More and more of us are starting to take active steps to reduce our carbon footprint on Mother Nature, and one way of doing this is to start recycling and upcycling things we used to throw out previously. Composting is a way to use your organic detritus to make much organic fertilizer for your plants. However, there is a lot of myths around composting, and this deters people from starting their own composting journey. But, we are here to debunk these because, contrary to popular beliefs, it is very easy to compost and is something that everyone should start doing. So without further ado, let’s learn more about composting and debunk some of the popular myths surrounding it.
#Myth 1- It stinks
Contrary to popular belief, the composting process is almost an odorless process. It is trust that fresh kitchen scrap may smell a bit for the first two days, but once you dig into them and pile them up, you won’t even notice the smell. You will only start t notice a rancid smell if you add too much nitrogen matter to your composting bin or if you add meat to it. If you follow these, you won’t notice that much of a difference when it comes to the smell of your homemade fertilizer. Remember, add your organic matter as you create them but don’t overstuff your composting bin as it will elongate the composting process. It is also essential to state that compost rarely attracts rodents and flies, but this can happen if you don’t close your composting bin properly. Seeing a couple of flies and rodents is part of the natural cycle and is entirely natural to see, but you should know that composting would be a new breeding ground for pests.
#Myth 2- Don’t compost cooked food
I don’t know where this myth started or why it gained traction, but it is entirely unfounded. Cooked food is a similar amount of material as uncooked food; sure, cooking food changes the molecular structure of some products, but this doesn’t change much when it comes to composting. Both cooked and raw food are organic materials and decompose all the same. Some people believe that animals like rodents or stray dogs like cooking food instead of raw food, but this is not true because they feed on raw items in nature. There is also no scientific evidence to back up this idea that animals are more attracted to cooked food instead of raw ones. You can also compost meat but don’t add a huge amount at a time because it might cause your compost to be a bit smelly. And this smell can attract animals, and this is why some people are a bit wary of adding it to their composting bins.
#Myth 3- Composting is hard
There is no right or wrong way to compost; you don’t even need bins to compost your organic matter and can do this by DIYing some tumblers and using it as a composting bin. There are things you can do to speed up your composting time, making it easy to regulate your compost. If you want to speed it up, add chop material into small pieces and turn it regularly. You can also add your organic matter whole, and it will still work, but it will just take longer to compost. Composting is as simple as you want it to be, and you don’t have to stress out about the whole process, and you shouldn’t believe everything you read online.
Sound off in the comments section below and tell us if you want to read more about composting. If you want to read more about recycling, click here or read some of our other posts on the matter. Composting is something that all of us can do, and it is an active way to recycle organic detritus and create organic fertilizers that you can use for your garden.
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