When you think of recycling, you probably think of plastics, aluminum cans, and paper. But did you know you can recycle egg shells, coffee grounds, and banana peels?

This is nature’s way of recycling: composting. 

According to the Illinois Food Scrap and Composting Coalition (IFSCC), composting “is the managed, aerobic (oxygen-required) decomposition of organic materials by microorganisms. The final product, compost, is a nutritious soil amendment.”

The decomposed organic materials improve the soil’s quality with nutrients. This is nature’s way of breaking down material and giving back to the environment.

“How long it takes to break stuff down can be a challenge,” said Biology professor Mary O’Sullivan. “You want to make sure that you produce a compost pile that is going to maximize the rate of efficiency.”

She listed four necessary factors for efficient composting: oxygen, moisture, organic material in small sizes, and a balance of nutrient content. 

Microorganisms break down these components to help produce compost. 

“The organisms need oxygen,” O’Sullivan said. “You need small [organic] particle sizes because they break down faster and easier. And then you need to balance the nutrient content, carbon and nitrogen.”

The balance of carbon and nitrogen means the balance of green and brown materials.

According to IFSC, examples of nitrogen-rich or green materials include fruit and vegetable scraps, grass clippings, coffee grounds and paper filters, paper tea bags without staples, and crushed eggshells. Examples of carbon-rich or brown materials include dry leaves, plant stalks and twigs, white shredded paper and shredded paper bags, shredded cardboard and untreated wood chips. 

“Green means you’re adding nitrogen; brown means you’re adding carbon-rich things,” said John Stepnowski, an ECC history student who composts with his father. 

“You don’t want to put dairy or meat or bones in there…They rot, and animals tend to dig them up,” Stepnowski said.

Composting isn’t limited to consumable food; domestic animal and human residue can also be utilized.

“All that fur that’s coming off the dog or the cat that can go right into the compost pile,” O’Sullivan said.

Composting can also save money and build sustainability.

“You’re reusing things that you’d otherwise be throwing out, so you’re not spending any money by composting,” Stepnowski said.

You also save money that is usually spent on artificial fertilizers. Additionally, it keeps the environment healthy.

“We are going to make the soil healthier because we’re using natural amendments,” O’Sullivan said. “Therefore we’re not going to have to rely so heavily on fertilizers and pesticides and herbicides.”

“Nature’s taking care of itself,” she said. “It’s just a natural way of doing things.”

With the many benefits of composting, one may ask: does ECC compost?

“If the conditions were right, compost[ing] would be nice,” O’Sullivan said. 

Since the college shares a border with the wetlands and a prairie and has several animals, this makes composting a challenge. 

However, composting can be done in individuals’ homes like Stepnowski’s father does. 

“There’s no work; the organisms do all the work, ”O’Sullivan said.

O’Sullivan said, it’s also a way people can “make a connection with the natural order of how to deal with waste.”

The next time you finish making your morning cup of coffee or cooking an omelets, consider composting those coffee grounds or crushed egg shells. 

Stepnowski said, “You are teaching people to reuse things they’d otherwise be throwing out for a proactive purpose.”