California’s terrain has been ravaged by the repercussions of climate change. Droughts, fires, rising sea levels, and record-breaking temperatures just in California alone make headlines all across the world. Before long, it could be a barren, dry land with sunken cities, scarcely any life, and scorching temperatures. Immediate action needs to be taken to preserve California’s land and nature for millenniums to come.

Their new law could do just that.

On January 1, 2022, California enacted Senate Bill 1383 – requiring all Californians to compost food scraps – in order to eradicate the environmental ramifications that occur as a result of methane emissions from organic materials decomposing in landfills. 

The effects of methane on our atmosphere

Like carbon dioxide, methane is a greenhouse gas, trapping heat in the atmosphere, and thus being a contributing factor to global warming. However, methane is 86 times more potent than carbon dioxide over a 20-year period. Methane comes not only from raising livestock and burning coal, but also wasted organic material like food scraps, paper, and cardboard in landfills. In fact, 20% of the state’s methane comes solely from landfills. Since organic waste makes up over half of California’s landfill detritus, directing offscourings of food to compost will be a major step into harnessing environmental damage. Their goal is to reduce organic waste material by 75% by 2025. 

How compost works

Robert Reed, the Public Relations Manager for Recology, a San Francisco-based company dedicated to promoting recycling and composting, says that our food scraps can help enrich compost. “Eggshells, coffee grounds, and vegetable peelings are the most important type of garbage that exists. That’s where the nutrients are,” he says. 

Compost is a combination of organic materials that are mixed with soil to provide plants with the essential nutrients they need. Microorganisms like bacteria and fungi in the soil eat and break the material down to the smallest it can get. They create humus, the organic part of soil, which contains phosphorus, sulfur, carbon, nitrogen and calcium, amongst other elements compulsory to plant life – all of which come from food that we see as trash. 

The hidden powers of composting

California may not realize that their citizens could be getting much healthier.

Believe it or not, composting is actually one of the most beneficial things we can do for our health. Chemical fertilizers strip plants of their nutrients, them being the same ones we need. Thus, when we consume crops that are chemically fertilized, we are stripped of the nutrients we need, too. 

Essentially, both humans and plants would be nutritionally deficient without compost. 

Eating composted, non-chemicalized crops provides us with hundreds of health benefits we wouldn’t get if it weren’t for compost. For example, for humans, high, consistent concentrations of calcium supports muscle contractions, regulated heart rhythms. and strong bones. Calcium is prominent in leafy greens like turnips, kale, and spinach. In addition, vitamin C is key for controlling infections, healing wounds, and producing collagen. Vitamin C is found in cabbage, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, and cauliflower. Just these two nutrients alone serve critical roles for our mind and body. 

For plants, calcium promotes tissue production, supports their cell walls and helps activate enzymes to start chemical reactions. Vitamin C, however, plays one of the most important roles of any vitamin in plants. Without vitamin C, seeds wouldn’t grow – at all. It also gives the plants protection during photosynthesis from the sunlight. 

In summary, composting is a simple, free and natural form of fertilization that strengthens us and crops alike. Approximately 45% of all fruits and vegetables get trashed, quality food that could make such a difference if we let it. Plus, when we compost, we reduce the concentration of methane in the air. If the majority of us compost, we’d be on track to reversing the effects of climate change that devastate the earth. Natural disasters caused by global warming could be greatly diminished to the point of eradication. At the end of the day, no matter where in the world you may be, we should all join Californians in their new lifestyle.