A Campus wide Composting Proposal Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

A Campus wide Composting Proposal - Essay Example Therefore composting is a natural process used to recycle organic materials that have already decomposed. This process leads to an end product known as compost which is also referred to as rich soil or manure from an agricultural perspective. All living things end up decomposing upon death. This decomposing process or decay is vital as it ensures that all our organic wastes return their nutrients back to the soil and this ensures that life cycle continues. For the decomposition to occur anaerobic digestion should take place to accelerate the process. This is seen to overtake composting and it has been used in many countries where they have been down cycling waste organic matter. In composting there must be careful selection of the materials to be composted. The reason is because there are some materials which have shown high performance in composition than others. The materials can also be selected with consideration of the locality where one wants to set the compost. This process ha s been said to be very beneficial to the environment (Sanchez-Monedero, Roig, Paredes and Bernal, 301). There are some scientific and technological approaches which can be used to make the decomposition fast. This is however not encouraged because the whole process aims at using only what is natural and not man-made. In setting compost there is need to make the best preparations for the same so that the process does not work half way. There are different methods of decomposition but are broadly divided into three namely backyard composing, warm decomposing and grass cycling. The three are very different however they all use natural materials. Backyard decomposing involves the use of food scraps, grass clippings which are normally referred to as greens and also use of straws and fallen leaves referred to as browns which are mostly found in the backyard. This method involves the balance of the greens and the browns. To promote this process, some elements of nature need to be present. They include: air, moisture and temperature (Sabine, Konschinsky, Stefanie, Frank and Tebbe, 930). Worm compositing also known as vermin-composting is commonly used by individuals with a tiny backyard and where food scraps are in abundance. This process is mainly used by individuals living in apartments. Based on their natural habitats decaying leaving leaves, compost piles and piles of manure, the worms are domesticated to live in shallow bins in the compound and this diverts all food wastes from being dumped to the landfills and water treatment facilities. Grass cycling involves leaving of grass clippings that one does not intend to use. The grass clippings just left to decompose on the lawn. The basic rule in grass cycling is that the grass should not be cut to more than one third the blade of the grass at any given time. Proper mowing should be maintained and one should always ensure that the mower blades are sharp and that the grass is dry. Watering the lawns early in the morni ng and applying fertilizer is essential. The main aim of compositing is to supply additives to the soil through supplying of humus and nutrients. It provides the best environmental conditions which will make the plants to healthy and also to grow fast (Marek, Michael, Kathleen, and Zaremba, 810). (ii) Problem definition There are a number of food waste management and are based on the various ways of reducing food waste. The first and important method to avoid food waste is first by making a list of what you intent to prepare. This involves designing a menu that helps to plan the meal one intents to prepare for a given timeframe for instance a week. This is best achieved by cross checking what you intend to purchase â€Å"