The week of May 4 through May 10 marks International Compost Awareness Week. This is an excellent opportunity to begin composting if you have not yet started, or to refresh your knowledge on what can and cannot be composted if you are already engaged in the practice. If you are interested in expanding your understanding of composting, please contact us to register for our upcoming composting class, scheduled for 10:30 a.m. Saturday, May 10, at the Marshall Lyon County Library in Marshall.

Composting is an effective method for reducing your waste footprint. While some items must be discarded, many food scraps can be repurposed through composting. Acceptable compostable materials include grass clippings, leaves, small twigs, fruit and vegetable peels, eggshells, coffee grounds, tea bags, shredded paper, paper towels, napkins, houseplants, flowers, and even pizza takeout boxes.

There are various methods to establish a compost area in your yard. Personally, I utilize the pile method, where I accumulate compostable materials during the summer months. In winter, I feed these materials to my chickens, which further break them down before transferring them to a compost bin.

Using a compost bin can also enhance your composting efforts. For gardeners or those with lawns, compost can serve as a valuable fertilizer. We provide indoor and outdoor compost bins for participants who have not attended my composting classes in recent years. The outdoor bins have proven to be remarkably efficient, making it challenging for many users to extract a substantial amount of compost.

The diligent efforts of individuals who compost and recycle significantly contribute to reducing the waste typically placed in trash bins.

However, it is important to note that certain items should not be included in composting bins or piles. These include plastic bags, diapers, cat litter or other animal waste, dryer lint, fast food wrappers, gum, grease and oils, household trash, meat and dairy products, weeds with seeds, large pieces of wood, and items labeled as “biodegradable.”

Why should we be composting? Wasted food, food scraps and yard trimmings make up around 30% of our trash in Minnesota and was the largest portion of the trash that was placed into the landfill (MN Composting Council). Because of the addition of these items into landfills throughout the world, landfills are the main source of methane emissions. These items when thrown away into the landfill decompose and because of how the landfill works, these items decompose without oxygen. Composting includes oxygen and therefore produces very little methane.

Compost is also a welcome addition to soils and helps with nutrients and water for either your garden or lawn. Compost also helps with water retention, which means the home gardener doesn’t need to water as much when Mother Nature doesn’t provide it.

There are several ways that composting is now happening in Minnesota and throughout our area. In southwest Minnesota, we are currently encouraging backyard composting. We also encourage other ways to reduce food waste such as Food to People/Food Rescue, Food to Animals, vermiculture (also called vermicomposting-with worms) and anaerobic digestion, which uses digesters and is large scale. While many of these methods are not currently available in our immediate area, at this time, they may be sometime in the future.

If you wish to sign up for our class, please call the Environmental Office at (507) 532-1307 or email us a lyonenvironmental@co.lyon.mn.us