Magnificent Microbes

For years, household garbage has been thrown away without much thought being given to it. When we do start thinking about our garbage, we realize that at least half of it is composed of organic material (food, grass, leaves, and paper). This organic material could be resurrected into a very valuable commodity through the simple act of composting.

Composting solid waste is becoming increasingly more attractive as the costs of maintaining the more traditional systems – landfills and incinerators – are getting progressively more expensive. Backyard compost bins are more prevalent in our neighborhoods, and municipal landfills are looking at large-scale composting as a cheaper, space-saving alternative. Compost has been happening long before our ancestors discovered it. It’s always been nature’s way to decompose her waste. The earth itself is a big compost pile. The modern practice of composting just speeds up and intensifies these natural processes.

Not only is compost a solution to our solid waste woes, it also provides an invaluable source of soil nutrients, relieving the demand for chemical fertilizers. All good gardeners know that no amount of fertilizer is going to make up for poor soil. Compost improves the soil by binding with soil particles, creating a crumbly aggregate that makes space for oxygen and channels water for improved drainage. It also gives plants sustenance by providing optimum growth nutrients that are released at a rate the plants need. The more varied the materials used to make the compost, the greater variety of nutrients provided. Best of all, compost adds microorganisms, earthworms, and insects that rejuvenate the soil.

Living microorganisms are the true agents that make compost. All organic material will rot, but it’s the microbes that keep the constant flow of nutrients going to plants. Without these single-cell organisms (that are so tiny millions can fit into the eye of a needle), we’d be in big trouble. We couldn’t eat or breathe. We’d be surrounded in refuse. Tons of organic waste is produced all over the world daily. Microorganisms eat this refuse, unlock the valuable nutrients, produce carbon dioxide that helps plants grow, and continue the flow of oxygen. They are the oldest life form on this earth and they are everywhere – in the air, on the ground, in our food, and even inside us!

“Man lives in intimate relationships with microorganisms on his skin and in his digestive system. The total microbial population in a normal human is perhaps 10 trillion, which is about a slimy cupful in volume (Ecology, Pollution Environment).”

Like us, microbes need an energy source (carbon), a protein source (nitrogen), moisture, and oxygen. In a compost system, carbon materials are leaves, straw, sawdust, cornstalks, paper products, soiled bedding, and woody residuals. Nitrogen materials are garden remains, weeds, livestock manure, food, and grass clippings. Carbon is the microbes’ food and nitrogen acts as the digestive enzymes. Decomposition slows down if there is not enough nitrogen, but too much releases ammonia gas.

The most efficient microorganisms require oxygen (aerobes), although there are those that do not need oxygen (anaerobes). But the anaerobes aren’t as efficient in making compost. Aerobes use the oxygen to produce carbon dioxide, water, energy, and nutrients. This is why too much moisture in a compost pile slows down the process; the aerobes are drowning and can’t breathe. The anaerobes don’t mind, but they produce smelly organic acids that are sometimes toxic to plants and contain unavailable nitrogen.

Good soil provides a strong foundation for plants’ roots so they can endure environmental stresses, i.e. disease, drought, wind, etc. The act of composting does so much more than just save money. To quote Franklin D. Roosevelt: “The nation that destroys its soil destroys itself.”