Nov 8 - Compost Your Leaves This Fall
Fall is here, and many of us will spend at least a portion of our weekends raking up fall leaves. But before you pile them in the street to be swept up and taken away, consider using them to improve your home compost pile.
Dry leaves are a good source of carbon, one of the four main ingredients of compost: nitrogen, carbon, air and water. The simplest way to compost is to layer dry materials, such as leaves, wood chips, twigs, hay or shredded paper, with wet ingredients like food waste or green yard clippings.
By composting, you're creating a great natural fertilzer for the garden. And when you compost your yard and food waste, you are helping to reduce the amount of methane-producing material in landfills. (Methane, a Greenhouse Gas 25 times more powerful than Carbon Dioxide, is released by rotting organic material). About one-third of the material that is currently being sent to landfills is readily compostable.
There are many methods for composting at home; check out this free backyard composting guide.
Visit CalRecycle's website for other composting resources.