Para esta información en español, haga clic aquí.
View in Spanish.
From healthy soils, to good local jobs, we bet you didn’t know that compost can have such an impact! So think twice before you throw away your compostable food scraps… because one person’s trash is another’s black gold. Please help us spread the word!
Download Graphics
Included in the download are the individual pages as well as the consolidated version.
We have also, per partnership with local allies, translated the overall infographic into Arabic, Polish and Latvian. If you’re interested in having translating it into your language, please email [email protected].
We want you to be able to share these infographics under creative commons license, free of cost.
“The following comes from the Institute for Local Self-Reliance (www.ilsr.org), a national nonprofit organization working to strengthen local economies, and redirect waste into local recycling, composting, and reuse industries. It is reprinted here with permission.”
Please, make sure to let people know they should link to: https://ilsr.org/compost-
Help us continue to produce content like this. Please consider making a donation today.
Resources/More Information
Compost: Impacts More Than You Think
- Brenda Platt, Nora Goldstein, Craig Coker, and Sally Brown, The State of Composting in the U.S.: What, Why, Where, & How, Institute for Local Self-Reliance (ILSR), June 2015.
- US EPA, Advancing Sustainable Materials Management: Facts and Figures 2013, June 2015, pp. 12, 46.
- Brenda Platt, Eric Lombardi, and David Ciplet, Stop Trashing the Climate, Institute for Local Self-Reliance (ILSR), 2008.
- Brenda Platt, Bobby Bell, and Cameron Harsh, Pay Dirt: Composting in Maryland to Reduce Waste, Create Jobs & Protect the Bay, Institute for Local Self-Reliance (ILSR), May 2013.
- Mike Ewall, Trash Incineration Factsheet, Energy Justice Network web page, https://www.energyjustice.net, accessed April 2016.
Composting Enhances Soil and Protects Watersheds
- Bobby Bell and Brenda Platt, Building Healthy Soils with Compost to Protect Watersheds, Institute for Local Self-Reliance (ILSR), June 2014.
- Brenda Platt, Nora Goldstein, Craig Coker, and Sally Brown, The State of Composting in the U.S.: What, Why, Where, & How, Institute for Local Self-Reliance (ILSR), June 2015.
- “Why Build Healthy Soil?” Washington Organic Recycling Council (WORC) Soils for Salmon Project, accessed April 2016.
- United States Composting Council (USCC), “Specify and Use COMPOST for LEED & Sustainable Sites Projects: A Natural Connection”
- “Soil Health Key Points,” Natural Resources Conservation Service, USDA, February 2013.
- “Increasing Soil Organic Matter with Compost,” Compost: The Sustainable Solution, US Composting Council, July 2014.
- “Strive for 5%,” US Composting Council’s campaign to promote 5% organic matter in soils, US Composting Council.
Composting Protects the Climate
- Gunnar Myhre, Drew Shindell, et. al, Anthropogenic & Natural Radiative Forcing, Climate Change 2013: The Physical Science Basis. Contribution of Working Group I to Fifth Assessment Report of Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, Cambridge University Press, 2013, p. 714.
- “Can Land Management Enhance Soil Carbon Sequestration?” Marin Carbon Project web site, accessed April 2016.
- Rebecca Ryals and Whendee L. Silver, “Effects of organic matter amendments on net primary productivity and greenhouse gas emissions in annual grasslands,” Ecological Applications (Ecological Society of America), 1 January 2013, 23:46-59. doi:10.1890/12-0620.1
- Brenda Platt, Nora Goldstein, Craig Coker, and Sally Brown, The State of Composting in the U.S.: What, Why, Where, & How, Institute for Local Self-Reliance (ILSR), June 2015.
- Brenda Platt, Eric Lombardi, and David Ciplet, Stop Trashing the Climate, Institute for Local Self-Reliance (ILSR), 2008.
Composting Creates Jobs
- Brenda Platt, Bobby Bell, and Cameron Harsh, Pay Dirt: Composting in Maryland to Reduce Waste, Create Jobs & Protect the Bay, Institute for Local Self-Reliance (ILSR), May 2013.
- Brenda Platt, Nora Goldstein, Craig Coker, and Sally Brown, The State of Composting in the U.S.: What, Why, Where, & How, Institute for Local Self-Reliance (ILSR), June 2015.
- Brenda Platt and Neil Seldman, Wasting and Recycling in the United States 2000, Institute for Local Self-Reliance (ILSR), 2000.
