“Composting is a lot like sex. It's a healthy, natural process involving fertility, tumbling around, and—when it's going right—steaminess. On top of that, some people call it dirty.” -Umbra Fisk On Composting.



Many years before I read Umbra Fisk’s take on compost (see hot, steamy quote above), I had a special place in my heart for compost. As a little girl, I emptied our compost bucket filled with veggie scraps from the kitchen into the compost heap in the back yard. In the springtime, my Dad and I would dig into the pile and harvest rich, crumbly soil from the bottom of the heap and put it back into the vegetable garden. As we screened through the material, we cheered on the worms, grubs, and insects that made the compost heap their home. (I do not have a picture of me with the compost bucket, so this one with a dead sunflower will have to work.)



When I visited friends’ houses that didn’t compost, I remember hesitating before putting an apple core in the garbage. In my world, apple cores belonged in compost heaps, not in garbage cans.

Given this deeply rooted (heh) affinity for organic diversion, it was with great interest that I toured a composting facility in Germany in October 2008. They use a process called batch dry fermentation. They put the feedstock (biomass such as yard debris and food scraps) into the vessels. The doors seal tight. The walls heat up. It gets hot and steamy! The natural gas generated during the anaerobic digestion of the biomass is harnessed and turned into energy. Then, a few weeks later, they take the original batch of biomass (now broken down) and finish it into a compost product.

I put together a slideshow of the Bekon facility I toured outside of Munich, Germany.

Taking a step back from this cool (I mean hot) technology, let's remember that backyard composting is the most efficient use of local resources: by composting yourself, you reduce transportation costs and keep nutrients in your back yard. The heap from my childhood, pictured below, lives on. (My parents continue to be so hip.) If you are interested in learning more about the ins and outs of backyard composting, check out this series of video tips by the folks in North Vancouver, BC. Or, read Umbra's article on composting.



Not everyone in North America has a backyard. Hardly anyone cheers on worms. (Go worms!)

Luckily for these folks, this type of batch dry fermentation might be coming to a town nearby. In the meantime, just drool over visions of hot, steamy... compost.

Author's Note: I have recently started working for a really exciting company, Harvest, that is ushering in the next generation of organics management.

Author's Note #2: I often link to information and articles, such as Umbra's article on composting, from Grist. In the interest of full disclosure, I am related to the president of Grist.