Composting - Defining compost
Compost is the end product of a natural process that reduces organic waste to humus. Compost contains a good range of major and minor plant nutrients, trace elements essential for healthy plant growth, as well as soil microbes and organic fibre for building healthy soil. Unlike chemical fertilizers, compost has a built-in time release mechanism, which chemical fertilizer manufacturers try to duplicate. Composting is the process that produces the compost.
Composting helps reduce garbage output by over 30 per cent. Imagine one third less garbage to lug to the curb or bin for collection! Not to mention decreasing the amount of material that we mistakenly label as waste that requires landfill disposal. Composting is a cheap and easy way to reduce waste!
We must increase diversion of organic materials to achieve the City of Toronto's target of 70 per cent waste diversion from landfill.
The division within the City of Toronto that offers all of these environmental programs and public education campaigns is Solid Waste Management.