Compost: Fact or Fiction
Did you know that Los Angeles residents can *finally* get their food scraps picked up?
The new citywide compost program—called Organics L.A.—makes it easy for you to separate organic waste (inclusive of food scraps, yard trimmings, flowers, coffee, and more) from other trash.
How easy, you ask? The city offers free kitchen pails to collect organic waste in your home and dump it into the large green curbside bins outside, which they pick up once a week.
Composting is such an accessible action we can all take right now to stop harmful methane emissions. If we all start composting now, we shouldn’t have a problem reaching L.A.’s goal of composting 100% of household waste by 2028.
That seems pretty straightforward and painless, right? We think so. But we understand there’s a lot of misconceptions about composting out there. Let’s get into dispelling those!
The what and why of composting.
Before we get into specific facts and fictions about composting, let’s take a step back.
What is composting, anyway?
Put simply, composting is how you naturally recycle organic matter—like fruits, vegetables, eggshells, yard waste, food soiled paper, and more—into fertilizer that enriches soil and plants. While anything that grows decomposes eventually, composting speeds up the process.
Why is composting important though?
It turns food scraps into “black gold”: Compost puts food waste to use. Farmers affectionately call compost “black gold” because of its versatility to help with agriculture, horticulture, and gardening. As a result, it reduces the need for chemical fertilizers that harm biodiversity and emit carbon.
“You don’t have to go out and buy an electric vehicle to fight climate change… The single fastest and easiest thing that Californians can do is take a banana peel, or watermelon rinds and chicken bones, and put them in their green bin.” - Rachel Machi Wagoner, director of CalRecycle
It improves air quality: Composting cuts down on methane emissions accelerated by food waste decomposition in landfills. Methane is a “super-pollutant” that warms the Earth at an alarming rate—more than 25x more effective than CO2 at trapping heat in the atmosphere. And 20% of California’s methane emissions come from food waste.
It conserves water: Composting helps support water retention and storm water filtration. It helps surrounding plants “maximize for water growth.” That saves you money by cutting down the amount of irrigation you need to buy for your project.
Now that we understand how composting happens and why it’s important, let’s talk about some compost fictions and respond with some facts!
Fiction 1: Composting doesn’t fight climate change.
Hopefully, after reading some of the facts above, you’re already shaking your head at this composting misconception.
But don’t just take our word for it. Read what Rachel Machi Wagoner Director of CalRecycle said recently:
“You don’t have to go out and buy an electric vehicle to fight climate change, though that is a great thing,” Wagoner said. “The single fastest and easiest thing that Californians can do is take a banana peel, or watermelon rinds and chicken bones, and put them in their green bin. Then they’ve already had a huge impact on climate change.”
Fiction 2: Composting is expensive and hard to do.
The terms expensive or inexpensive are subjective based on your circumstances. So if you were to check out a page reviewing countertop composters and suggest that the highest rated one is pretty expensive at a $459 price tag, we wouldn’t blame you.
BUT, you know what’s not a subjective term? FREE.
LA city residents can collect food scraps in a large tupperware, salad bowl with a plate on top, or small bucket, or the aforementioned free kitchen pail from L.A. organics. Then, once the collection containers are full, they can put food scraps into the green curbside bins and get their organics recycled for—you guessed it—FREE.
Fiction 3: Collecting food scraps inside stinks.
Old food can stink. But composting doesn’t have to! If you find that for whatever reason your compost collection method is smelly, try some of these tips courtesy of Organics LA:
Use a paper towel to line your kitchen pail
Sprinkle baking soda in your kitchen pail to reduce odors.
Empty your kitchen pail into your green bin regularly and just before collection day.
Wash your kitchen pail regularly. It is dishwasher friendly.
Wrap smellier items and store in your freezer until pickup day.
In the same ways that indoor food scrap collection *could* stink, it *could* attract flies. However, there are so many easy ways—like making sure you have a secure lid on your collection pail—to tell flies to buzz off.
Fiction 4: Composting outside attracts pests.
Sorry to bug you (all pun intended), but we should admit that there is some truth to this idea. Yes, composting outside in your yard could attract unwanted pests and animals. However, as an LA city resident, you get to compost in your safe and secure green bin!
If you’re worried that your green bin is attracting pests, Organics LA suggests:
Put some yard trimmings in your green bin before and after adding your scraps.
Place the green bin out for collection every week, even if not full.
Rinse your green bin as needed and sprinkle baking soda in the bottom of the bin.
Fiction 5: Compostable and biodegradable are the same thing — and are okay to compost
We’re all guilty of using completely different words interchangeably. For example, averse and adverse, or evoke and invoke, or infamous and famous. So, just to be super clear, compostable and biodegradable are NOT the same thing.
Biodegradable items contaminate organics bins and end up in landfills. They’re normally made from plastics and other chemicals, while compostable items are usually made from organic material.
That said, be careful! According to LA Sanitation, you shouldn’t put items labeled “compostable” in the green bin. But you can include things like wood chopsticks, napkins, and natural corks (along with all other acceptable food scraps).
Cool? Cool!
Compost away, LA.
Now that we’ve debunked some common composting myths and learned the basics of composting in LA, it’s time to collect food scraps and dump them in the green bin!
You might say, “So, um, I’m not in LA proper and don’t have access to a green bin.”
That’s a valid concern! In our app you can find resources on how to process your compost outside of the green curbside bins, like dropping off your compost at farmer’s markets weekly.
By the way, we’re building something really exciting, easy, and motivating in-app that will help take your composting to the next level (and get rewarded for it). So stay tuned 😉.
In the meantime, if you want to dive deeper into home composting, LA Sanitation & Environment green waste specialists host composting workshops all over the city.
Thanks for composting for climate resilience, friends!