Decaying riches

Deep in the muck of rotting banana peels, spent coffee grounds, matted leaves, and worm-riddled carrot peelings, something magical is happening. Steaming with internally generated heat, food scraps and garden detritus are being transformed into nitrogen- and phosphorus-rich compost through the action of worms and microbes.

Somebody won't be using petrochemicals on their plants this year.

Vermicomposting serves two functions: It takes 30 percent of household garbage out of the municipal waste stream, and it generates organic fertilizer, a valuable replacement for artificial fertilizers such as Miracle-Gro.

Though few are aware of it, most ordinary garden fertilizers are made from natural gas. Their manufacture requires huge inputs of fuel and results in a product that has become one of the most widespread forms of water pollution in America.

And while fertilizer runoff from farms, suburban lawns, and gardens cause algae blooms and dead zones in coastal waters, fertilizer scarcity is being blamed for food shortages in the developing world. Since the price of gas (the main ingredient in fertilizer) is tied to the price of fossil fuels in general, gas is way up, and so is fertilizer.

Our huge demand is one factor in that inflation. Financial analysts are celebrating the great buying opportunities in fertilizer companies which, like oil companies, are seeing record profits.

But organic farmers don't use fossil-fuel derived fertilizer at all. One of the things they rely on is compost. Making compost yourself cuts trash volume while producing something useful. Much of the waste we generate, sealed in plastic bags and buried under tons of other trash, remains solid, without decomposing, for decades or more.

Cutting nearly a third of the waste that goes to the landfill is one way to cut your impact on the environment. Replacing fossil-fuel-based fertilizer is another. Composting can be done in a hole-laced can outdoors, or in a contained unit indoors.

Done right, it's clean and odorless and will make you feel good about yourself. Who doesn't love that?

Jay Weinstein's blog posts are provided by LifeWire, a part of The New York Times Company.