Today, Abigail Golden reported that the EcoReps composter, currently housed in the Ruggles basement, will slowly begin the process of opening up the composter to the wider Columbia community.
Since April, it has been processing scraps from John Jay, and it will now begin collecting material from the GreenBorough special interest house. This is the first step EcoReps are taking to make the composter eventually accessible to the whole campus.
If you're like me (environmentally conscious, but admittedly unaware of a lot of environment-saving practices), you probably praise this endeavor, but have absolutely no idea what it entails, or how a composter even works. In an effort to turn my consciousness into some semblance of knowledge, I've done a little research on the topic, and I will do my very best to break down what exactly this composting business is.
Note: This is not a guide on how to compost. If that's something you're interested in, go here, or talk to an EcoRep.
What's the goal?
All a compost is meant to do is decompose organic waste, which becomes a rich fertilizer.
How does it do that?
BACTERIA. Ew. No, it's actually not gross—it's nature! The decomposition is done by lots of microorganisms living in the compost. This includes bacteria and fungi, and, if you're really adventurous, worms (I am aware these are just organisms, not micro- ones). To get the process going, some people use algae, seaweed, aged manure, and other wonderfully fragrant materials.
