Composting: Creating a backyard pile can save money, help environment

Charleston County will start enforcing its ban on using plastic bags for yard waste such as grass clippings and leaves on Feb. 1.

But for some people, spending money on plastic or paper bags for yard waste is just the beginning of a big waste of resources.

A growing number of local residents are starting to realize that a simple backyard compost pile is a no-brainer for two green reasons: saving money and improving the environment.

"First, there's a good, conservative economic argument for composting," says Mark Turansky, a software designer who lives in Mount Pleasant, noting that a quarter of landfill waste is compostable material.

Turansky has five 3-foot-wide compost piles in his backyard that provide free nutrient-rich soil for two large raised garden beds, so he doesn't have to buy fertilizer. The beds provide fresh, organic fruits and vegetables for his family.

"It's a nice way of recycling otherwise garbage into something valuable and useful," says Turansky, who will even nab bagged leaves and clippings from neighbors for his garden beds.

"I need to fill it with good organic material," says Turansky. "I'm using them (neighbor's yard waste) to create fertility for my future garden beds."

The greenest solution

The county's ban on plastic stemmed from the fact that it is dedicated to creating compost for the marketplace, says Harvey Gibson, compost manager for Charleston County Environmental Management.

"It was hard to have the commercial sales with the contamination of plastic," says Gibson. "If you've got a million-dollar golf course and you try to spread a top dressing with little pieces of plastic in it, it's not acceptable."

That said, Gibson says the county would prefer that residents start backyard compost piles.

"In an ideal world, everyone would have a backyard compost pile," says Gibson. "It is the greenest way to handle yard waste because I'm not wasting diesel fuel to bring this material out here and process it."

Besides managing an industrial-size composting operation at the Bees Ferry Landfill, Gibson also offers free seminars and advice to groups or individuals who want tips on composting or have issues.

Easier than you think

Gibson compares a compost pile to a soup that needs certain ingredients, as well as a certain amount of moisture and air.

The ingredients should include one part green (nitrogen), such as kitchen scraps and grass clippings, and three parts brown (carbon), such as leaves, twigs and branches, and even shredded paper. Coffee grounds, by the way, are considered "green."

Gibson underscores that food containing meat, fat or processed sugars should not be put in the pile, largely because it will attract raccoons, rats and other unwanted wildlife and bugs.

He adds that the biggest problem for most backyard composters is pests, which is easily resolved not only by keeping meat out but also by making sure a layer of brown, measuring 12 to 18 inches, covers the green material.

Manure from vegetarian animals, such as chickens and cows, is also good for a compost pile. Other animal waste, such as from dogs and cats, is not.

The other basic components of a good compost pile are moisture and air. If the inner compost material is soggy, it simply needs to be turned with a pitchfork to aerate the pile. Piles that are too wet or don't have enough brown material are the source of the next most common complaint: that the heap smells. Gibson adds that composting does not require much work, but does requiring some feeding and turning.

Harvest the rewards

At some point, you'll want to reap the rewards of effort and put the compost in the garden, flowerbeds and beneath bushes and trees.

"When they get a compost pile that's dark and luscious, it's ready to be harvested," says Gibson, noting that composters should save three shovelsful from the heart to start the next pile.

Like sourdough bread, the compost contains bacteria needed to jump-start the next pile.

With the rebirth of urban gardening, a whole new crop of backyard composters is discovering the joy and savings of making dirt.

Among them is 62-year-old Doug Oswald of James Island, who used his first batch of homemade compost on his fall garden, which contains kale, carrots and turnips.

"I've been real pleased with it," says Oswald, who started his own, experimenting with kitchen scraps, yard clippings and manure from his chickens. "If you're not composting, you're throwing a resource away. I see a lot of good stuff going to waste that shouldn't be."

Composting FAQs

Q: What is composting?

A: Composting is the biological decomposition of organic wastes by bacteria, fungi, worms and other organisms under controlled conditions where oxygen is available. The three basic components to provide your hard-working microbes include food in the form of carbon (brown stuff) and nitrogen (green stuff), water (not too little or too much) and air or oxygen.

Q: What can I compost?

A: Basically, anything that is a plant.

Brown/carbon sources include leaves, tree trimmings, wood shavings, mulch and even shredded paper. Green/nitrogen sources include kitchen scraps, grass clippings, green leaves and manure (from plant-eating animals only). Note that some greens are actually brown in color, such as coffee grounds and tea leaves, both great sources of nitrogen.

Avoid adding items that contain meat (fish included), fat or processed sugar to compost. In part, those items will attract pests.

Q: Where do I compost?

A: Most people compost in a bin, or contained area, best located in the shade or partial sun. Place the material in the pile at a ratio of about three parts brown and one part green. Do not place piles on concrete or any other barrier to the ground because doing so will prevent worms and other beneficial organisms from being part of the process.

Q: After I build a compost pile, then what?

A: Add materials at any time. Food items should be buried in the center with at least a foot of brown material covering it. Once a week, turn or stir your pile with a pitchfork to provide oxygen. Add water if it is dry.

Q: When is the compost ready to use?

A: The compost is ready when it looks and feels like soil, is dark in color and has small particles with an "earthy" odor. Use it as mulch to amend garden and flower beds and as a component of potting soil.

Reach David Quick at 937-5516.