The huge mountains of waste that modern consumer societies produce are an increasingly worrisome problem for local and regional authorities: how best to dispose of the enormous quantities of garbage and discarded junk.
Both of the currently used solutions - landfills or incineration - have their obvious drawbacks: landfills fill up rapidly, are becoming more difficult to find, give off large quantities of methane, a gas that contributes to global warming, and toxic residues tend to seep into the soil and contaminate the surrounding area and aquifers; incinerators spew out toxic smoke and particles that contaminate the soil and vegetation downwind from the plants.
Too much waste! While Europeans throw away far less than Americans, they still contribute to these huge piles of refuse.
While reliable up-to-date statistics are difficult to find, the European Union reported in 2002 that Ireland, France, Germany and the UK were at the top of the list for the number of kilograms per year per person of waste from product packaging, with 217, 206, 187 & 167 kilograms respectively.
However, one thing that those of us who live in Europe can do to reduce the impact of our garbage on the environment is to recycle as much as possible at to compost all of our organic kitchen waste.
Especially for those of you who have vegetable gardens, making your own compost is an intelligent, environmentally sound way of providing most of the necessary nutrients for your tomatoes, green beans, courgettes, etc.
, while at the same time your can reduce considerably the contents of your waste bin that is emptied each week by local sanitation workers.
You can find abundant information on internet about how and what to compost (see below).
The important thing is to start doing it.
With all the autumn leaves which have fallen on our yards and gardens, it is a wonderful time to begin.
There are even some communities that have put collective composting projects into place for the entire community.
One such place is Saint-Philbert-de-Bouaine in the Vendée Department (85) near Nantes.
Rather than lots of individual compost bins, the community operates a huge compost collection site, and the inhabitants, who have been provided with special compost containers for their kitchen scraps and other organic waste, bring them to the centre, where the composting takes place under the supervision of a "maître composteur".
When finished, the compost, of a higher quality than that produced in individual compost bins, is then made available free of charge for local gardens, yards, and flower beds.
Compost in FranceThe programme, which has been in place since 2002, has reduced significantly the amount of refuse collected and dumped in the local landfill, and close to 80% of the town's inhabitants and businesses take part in the programme.
Both of the currently used solutions - landfills or incineration - have their obvious drawbacks: landfills fill up rapidly, are becoming more difficult to find, give off large quantities of methane, a gas that contributes to global warming, and toxic residues tend to seep into the soil and contaminate the surrounding area and aquifers; incinerators spew out toxic smoke and particles that contaminate the soil and vegetation downwind from the plants.
Too much waste! While Europeans throw away far less than Americans, they still contribute to these huge piles of refuse.
While reliable up-to-date statistics are difficult to find, the European Union reported in 2002 that Ireland, France, Germany and the UK were at the top of the list for the number of kilograms per year per person of waste from product packaging, with 217, 206, 187 & 167 kilograms respectively.
However, one thing that those of us who live in Europe can do to reduce the impact of our garbage on the environment is to recycle as much as possible at to compost all of our organic kitchen waste.
Especially for those of you who have vegetable gardens, making your own compost is an intelligent, environmentally sound way of providing most of the necessary nutrients for your tomatoes, green beans, courgettes, etc.
, while at the same time your can reduce considerably the contents of your waste bin that is emptied each week by local sanitation workers.
You can find abundant information on internet about how and what to compost (see below).
The important thing is to start doing it.
With all the autumn leaves which have fallen on our yards and gardens, it is a wonderful time to begin.
There are even some communities that have put collective composting projects into place for the entire community.
One such place is Saint-Philbert-de-Bouaine in the Vendée Department (85) near Nantes.
Rather than lots of individual compost bins, the community operates a huge compost collection site, and the inhabitants, who have been provided with special compost containers for their kitchen scraps and other organic waste, bring them to the centre, where the composting takes place under the supervision of a "maître composteur".
When finished, the compost, of a higher quality than that produced in individual compost bins, is then made available free of charge for local gardens, yards, and flower beds.
Compost in FranceThe programme, which has been in place since 2002, has reduced significantly the amount of refuse collected and dumped in the local landfill, and close to 80% of the town's inhabitants and businesses take part in the programme.