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THE HERALD OUTLOOK Saturday July 11M9 Page 11 Comporting can reduce waste by 30 per cent EDITORS NOTE Marion Kester Is a Georgetown resident currently attending the University of Waterloo where will graduate next year with a Bachelor of En vironmental Studies degree with a matching Bachelor of Science degree in Biology She will be sub mitting a monthly column over the summer months dealing with en vironmental Issues particularly recycling in Hills By MARION KESTER Herald Special When I was a child I would follow my grandfather around as he went about his daily rituals One par ticularly interesting ritual he had involved depositing kitchen waste onto a huge pile in his backyard Grass clippings and leaves were also added and occasionally he would turn the pile over with a pit chfork One day he told me that he would eventually use the material in this heap to help his flower and vegetable garden grow As most things in life I understood much later what he meant In essence this was his compost pile and what he had taken from nature he had given back to the soil as a beneficial ingredient Composting is simply the breakdown of organic materials by soil micro organisms into a soil like humus Finished compost is a soil conditioner which enhances a soils ability to retain nutrients and moisture With nearly 30 per cent of our residential waste stream made up of organic waste leaves grass clippings and food waste composting has become an in creasingly attractive waste reduc tion technique Coupled with our current blue box program a minimum of SO per cent of our household solid waste can be diverted from landfill sites By diverting this waste we are saving infinite natural resources as well as decreasing the cost of transpor tation To date several communities across the globe boast about their efforts at composting Germany has a Green Can program where householders separate waste into two components wet and dry and place it in separate cans The dry material is the equivalent to our blue box program and the wet matenal is composted at a central facility to make fertilizer for nurseries vineyards and parks The remaining portion of waste as little as 35 per cent of the total generated is landfilled Due to the simplicity of the program par ticipation rates are as high as 95 per cent and the cost of collection is kept low In New Jersey the legislature has recently passed a Law which requires all of its counties to com post leaves as well as recycle at least three other materials To reinforce this law the Senate lias passed a bill banning leaves from landfill sites Since there exists no comprehen sive community composting pro gram in Halton the onus falls on individual households to maintain their own compost heaps The reasons why more people dont have compost heaps in their backyard range from the odors emitted by them to the notion that you need a big backyard to carry out the practice excuses are a result of ignorance toward this method of recycling Apart from the benefits of com post already mentioned there ex ist two others First compost helps prevent the erosion of top soil something other fertilizers cant do Also compost has an ad vantage over liquid chemical fer tilizer because it releases nutrients to the soil gradually whereas the latter are washed from the soil quickly You dont have to be or expert gardener to create your own compost All you need is a few square feet in your backyard and four basic ingredients necessary for the decomposition process to take e These are organic material air moisture and soil Organic material suitable for your pile includes vegetable and fruit peelings coffee grounds tea leaves egg shells leaves and grass clippings Barbecue grill residues can also be added in limited quantities Shrubbery primings can be added but must be cut into smaller pieces to facilitate decomposition Do not include items such as meat and dairy products because thy tend to smell as well as at- Sourci World GRAPHICS The nations worst oil spill when the Exxon Valdez ran aground on March There have been many other oil spills worldwide however The worst took place In the southern Gulf of Mexico and In the Persian Gulf In both cases about tons of oil were spilled Home sweet home The Swedes have lived In present- day Sweden for at least 5000 years longer than nearly any other Europe an people Police protection The average city spends resident lor police projec tion largest continuing Kern in city budgets Niacin helps Niacin maintains the health of akin tongue and digestive system The best sources are poultry peanuts fish or gan meats enriched lour and bread MM meat thopt OPEN 7 DAYS 8732151 Sun 11am tract animals Yard waste treated with pesticides or hherbicides are also not advised because the chemicals contained within them harm the micro organisms in the compost Rhubarb stems and walnut shells should not be added because they too contain chemicals toxic to soil microbes Air circulation is also vital to the success of your pile Your compost enclosure can be as simple as an ordinary garbage can or as elaborate as a custom made wooden box There is a generally accepted technique to building a compost heap Begin with a layer of soil on the bottom This is necessary to give your compost contact with valuable micro organisms that set the decomposition process in mo tion To this initial layer dry and wet layers of material are added in thicknesses of between inches Water should be added if the weather becomes particularly dry and if your pile is too wet it should be turned more often with a pit chfork and absorbant material should be added With each layer of waste add a thin layer of soil this keeps the pile looking relatively attractive Youll know your compost is finished when it looks like rich dark earth There will probably still be traces of egg shells because they are the last to decompose however you dont have to wait un til theyre done Finished compost can be freely added to flower and vegetable gardens to enhance the soils abili ty to hold nutrients and water Generally you can expect to have finished compost twice a year once in the early summer and once in the fall During the winter mon ths you can continue to add organic material to your pile This material will freeze and as the weather warms up in the spring decomposition will once again begin We presently exist in a world where increasing production of solid waste is coupled with a dramatic decrease in landfill capacity Curbside recycling and composting practices are two ways in which individual efforts on a local level work toward guarantee ing the survival of future genera tions Nobel inventor Alfred Nobel inventor of dyna mite bequeathed the In terest from which Is to be distributed yearly to those who have most bene fited in physics chemistry medicinephysiology literature and peace The first Nobel Memorial Prize in Economics was awarded In Turkey racing Ever wonder how fast a turkey can run The answer according to The World Almanac is maximum speed over approximately a quarter- mile distance Chickens are much slower their maximum speed Is a mere Bangkok The Asian travels of French writer Andre Malraux and his wile Clara took them to Bangkok in In Silk Roads author Axel Madsen recre ates their lint impressions- Rick shaw drivers swerved and sidled with their human burdens all around them Music blared from coffee shops full of signs In and curlicues Rid ing through town they thought It was the most radiant and lighthearted city they had ever visited PEI bound Reverend Chris McMullen has been at St Johns United Church fort the past year as minister of Christian Education but he and his Valda leave for Prince Edward Island soon where he will a three point charge Photo submitted ASK KATHY Does stress slow weight loss Reply Stress may have a large pact on your ability to lose weight For example if you are a busy executive your schedule may cause you to eat irregularly This erratic eating 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