Does a Banana Peel Rot?
Does it rot?
I often think about this study I read in school. The researchers had taken samples of a landfill near Los Angeles, like the ice cores taken from the arctic, and found banana peels and hot dogs alike completely intact.
Does it rot? If all of your garbage goes into a plastic bag, then is compressed between layers of rock and dirt, does it rot? The answer is no.
Public perception of a landfill may be a range of scenarios. Some may know that their trash does indeed get mummified inside of the earth. And some may think of seagulls flocking to mountains of trash. In many cases they’re wrong. And that is because the average person does not visit the landfill. And if they do, I doubt they are taking samples from the place. We are disconnected from our garbage.
What the study revealed to me was a complex set of challenges and a new vantage point for looking at and presenting solutions to an ongoing set of circumstances. It lead me down a rabbit hole that would eventually lead me to unearth far more about the issue.
Wasted organic matter in the form of food scrap ending up in the landfill is estimated to contribute about 7% of total greenhouse gas emissions. The USDA website states, “Reducing and preventing food waste can increase food security, foster productivity and economic efficiency, promote resource and energy conservation, and address climate change, which in turn, could also decrease climate change-related shocks to the supply chain.”
Does it rot and can it rot? A banana peel can rot in the right environment. A banana peel is not always given the opportunity to rot. To be part of the cycling of nutrients.
We know that our society is wasteful, but not everyone is knowledgeable about actionable steps they can take. That’s what I love about composting in community. We are sharing in a practice that contributes meaningful change to a very broken system. Composting is scalable, adaptable and highly effective. Given a few basic rules, composting food scrap at home is easy. Composting together at local farms and churches and municipal landfills are all real solutions to several problems.
Composting is one action. Finished compost can be spread on the garden, mixed into potting soil, used to make liquid fertilizer or used to filter dirty water and prevent runoff. Compost stabilizes soil and increases nutrient uptake of plants. Compost increases soil carbon capture. Compost makes “earth earthier”.
Contact Farmer Amanda: goodfoodday@eatsouth.org) for more information on composting. Join us October 22nd for an in-person composting workshop at the farm.