The Negative Effects of Not Composting

When you want to throw away something, which bin do you think would be the correct option? Well, the majority of people throw away their items in the wrong spots. The main reason is because of mistakes leading to confusion about lack of knowledge of labels, awareness, routine, and laziness. The explanation to why composting food scraps/waste in the wrong bins impacts our world negatively is because it cannot break down properly. Additionally, instead of compost breaking down into nutrient-rich soil, it instead releases a greenhouse gas, methane, that quickly builds up in the atmosphere creating global warming an even greater problem than it is now. 

 I recommend that more people should care and give more attention to this situation since global warming is one of the biggest problems our planet is facing currently. It is strongly important to compost because if not, we would create hotter temperatures and extreme weather that would affect our environment, weather, health, farming, etc. According to the authors and researchers Udo Jäckel, Kathrin Thummes, and Peter Kämpfer, “Composting has been proposed as one method to reduce methane emission from landfills. This method of processing organic waste has become an integral part of modern waste management…” (FEMS). To resolve this issue, people should recycle, compost, and decrease trash correctly by sending each factor to the right places to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, help climate change, and improve nutrients in soil.

Even if some people don’t feel the need to take action, it is very significant knowing that every food scrap thrown in the compost makes a change. According to the World Food Programme study in 2024, “... Each of us can individually play a part in reducing food loss and food waste, not only for the sake of the food but for the resources that go into it, too” (WFP). This quote demonstrates how every person makes a difference in contributing to help save the planet.

In a class called Environmental Leadership, all students have different topics and mine happens to be about composting. My community group and I work together to help others compost correctly by creating a solution or call to action using educational information, making it more convenient, labeling bins clearly, correcting and helping people if they are wrong, etc. This engages and involves people to take one more step into making our world healthier. Truly, the impact of your decisions and choices affects the world globally no matter how small it may seem.

Emma Firer, 9th Grade MSEL 2029 , Terra Linda High School, San Rafael, CA
To learn more about food waste and composting, click here