While TED talks mostly make me cringe, this one explains composting pretty well.
To be clear, he owns an anaerobic digester and that puts his presentation in a light I don’t fully agree with, but if you put that aside it’s worth watching.
The initial pitch is spot on up until about 6 minutes when he goes pro-burn while taking a dig at solar and wind…super lame.
It’s best to view composting as avoiding the landfill, cutting emission, and replenishing soil- the energy talk is nice, but it’s not the job for anaerobic digestion.
That being said, the reality is that this model is expanding, and I’m not opposed to it entirely- outdoor aerobic piles can be difficult to manage when their daily allowance is several hundred tons per day and the inputs aren’t being screened properly.
Our efforts must focus on everyone composting at home for the best results- no trucks, no burning, and immediate use of the finished compost at home and in the community.
Don’t get me wrong- whatever it takes to get organics out of the landfill is great…but I encourage everyone to learn how to compost at home and leave anaerobic digestion facilities for the large quantity generators.