How to Compost

More and more people today are becoming serious about saving our environment and are getting interested in living green. Living green has become the newest fade, which is definitely good news for the planet. But, once people catch the living green bug, they want to take action immediately. The best first step for anyone wanting to live green is to switch to energy efficient light bulbs such as LEDs, CFLs or halogen bulbs.

Although changing to energy efficient lighting is important, what can people do after that? Whether you live on a small or large farm, a residential home or in a small city apartment in a large city, the best green thing you can do is to grow your own food. And, to accomplish this, people need to learn how to compost.

Learning How to Compost

While reducing your carbon footprint on the planet is one of the main goals of living green, changing to efficient light bulbs and driving your car less aren't the final goals. To truly live a green lifestyle, one should learn to care for nature and learn how to live off the land, and that requires knowledge of composting. If you happen to have a yard that already has grass and trees growing on it, then you are ready to start composting.

The best way to understand and learn how to compost is in areas that experience seasonal changes. During spring and summer months, pile up all of your lawn clippings somewhere on your yard. During the fall season, save some of the leaves you've raked up and then add them to your lawn clipping pile. That's as easy as it gets! Some people make special areas or bins just for composting. If you don't like having a pile of compost in your yard, then you could construct your own compost bin by simply placing wire fencing into the shape of a circle. Then, all you have to do is throw your leaves and grass clippings into it.

Some people like to stir their compost piles at least once a month, but that isn't necessary because it will still turn into effective compost on its own. Mixing your pile of leaves and grass clippings will help it to turn into compost quicker; otherwise you may have to wait a year of two just letting it set. An ideal mixture of leaves and grass would be a 30:1 ratio. And, if you water the pile now and then, it will turn into compost even faster. The best thing about compost is that it acts like a natural fertilizer. So when you're planting and growing your own food, you can keep man-made chemicals out of your food and out of the ground.

Learning how to compost is easy. The best part about composting is that it keeps the chemicals in fertilizers from entering lakes, rivers and ponds, which causes algae blooms. If everyone would start making compost, then chemical companies would stop making fertilizers. Compost is beneficial in many ways, and it's free! In fact, learning how to compost is as easy as changing a light bulb.