growing advantages
- creates a better root environment for plants
- increases moisture infiltration, permeability, & retention
- reduces water loss, erosion, & nutrient leaching
- supplies organic matter
- allows plants to more effectively utilize nutrients
- enables soils to retain nutrients longer
- promotes higher crop yields
- improves the cation exchange capacity (CEC) of soils
- promotes biodiversity
cost savings
- reduces water demands of plants, saving water expense
- suppresses plant disease, reducing need for toxic pesticides
- reduces disposal costs of food, yard, and paper waste
- nutrient dense growing material needs less supplementation, reducing need for nonorganic fertilizers
environmental pluses
- reduces waste in landfills
- conserves, retains and transfers water
- decreases greenhouse gasses in the atmosphere
- aids ecosystems in resiliency to rising global temperatures
- improves soil health and growing capacity
personally
- growing advantages lead to more herbs, vegetables, flowers, plants in your gardens
- better soil health equals healthier-grown edible plants
- more efficient gardening reduces economic costs
- saves you time by allowing quick & easy disposal of wastes
- reduces your environmental impact
- promotes understanding of decomposition process & soil-food-web
community-wise
- recycle nutrients locally, and grow healthy soil and food in your community
- contributes to positive use of local post-consumer wastes
- reduces the impact of harmful runoff fertilizers that pollute local streams & rivers
- contributes to beautification of your shared spaces
societally
- encourages accountability for consumption
- reduces civic costs on waste collection & transport
- supports a cultural shift to make informed waste management more mainstream