The Reluctant Composter (NYT article)

Originally found here (and my commentary is at the bottom): http://www.nytimes.com/2013/01/03/garden/a-city-dweller-tests-four-composters.html?pagewanted=1&_r=1 WHEN my oldest son returned from a first-grade field trip last year insisting that our family start composting, my heart did not exactly soar. After six years of changing diapers, I wasn’t looking to take on additional waste-management responsibilities. I switched the subject, and our melon rinds and abandoned cheese sticks continued their steady march into the trash. Then my middle son started kindergarten. On the second day, he, too, arrived home to proclaim the need to compost, explaining that it was good for the earth. “The bugs eat the compost,” he noted, “then they poop it out and it makes better soil.” This got me thinking about how much of the school curriculum is devoted to composting, and…

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Food Scraps Will Grow the Compost Market (article)

(as originally posted here) As more cities and municipalities attempt to divert food scraps and other organics from the waste stream, composting will continue to grow across all sectors in 2013, according to an industry expert. "In terms of organics recycling, it's a pretty common fact that if you look at food residuals as a feedstock for the compost manufacturing industry, it's an enormous resource," said Michael Virga, executive director of the U.S. Composting Council. "It's an enormous resource, about 97%, that currently is still going to landfills and 3% is being captured, recovered and recycled into compost or other beneficial uses." In order to increase that number, Virga said, restaurants, sports venues, universities, hospitals, corporations and other large institutions will need to lead the way. Some states are making…

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