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Composting
One other way to manage Municipal Solid Waste is by composting.
Composting decomposes organic waste, such as food scraps and yard
trimmings, with microorganisms (mainly bacteria and fungi), producing a
humus-like substance.
What should be composted?
Anything organic or once alive will compost.
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Brush |
Bundle all brush that is
less than 6" in diameter. Bundles must not weigh more than 50lbs.
Bundles must be no longer than 4 feet in length and 18" around. Brush
larger than 6" in diameter must still be bundled; however it is
considered trash and will be picked up as such. If your trash, yard
waste or recycling is not picked up by 4:00pm on your regularly
scheduled day, please call (734) 699-8926. |
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Leaves and Grass Clippings
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Leaves and grass
clippings may either be placed in paper compost bags purchased at your
local grocery store, or placed in a trash can with a compost sticker.
Compost sticker must face the road.
Yard clipping do not include stumps, agricultural wastes, animal
waste, roots, sewage sludge, or garbage!
Do not overload compost bags, and be sure to fold down the tops for
easier lifting.
Do not use plastic bags!!
If you are using a can, it must have a yard waste sticker. Face the
sticker towards the street and place the container ten feet from your
garbage. It should not be any larger than a 30 gallon can. 50lb
limit. |
Materials for composting are usually divided into sources of Carbon
(brown) and Nitrogen (green).
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Carbon/Brown: |
Nitrogen/Green: |
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Generic composting recipe:
Mix 1 part Green, 2 parts Brown
Add soil (several shovels full; optional)
Add water and mix to make it as wet as a wrung-out sponge
Mix
*** There are also some materials that should be avoided: meat or
animal products, oils, or food cooked with oils, dog or cat feces, glossy
paper, charcoal ashes, diseased plants, invasive weeds and seeds, and
plants recently treated with pesticides or long-lived chemicals like
arsenic.
Seven Steps to Better Composting!
- Pick a well-drained spot in your yard to set up compost bin or pile
- Gather as much of a variety of compostable ingredients as you can
- Chop or grind larger compost ingredients. This will speed up the
decomposition process
- Build your compost pile in layers
- Bury food scraps in the center of the pile so that the neighborhood
wildlife isn’t tempted to dig in
- Turn the pile with a garden fork a couple of times a month (or more
frequently if you like) and add water when needed. It takes as little as
two weeks or as long as several months to ‘cook’. The compost will be
ready when it is dark brown, crumbly and earthy-smelling
- Enjoy the fruits of your labor by adding compost to your lawn and/or
garden
Once you have finished composting:
Use finished compost from the bottom of the bin or pile
Cultivate the soil around the plants you wish to enrich with compost
Spread the compost in 1-3" thick layers around the plants or tree
*** Be careful not to allow compost to touch plants or tree bark
directly, this may harm to plants through decomposition
When to compost?
Since food waste is generated year-round and yard waste is seasonal,
there may be variations in the composting system throughout the year
Spring and summer: Leaves (saved from the fall) can be mixed
with grass clippings and other yard waste
Fall: Compost leaves and kitchen scraps, mulch or plant cover
crops
Winter: Indoor vermin-composting and garbage can composting are
useful this time of year. Garbage can composting uses an actual garbage
can for a compost bin. Vermi-composting means using earth worms to
decompose organic matter
Uses for Compost
Compost can be used for a variety of applications. Most often people
use it to prepare a plant bed for the following growing season, amend the
soil of an established garden, make compost tea to use on house-plants, or
rake into the lawn to add nutrients back to the soil.
When compost goes rotten – what’s the problem?
Foul odor : The reason could be that there is not enough air, or
too much moisture in the pile. You can solve this problem by turning the
pile and adding dry material if the pile is too wet
Warm and damp only in the middle: The reason could be that the pile
is too small. Solve this problem by adding more materials
Pile is damp but wont’ heat up: The reason for this might be lack
of nitrogen or not enough air. To solve this problem, add grass clippings
or other nitrogen sources and turn the pile.
** Information about composting gathered from Wayne County Department
of Environment Resource Recovery Guide, Department of Environment
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