Friday, September 18, 2009

Central Compost

How about a company that has many big bins, and takes all the green waste in an area. The waste goes into bins, is occasionally turned, and when completely rotten, sold as organic fertilizer?

Ideally, this would take place on land that is useless for agriculture. Composting can take place almost anywhere, but benefits from a small amount of additional water, and from regular "turning" to add air. It produces a considerable amount of heat, which would make it strangely pleasant in colder climates.

The prime advantages of doing this are an increase in resources, a sustainable agricultural infrastructure, and a reduction in landfill space. The prime disadvantages are an increase in labor (these jobs would be absolutely terrible, and very low paying), increased water use, and the NIMBY principle would make people dislike it. (Compost piles smell strange, so people would complain if you built such a facility near them.)

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