth Hungers For Composting

If trash cans were sentient, they would be the healthiest creatures alive. The amount of unwanted apples dumped into them is astounding, especially when put into perspective the benefits of such fruits would be in the environment if the school issued a composting system on campus. Climate change is an unstoppable force, and food waste is adding fuel to the fire. Composting—the use of decayed organic plant matter for fertilizer—contributes to better, breathable air and a more environmentally educated student population.

Composting is especially useful for soil, filling it with nutrients capable of housing life for grass and other vegetation. With compost, the school could transform the dusty, brown paths once situated along the grounds of the campus into a fertile paradise, especially along the distance between A and B buildings. The path could see some natural green with added soil nutrition from composting and a little rainwater.

Less food in the trash means less carbon monoxide in the air, which contributes to better air quality. If food is decomposed in an area without oxygen, like at the bottom of a trash bin, the carbon that is released during decomposition becomes trapped, unable to join with oxygen. As a result, it becomes carbon monoxide—an odorless, poisonous compound that clogs up the oxygen in an individual’s bloodstream, which could lead to discomfort and even death., carbon monoxide is not a compound people want to be inhaling. 

One big hurdle with this idea, however, is how property is divided and how the district functions. All land on campus is school property, so unauthorized digging will result in property defacement and vandalism charges. In addition, a petition to create a composting center on campus will require district approval and authorization from the school board. Since the petition tackles construction for environmental welfare, it is going to need parental backing, a clear design and blueprints for safety and coordination purposes, and proper funding for excavation resources and barriers.  Otherwise, it is not likely such a petition will be reviewed immediately, as districts are still dealing with the ongoing property damage trends.  

The closest solution to this problem is to find a composting company and ask for a sponsorship from them. The idea is similar to food recovery, simply having that company install their waste bins around campus for students to fill with both uneaten and eaten foods, especially fruits and veggies in order to be shipped off and composted for use elsewhere. This will cut out all risks of carbon monoxide coming out of decomposed foods, and give wasted food a better use for replenishing mother nature’s wasted nutrients than rotting away in some pile.

If the school could establish these composting bins around campus, but it will contribute somewhere else in the world. And in the case of Southern California, a dry, nutrient lacking area already, all of those composting nutrients would go to waste here anyway.