What is Composting?
"Compost happens"
Composting recycles or "downcycles" organic household and yard waste and manures into an extremely useful humus‐like, soil end‐product, called compost. Ultimately this permits the return of needed organic matter and nutrients into the food chain. Composting speeds up the natural process of decomposition as a result of the raised temperatures in the compost heap. The decomposition process creates heat, and in the warm environment the microorganisms grow faster thereby speeding up the energy and nutrient exchange.
It is a popular misconception that composting is a "controlled" process; if the right environmental circumstances are present the process virtually runs itself. Hence a popular expression, "compost happens".
It is nonetheless very necessary to provide as optimal circumstances as possible for large amounts of organic waste to break down properly otherwise the oxygen within the heap is consumed rapidly, which may lead to bad smells.
