Letter: Composting has green benefits

Yuba City’s city-wide recycling efforts have expanded greatly as a result of an increased awareness of the importance of environmental maintenance. Yet recycling encompasses more than just placing paper and plastic products in the blue bin, as more can be done to further reduce the garbage sent to landfills. Composting should be considered as a viable accompaniment to current recycling efforts in our community.

It is said that the composting process generates an unpleasant odor, but the is mainly due to the prevalence of anaerobic organisms in the compost. In order to significantly lessen this, the compost pile must be well-ventilated with a sufficient amount of oxygen. However, the environmental benefits of having a composting program for our community far outweigh the disadvantages. Compost is recognized as a cost-efficient substitute to fertilizer, but it removes contaminants in water and air and encourages higher crop yields as well.

In an agricultural region such as this one, a composting program would be a great asset. Major cities such as San Francisco, Austin, and Seattle have such programs to pave the way to a more environmentally-concerned nation.

Anna Wy
Yuba City
Student, River Valley High School