Composting: Nature's Most Interesting Process | STUFF YOU SHOULD KNOW

[music]. [bell]. >> Hey everybody, Chuck here with another. edition of our Think Spring [music]. playlist. And right now, this is. something you should all be doing, which. is composting. You can learn a thing or. two about it in this episode, [music]. Composting: Nature's Most Interesting. Process. It's really not too hard, and it really. means a lot. So, give it a shot. >> [music].

>> Welcome to Stuff [music] You Should Know. from howstuffworks.com. Hey, welcome to the podcast. I'm Josh. the man, Clark. There's Charles W. Chuck Bryant, and. [music] I think I neglected to say last. time. >> Yeah, you did. guest producer Noel is with us. That's. right. So, if you listened to the Shroud. of Turin episode [music]. >> and you're like, man, that sounds great.

Yeah, that was Noel. >> Yep. Thanks, Noel. Uh this. show today, I've been replaying my one. of my favorite Simpsons jokes ever. Which one? >> over and over in my head. >> I laughed already just hearing Simpsons. joke. It was from the uh one of the. Halloween episodes when um. they did the Nightmare on Elm Street. riff. Mhm. This is old old ones. Yeah. Um where. uh Groundskeeper Willie. was. Freddy Krueger. >> Mhm. and he turned into a I think like a.

shredder or a tractor or something and. ran over. people or something Sure. and said uh. when you're when you're done when I'm. done, they're going to need to do a. compost board them. Oh, wow, that is a. bad joke. Yeah, it was really good. One. of the I mean, the Simpsons didn't get. too punny, but that was a that was a. good one. Well, anything goes on a. Treehouse of Horror. Yeah. You know? Agreed. So, you know, um.

there's a bunch of cities that have kind. of. gotten woke to the idea that we should. be. recycling or composting our food. Did. you know that? Sure. I saw a stat that. said something like 40% of. food gets wasted. But I got suspicious cuz I also saw that. 40%. of the um. stuff that goes to municipal landfills. or trash. is food waste. Which doesn't necessarily mean it's.

wasted food cuz I don't think you would. count like a banana peel as food waste. or as wasted food waste waste though. >> No. Okay, so they're. >> They're not counting food packaging as. food waste. No, but I think they're. counting everything that has to do with. food that could conceivably be eaten as. wasted food, which is not the same as. food waste. >> Okay. The the point is the legitimate. stat that I saw just about everywhere is. that if you took all the garbage that. the United States throws away into a.

landfill. >> Mhm. 40% of that is food waste. And I'm. sure some of it is. A whole cake. Some. complete threw a whole cake away. Yeah. for no good reason. >> I was on a diet. Well, that's actually pretty good. reason, but you know what I'm saying. Yeah. Um 40% of all that trash is food. The problem is you might say, well, who. cares? Trash it decomposes. That's. great. That's true. It does decompose. But in the landfills that the United. States uses, we make sure they're. anaerobic. Yeah. >> Oxygen doesn't get down there. Yeah. So,

a whole different decomposition process. takes place. And in a landfill in. anaerobic decomposition, methane is. produced. And methane is bad news. >> Yes. Methane is something on the order. of 70%. worse. Uh I know there's a much more scientific. way to put it. >> [laughter]. >> but it's 70% badder than carbon dioxide. as far as greenhouse gases go. Yeah. >> 70% more potent. How about that? Yeah,

okay. So, you don't want methane. No methane. >> If you have to choose between methane. and carbon dioxide, you want to go with. carbon dioxide. And it just so happens. that if you compost food waste. co- mostly carbon dioxide is produced. Methane's not. So, if you're diverting. this food waste from landfill, there's a. whole bunch of different stuff you're. doing. Number one, you're saving all. that 40% of the space for actual trash, so you're extending the life of your. landfill. >> Sure. You're keeping all that methane from. being produced. And as if it couldn't.

get any better, you are creating a an. amazing fertilizer that you can use. >> for to grow you could grow a tree out of. a shoe. >> [laughter]. >> This fertilizer is so good. The old shoe tree. Sure. Uh yeah, it's. um we've danced around this a lot. We we. Well, you just referenced our. and I don't like to toot our own horns a. lot, but that landfills episode was. great. Landfills and don't forget the um.

plasma incinerator one. Yeah. Great. Basically, any of our waste management. ones are. Yeah, uh what else we I think guerrilla. gardening we touched on this um and um. a couple of others we've mentioned. composting. and. to the extent where I thought we had. done one on composting. >> Not yet. >> but we had not until about 5 and 1/2. minutes ago. >> Mhm. Um and that's a guess, so if you. write in and say like, it was 8 minutes, Chuck. You're grounded. So, like you mentioned,

we did I don't think these numbers are. accurate anymore, but we generate let's. just say a lot of millions of tons, hundreds of millions of tons of trash. Mhm. and about 25 to 30% of that. is recovered through recycling, which. includes composting, which is good. But that number. if it was 70% would be amazing. Does. that include composting that that. recycling number? Yeah. Oh, okay. Yeah, if it be 70, it'd be great. Yeah, and. the 80, why not?

Yeah, let's shoot for 90. Well, supposedly Seattle itself. has a goal of something like 60 to 70%. of all of its trash being recycled by. the end of the year. >> Of course they do cuz Seattle does it. right. >> And they actually have compulsory. mandatory composting now. Like you have to compost if you live in. the city of Seattle. >> I live there? I don't know. I don't know. I ask myself that a lot. You know, Emily and I went for our two. shows ago. on that lovely spring weekend. >> Oh, it was gorgeous. and we we stayed.

extra in Seattle and after we were like, we're moving here. That's it. It's a. great town. >> I've said it before on the show, dogs. and bars. That was all it took. Yeah. Uh Dog. bartenders? >> [laughter]. >> But again dogs playing poker? Sure. Uh. again, it's easy to fall in love with. Seattle on a perfect weekend in April. Yeah. I hear it rains there a lot. though. I'd still live there. It's a great. place. And you know what? You may see us. again this year, Seattle. Tease, tease.

You're such a tease. All right, so. composting is great for a thousand. reasons, but one uh first and foremost. is that it's it's not hard to do and. it's not expensive to do. No. Uh if you. just want to be. uh and there many different levels of. composting from big city programs to the. the home farmer that takes it super. seriously. to just if you just want to lessen the. impact a little bit. on your landfill, your local landfill, feel like you're doing the right thing.

and get a little bit of. nutrient-rich goodness fertilizer to use. >> you can have it just a little small. little composting operation going on at. your house. >> Yeah, this is all this is all you need. Organic waste. And we don't even mean something that's. like organic. We mean like organic, meaning it's composed mostly of carbon. It was once alive at one point, right? >> Yeah, and I made a poopy noise, which. you can't use poop, so. >> No, that's night soil. That's the. opposite of what I should have done. Uh. what's a banana sound?

Poo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo. woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo. woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo. woo woo. >> [laughter]. >> That's a banana sound, right? Uh you need soil. You need water and you need air or. oxygen. Right, so the organic waste is. the stuff you're going to have broken. down, which in this case in the case of. a compost pile is food. The soil Well, partially, sure. But no, no, it's food for the things that are in. the soil. >> Right? It's a energy source. >> Yes, yes. And nutrient source for what's.

in the soil. So, you add soil. When. you're adding soil, you're basically. adding starter culture. to the compost. What you're doing is. grabbing microbes from say in your yard. and putting them on the compost pile and. say. dinner's on, boys. >> Yes. They eating poop. Yes. But you don't want to poop in it. You need a little bit of water like you. said to keep it moist, but you don't. want to keep it over wet. >> Mhm. because microbes like slightly moist. soil. And then air because again again, this is really really important. You can.

let your compost pile. uh. um degrade anaerobically, but it's going. to produce methane, which is bad for the. for the environment. >> Bad for your neighbors. Bad for your. neighbors, bad for you. It's going to. stink. It might blow up. Who knows? You. don't want to smoke near a what's called. a passive compost pile. So, you want to. just introduce oxygen. And all this. sounds very complicated. It's not. It's. hitting it with your hose. It's um and. by that I mean spraying water on it with. your hose. This really is you can You.

can burn something with your hose, too. Um it's like turning it over, right? >> With a pitchfork. To to add oxygen. It's. as simple as that. Yeah, it's really. easy. Um. So, what you're going to end up with the. end like we said is is really. fertilizer, but it's uh it's called. humus. Don't call it hummus. No, that's. different. >> That has has two M's, right? Mhm. Uh this has just one M and um. those little microorganisms in there, they're going to break this stuff. they're going to eat it, they're going. to poop it out, and they're going to.

multiply, and there's going to be what. we'll talk about the critters a little. more later, but they're going to be. different critters along the way that. eat those critters, right? And critters. that eat those critters. Right. And it's. going to get really hot up in there, it. might steam, then it's going to cool. back down, it's going to get smaller, and it's just like this little. microenvironment. It is. >> Really, really neat. >> There's actually a food web in there, there's a lot of physics and chemistry. that's going on. It's It is very neat. I'm fascinated by it, too. But. the the upshot of composting is that.

you're taking something and it's being. broken down into its constituent parts, so that it can be reused by plants, and. the whole circle of life can start over. again. Yeah, you're sort of just. accelerating the natural process of like. rot. You're optimizing it. Yeah, like. you mentioned a passive composter, which is to say, you know, lazy hippies. >> [laughter]. >> You could just You could just throw all. that junk out of your window if you. wanted, in a big pile,

and throw your uh some grass clippings. on, and throw uh throw your your fall. leaves on there, and just leave it. there, and that thing will eventually. compost. itself. It will again, it'll produce. methane, and you'll blow up. Or you. could turn You know, you could turn it. every now and then, and maybe. [clears throat] avoid that. But uh No, I. think that makes it an active pile. Well, uh. slightly active pile, then. Right. I. don't mean like every other day. Right.

>> to avoid methane, maybe. But that would. still technically be an active pile. It'd be a poorly managed active pile. >> Yeah, slightly active. Poorly managed. So, >> [laughter]. >> I I'm serious, that's what they call it. >> Okay. I'm just We like to make up our. own names for things. I didn't know you. were going to cease that in Oh, oh. in. year nine. I got you. >> [laughter]. >> Sorry. We'll call that the doobie pile. Okay. No, it's called active management. I. just wanted to make sure that we got it. on the record.

>> So, uh. the big goal here is to reduce your. waste. They say in this article, ultimately will save you tax money. because your landfill won't. >> I thought that was hilarious. Yeah, I. mean, don't count on seeing any any tax. breaks coming anytime soon. But you you. that that got William F. Buckley's. attention. Probably so. Uh so, how do you How do you do this? Let's say you want to start composting. Mhm. There's a 1 2 3 4 5 step process. to get this thing going. Okay, well, let's talk about them. First thing you.

want to do is just pick out the place. you want to do it. All right. Because it's, you know, it's. a bit of a mess. It It's It doesn't have to be. necessarily, but it depending on your. neighbors, they might be like, "Well, great, I'm glad you started a. an unsightly pile of kitchen rubbish. Yeah. and and food waste that I can see. from my deck. Thanks a lot for that. So, that's something you want to keep in. consideration. Apparently, even if you. do have a very well-managed active pile,

um. what would you call that? I'm not making up funny names anymore. >> [laughter]. >> No more jokes. I ruined it. Um it's still it still may stink here or. there. Sure. So, you want it kind of. away from the house, but not so far away. that if you're feeling lazy, you're not. going to go out and tend to it on a. daily or every other day-ly basis. Yeah, and if you have that much land. that you would you have a compost pile a. mile from your house, Mhm.

good for you. Yeah, sure. You got some. acreage. Uh. there might be some local rules, either. from your HOA, heaven forbid if you have. to belong to one of those, Mhm. or uh. maybe just your municipality might have. uh rules and regulations. Yeah. So, check with them first. Sure. That's what. everyone does before they start a. compost pile. They go down to city hall. and say, "What Tell me the rules and. regulations surrounding composting in my. yard.". >> No, I think the first thing everyone. does is start throwing their eggshells. out the window. Sure. That's how it. always starts. Right.

It's like, "I'm tired of these things. being in my trash.". Uh they recommend downwind, cuz like you. said, it might stink a bit. Uh. sun. is good in a way, but you don't want it. baking in the sun all day. No, because. it'll dry it out. Remember, you want it. to be kind of moist. >> Yes. And the sunlight can actually dry. it out. >> Sure. So, you want Apparently, the best. place to put it is under a deciduous. tree. Good spot. Yeah, cuz in the in the. wintertime, there's no leaves on the. tree, so the sun's going to keep it warm.

when it's cold, >> Yeah. but during the summer, it's going. to be shaded by the tree, so it won't. dry out. It's just perfect. It is. Deciduous tree equals love. >> [laughter]. >> Uh wind is good to provide a little air, but you don't want it blowing, scattering the stuff all over the place, drying it out again. >> Right. No good. Uh what else? Drainage. Don't start one. in that old baby pool. >> [laughter]. >> that you don't want to throw out. Especially if your baby's in there. Uh Yeah, you want good drainage. Like, generally, you build either build a bin,

we'll talk about this stuff actually. right now, Yeah. but it's off the. ground. Sure. It's on legs. Yeah. Although you can have a pile, Right. but um you know, generally, you. want to you want to build a bin or buy a. bin. Right. And those things sit. off the ground. Right. Because of drainage. That's part of it, for sure. Yeah. Um. you also want dirt, rather than say like. a concrete pad or something like that. Yeah, don't compost in your driveway.

>> [clears throat]. >> Right. It's not a good idea. Um as far as structures go, you can like. you said, you can go buy one. They're. not very expensive, from what I. understand, right? Yeah, it depends on. the size. You can also say go buy some. cinder blocks and build something like. that. >> Sure. Um but basically, you can cut. compost structures into two. There's a. single bin, Mhm. and there's a. three-bin system. So, in the single-bin. system, you put new stuff on top, new. banana peels. This is what I think of.

when I think composting, you know? Banana peels? Sure. Yeah. Um you put new. stuff on top, and then you take a pitchfork or shovel. or something like that, and you work you. work it in to the compost. And at the. bottom of the structure, say it's open. when you're walking up to it, >> Mhm. the. the finished compost will accumulate at. the bottom. And the reason it. accumulates at the bottom is cuz it's of. a finer finer grain. Yeah. Um and that's.

it. Single bin, new stuff at the top, easy peasy. Stuff that's in process in. the middle, stuff that's finished in the. bottom, and it will just naturally kind. of separate like that. Yeah, and when. we're talking structure like that, if. you want to build one, you know, build a. wood frame, and it's like got chicken. wire walls and a chicken wire bottom, Mhm. and that gives you the air, and if. you got something to collect it. underneath, it's going to fall, you. know, when it's small enough. >> Right. Uh some other stuff might fall, you may need to add it back in. >> Yeah. But uh with the three-bin system, you've got.

Well, you've got three bins. You've got. the starter stuff, you got the once it starts to break down. little stuff, and then you have the more. finished product. Right. And you have to. actively manage. that system. Yeah, that system sounds. unnecessarily difficult. Uh I kind of. like it. Oh, you're a three-bin guy? Well, we're about to get into this for real. We've been. um lazily composting for a while, >> Mhm. but um we're we're doing our whole. backyard, like we're getting rid of our. grass, basically. Oh, yeah? 100% of it.

What are you going to do? Compost? Mulch and beds and plants and herbs and. Xeriscaping? You can put cacti in and. all that? Uh no cacti. Although we do. have a palm tree. We've had that. forever, though. There you go. Um Yeah, just getting [clears throat] rid of the. grass, basically. Cuz it takes up so. much water? Uh just it it's just. it's not good grass to begin with, and I I'm not the best about cutting it. Lawnmowers are terrible. Plus, you don't. water it enough. You never let a quarter.

inch of water accumulate on the. >> [laughter]. >> Exactly. Yeah, just and you know, it'll it'll. look nicer. So, part of this and this. company that's doing it is. uh it's not just a landscaping company, they're they're a. uh you know, they're a bunch of hippies. Oh, got you. So, they're they're. designing it in such a way that that. feeds itself, and part of that is. composting. Got you. Anyway, long long. way of saying we're going to start like. for real composting very shortly. And. you're going with the three-bin. structure? >> I don't know.

I think I'm going to build it. I. It's bit Well, it's the structure Emily. tells me to build. Okay. >> [laughter]. >> It's the easiest way to say it. >> Got you. Yeah. Uh but if you buy one, like you were. saying, um there's. all different kinds, just, you know, look look it up online, or go to a. hardware store, and, you know, many of. them will look like a big barrel. on legs, and it literally turns, like. has a crank on it, Right. where you can. turn this thing in circles. It's. old-timey. So, you don't have to use a. pitchfork at all. Right. You don't have.

to muss your hands or your hair. It's. like a bingo. Yeah. spinner. But with banana peels. Have you ever. played bingo? Like, legit bingo in a. room. with hundreds of people? Not hundreds, no. More than like you and Yumi? Yes. Like a bingo parlor? Is that what. they're called? >> Yeah. I've actually gone to um a couple of. like uh senior retirement homes. >> [laughter]. >> and helped out with uh bingo. Wow. >> a pretty pretty cool experience,

actually, cuz Do you run the bingo? It's. uh Or you just play and kind of crack. jokes? No, I'm not qualified to run the. bingo. >> Right, right. >> Just walk around and point out if. somebody missed one that they, you know, that was called, that kind of thing, but. do you want to talk about taking it. seriously? >> Do they? Oh my god. And then you have to. be a certified bingo uh master to run. the show? Yeah, and they'll like tell you to hurry. up and like shout if you're if you're. not like loud enough or fast enough or. going too fast and like. >> So, the point is not to have fun. No,

the point is to win. Wow, what do they. win? They prizes? Yeah, nothing much. usually. I mean, but you can I think. like you can play bingo in casinos for. thousands and thousands of dollars. Yeah. Usually at old folks homes, they. don't you know Sure. They they there's. not thousands of dollar prizes. Like. it's not. right. >> [laughter]. >> Right, exactly. All right, well let's. take a break here after we have talked. structure. and we'll talk a little bit about what. you want what kind of junk you want to. throw in that pile.

>> [music]. [music]. >> All right, Chuck. So, we're talking what you want to throw. on the pile, right? >> your bin. either a triple three banger Got your. site. Or single. You got your site.

>> You bribed your neighbor to look the. other way. You bribed your neighbor. Exactly. You bought a goat. Oh, man. Talking about green living. My. neighbor has goats now, like five of. them. Are they loud? No. Oh, that's great. >> Every once in a while I hear them, but. it's a joy to hear, so it's not like. it's not like a rooster. >> Do you wake up and look out and say, "Morning, Satan?". No. [laughter]. Well, goats are one of my favorites, so. it's kind of nice to have them around. Are they baby goats or adult goats? >> No, they're big ones. I mean, she got. them to maintain the property.

>> Hm. Cuz she was tired of cutting I guess. she didn't want to zero scape it, so she. bought goats. >> Right. Anyway, it's it's awesome. Uh. kitchen waste, Josh. That's what you. want to throw in there. >> Well, yeah, that's the first one. That's. the one that everybody says. That's why. you compost, right? >> Yeah. And yeah, banana peels. Everybody. knows that. But did you also know you. can compost apple cores and orange. rinds? >> You can also eat apple cores. >> [laughter]. >> Yeah, you you believe there is no such. thing as a core, right?

>> Yeah, that's cuz there's not. Um. sane people who leave their apple cores. left over, [laughter] they can compost. those things. Those are the easy ones. You can also do coffee grounds. Yeah, that's a good one. Paper filters. Throw. that filter and all in there. Well, okay. So, let's just say I ate maybe a. whole pizza to myself. I've got a couple. of napkins wadded up. What do I do with. those, Chuck? Uh. I think you can throw those napkins in. there, Josh. >> Yeah? Isn't that crazy? It is crazy.

Newspaper? Yeah? >> Corn cobs? >> If you still read a newspaper if if you. get your news on the internet, throw. your laptop in there. >> [laughter]. >> Watermelon rinds? Yeah? Seeds? Leaves? Mhm. Uh and you know the the butt end of the. asparagus that no one cooks? >> Yeah. Throw that junk in there. Um you. can also do yard waste, too. Sure. Right? So, you've got grass clippings, which we'll talk about in a second. We. got a couple warnings as far as grass. clippings goes. >> Not too much. Um but like let's say.

you're raking leaves or something like. that, throw some leaves on there. >> Yeah, good crunchy brown ones. And you. can also throw like trimmings from your. like shrubs. If you trim your woody. shrubs. >> Okay. Um. the key here is this, Chuck. You want to cut all this stuff up in. small bits. Yeah, don't throw a whole. corn cob in there. You you can. >> No, it'll throw your compost pile just. throw it right back out. Yeah, it'll. just spit it right back out.

>> Right. It's very funny. It'll make a. burping noise. >> Yeah. Uh they say to shred the corn cob. I don't have a corn cob shredder. >> I don't either. Um. I've never thought about that. I I. wouldn't waste like my blender blade on. chopping up corn cobs. I think the point. is is. breaking it into little pieces, sure. >> can break it into little pieces, though. >> Yeah, you probably cut a corn cob up. Yeah, and you can also. like. you can take all this stuff and chop it. Anything you can put in a smaller. pieces, the better. Cuz as we'll see,

what you're really doing is you're not. just breaking it up. You have to look at. it like what you're doing is increasing. the surface area, so more microbes can. work on it at once. Yeah, like if if you. have I know you hate broccoli, but Man, I hate broccoli. >> the little florets off and you've got. that big green broccoli stalk. >> Yeah. Uh cut that thing up as small as. you can as small as. >> Set it on fire. >> you have patience for and throw that. junk in there. Yeah, and basically. channel your inner anal chef.

Gross. You remember him? The anal chef? >> Yeah. Was that a real thing? >> Yeah, on Saturday Night Live. Phil. Hartman. No, I don't remember that. >> retentive chef. >> Oh, okay. I forgot the retentive part. That's a big. >> yeah. I remember that. big qualifier. >> [laughter]. >> It's like I don't get that I don't get. that joke, Mommy. Yeah. Remember the anal retentive chef? >> Yeah, I do remember that now. >> He'd like start to if he was dicing like. green peppers and one of them was bigger. than the rest, he'd just be like, "Okay, well, you want to take those chunks and. you want to put them into a paper towel.

and then you want to fold that up and. then you put that into some aluminum. foil and you fold that up and you put. that into a paper bag and you roll it up. and then you staple it and then you. throw it away.". >> [laughter]. >> Boy, man, what a loss that was. Uh still. makes me sad. So, you mentioned newspaper earlier. Um. if you live near the ocean. and you've got your hands on some. seaweed. or some kelp. you can rinse that stuff off. >> Right. to so you don't want all that. salt content in there. >> No. But it's really good and nutrient.

rich if you rinse that off and put it in. your compost pile. Yeah. And it's also good for you to eat, too. I know I sound nuts, but just eat that. stuff. What do you mean? People eat. seaweed. >> good for you. Yeah. Sawdust? You don't want to eat that. No, but like. I'm building my compost bin, I can put. that sawdust back in it. How about that? Yeah. Pretty neat. >> Circle of life, baby. >> [laughter]. >> What should not you compost? Night soil. Which is poopy soil. Yep. And any kind.

of poop. >> cat. you don't go take a big dump over your. compost pile. No. >> you want to. >> No, that's not good. >> No. Um diseased garden plants. That's a. big one. Yeah. Some of this stuff. though, as we'll find, doesn't quite. make sense, but it's just good to err on. the side of um. garbage in, garbage out. Except with. compost. If you put garbage garbage in. then it's going to be really bad. If you.

put good healthy garbage in it's going. to come out as as quite good. So, you. don't want to put any diseased plants in. there. Um. invasive weeds are another one, too. Yeah, but it says you can also put weeds. in there, so I guess you just need to. figure out which ones are uh the bad. ones. >> Yeah. So, the this specifically calls out. buttercups, morning glory, and quack. grass. I'm quite sure that there's plenty of. seeds that wouldn't survive the. composting process. >> Yeah. But apparently these do. So, stay. away from the quack grass. Yeah.

>> [laughter]. >> That was I think that was the big mantra. at Woodstock. Sure. It's a gateway drug. >> Don't have the yellow sunshine or the. quack grass. >> It was the brown the brown acid. >> Brown acid. Which I mean. who wants brown acid, you know? Bleah. And what about uh you're talking about. kitchen stuff, what about meat and. dairy? Oh, okay. That's that's. controversial. It is cuz Emily has taken. classes and they were like, "No, don't. use any of that.". >> Yeah. That's like uh animal cells and.

and fats in particular, they putrefy. They don't decompose. And putrefaction. makes them stinky stuff and I think it. can also generate a lot of disease. bearing pathogens. So, I was surprised. to see this article say Yeah. >> put it in there. >> Well, and they kind of said in this. article if you if you're really heavily. managing this thing, you can do it. But. I don't know. I've just heard don't. >> They said turn it into a slurry, which I. don't want to see Freud and Riches'.

blender at home. >> A steak fat slurry. >> Gross, with corn cob leavings on it. But. he said whip it up into a slurry and as. long as it's a good hot actively managed. pile it'll it won't be a problem. I'm. going to go ahead and say I don't think. you should do that. >> Okay. I don't know what to do with the. animal leavings Mhm. but I don't think. you should compost it. All right. Uh it. might make sense to you to say, "Hey, I.

have an outdoor fire pit. I bet that. would be great in my composter." No. Incorrect. Although this specifically. says charcoal ashes. I think that's any kind of charred. ashes. Yeah, like burnt wood is called. charcoal. So, are you sure? Because I. know it what I know what you just said. was true. But supposedly the entire. Amazon basin, and I learned this from. the greatest book of all time, 1491 by. Charles C. Mann. >> Uh-huh. The entire Amazon basin was a.

managed forest um that the indigenous. peoples down there had made completely. fertile and fecund by. instead of slash and burn, they were. using slash and char techniques. And. there was way more carbon locked into. the charred tree stumps than there was. the ashes. So, it became more fertile. So, I have a question about that one. You know, I'm going to back off of my. determined stance and say.

I don't know. It would make sense if it. was coal. Like if it was coal. >> briquettes because they have cement and. all sorts of chemicals and junk on them. >> But if it's charred wood or wood ash, I. wonder. All right. Well, >> Somebody let us know. Charles C. Mann, tell us. Uh the pesticide treated. plants, you you know, you know my stance. on pesticides, period. Sure. Don't use. them, but if you do, definitely don't. put that stuff in there cuz your whole. thing here is you want to you want a. more or less organic compost pile.

Right. >> end. And so, one of the things that. people love about compost is it actually. is organic. And we're going to explain. how. I didn't know this until um we did. this research, but we'll explain how. because we're going to go through the. process that your compost pile undergoes. right after this. >> [music].

[music]. [music]. >> All right, I did something we rarely do, which is look something up as we're. podcasting cuz it just sounded lazy to. be like, "Oh, we don't know this one.". Um. gardensalive.com says um. uh wood ashes are so strongly alkaline. that it doesn't take a lot to upset the. balance in the pile and stop the. processing. You can add a very small.

amount. of wood ash from like your fireplace or. wood burning stove. >> Mhm. Um. but apparently not much. So, >> Okay. I think. you know, like you were kind of right in. that it it's not completely forbidden. Right, but I Sounds like too much is not. a good thing. >> I think that's what Freud was saying, like don't even mess with it. >> Okay, so why why bother? >> Put in animal fats instead. Well, and. that's what the the person from. gardensalive.com was saying is like it's. so little that it's not really going to. make a difference and if you're trying. to get rid of it in a different way.

>> Right. She's like, it's not really going. to matter. But the but it raises a great. question, Chuck. Why in the name of all. things holy would it matter what the. alkalinity is of your compost pile? And I'll tell you why. Because It's a chemistry experiment. >> It is. It's a It's a chemistry. experiment, but it's also a biological. experiment. You have a microcosm growing. there. >> Mhm. And there's actually really easy. things you can do to optimize this and. basically create a Xanadu paradise for.

the the microbes and primary and. secondary and tertiary. consumers of this stuff that you're. putting in there to break down so that. they they just have the greatest life. that any invertebrate or microbe ever. had. All right, should we talk chemistry a. bit then come back to just the. management and stuff? >> Uh-huh. All right. What you're really. talking about here for an ideal. composting scene. you need a disco ball? Right. >> [laughter]. >> And you need a proper. uh C N ratio, which is carbon to.

nitrogen ratio. And depending on how wonky you want to. get. and if you want to start measuring. things, you can do that. But from what I. gather. just try and. do a lot to a little, about 30 to 1. carbon to nitrogen. Right. And and. eyeball it. And the rule of thumb is. this, if it's green and um recently. deceased. and by green like a a a nice banana peel.

would qualify as this, >> [laughter]. >> right? Pliable and green or, you know, again, recently deceased, it is. um high in nitrogen. Right. If it's. brown and dried, it's high in carbon. So, you want to actually when you're. adding the compost, you want to just. kind of layer this stuff in about those. ratios, 30 to 1. And there's actually tables. Like if. you're a big time into this, there are.

tables out there that tell you just. about exactly the carbon to nitrogen. ratio in each individual thing. Yeah. But what what we said earlier, you. want to avoid grass clippings, this is. why. Cuz they're too high in nitrogen. >> Right. And what happens when you have. too much nitrogen? It's bad. Right. It makes your pile stinky. Yeah, that's what Is that where the. methane starts creeping in? Uh that. actually I think leads to ammonia gas. >> Oh, okay. Right. But you also don't want. too much carbon either, Chuck. Yeah.

Because so, you carbon and nitrogen, carbon is like the building block and. it's an energy source for these. microbes. Nitrogen is um essential to. their growth and their metabolic. activity as well. >> Yeah. But when they have this in these. concentrations, that's when they. flourish. Yeah, and the other problem with carbon. too is it's just so it breaks down so. slowly. Mhm. Um Well, it depends on the. source. Yeah, that's true, but generally. a lot of the carbon sources like. newspaper and corn cobs and stuff like.

that, it's just so much slower process. Right, right. So, like they have um much. tougher. uh structural support in their cells. >> They have structural integrity. Exactly. Um they need to have a good saying. that rhymes. Like if it's yellow, let it. mellow. If it's brown, flush it down. >> Sure. Um I thought you were heading. toward that. I was just kind of like on. the edge of my seat. No. >> Like if it's green. >> I walked right past that one. >> Maybe maybe there is one that we don't. know. Or maybe someone can write one.

Like a a creative listener? I'd love to. hear it. I'll bet we get a bunch of. those. All right, oxygen, if you're. talking. if we're talking ratios. >> [sighs]. >> and again, you can wonk out as much as. possible, but the good news is about. your compost pile is it's not like it. needs to be like the oxygen that you. need. No. >> walking around to breathe. Which is I. think 21% in the atmosphere? Yeah, that's what we we have going on. It can. get by these aerobic microbes at as low. as 5%. Yeah, that's cutting it close.

It's cutting it close. They say try to. hover somewhere around 10 or up. Right. And. >> Um how do you measure that on your own? >> You just aerate your pile and it's fine. By either turning it or you can do hold. PVC. Mhm. And I guess that brings us kind of to. the management part. Sure. Um. you don't just. sit there unless you want to have a. totally passive pile. Mhm. And who wants that? Uh you have to manage this thing either. every day or every other day, turn it. like we were saying, either with the the.

little crank if you got a handy little. barrel unit or with a pitchfork or they. call it a composting fork in here. Yeah, that's pretty fancy. >> It's probably the same thing, isn't it? >> It's the same thing as a pitchfork. except like $50 more. >> [laughter]. >> Uh you want to water it some, but again, um do you want to give watering advice? >> [laughter]. >> You don't want it from me. You don't. want it to be soaking wet. >> No. You want it to be moist. Yeah. Damp. People hate that word, so we'll. say damp. Um and again, I mentioned the perforated.

PVC pipe, so I can help. Uh it says you can avoid turning it by. having those pipes. I would still turn. it. I would too, just to mix it up, right? >> Yeah, but putting PVC pipes throughout. your pile would make it really difficult. to turn, so. Well, you can pull them. out. I guess you could. >> You know. But getting them back in is a. real pain. You can stick them back in. >> [laughter]. >> Another way to get to introduce oxygen. is earthworms. Oh, man, this is where I. go crazy. Oh, yeah? We have a lot of. worms on our property and just cuz.

there's a lot of worms in Georgia. >> Yeah. Um We did a great episode on. earthworms, remember? Yeah, and every. time I find them, um I pick them up. I. show them to Emily and she immediately. says throw it in the garden. Mhm. You. know. Sure. And that's cuz we weren't. composting heavily. Now it's going to be. throw them in the compost pile. >> Sure. But these guys are great because. they naturally I mean, they do a lot of. things, but one of the things they do is. naturally aerate by just tunneling. through that stuff. Yeah, so earthworms. and then worms in general are.

probably the most important. non-microscopic. resident in your compost pile. Yeah. Cuz. they do so much. So, worms and. especially earthworms and most types of. nematodes. um they actually go in and like eat a. lot of this stuff that's in the compost. pile, a lot of the food waste, right? Or. organic waste. And in doing so, they. break it down. And as they break it. down, they make it easier for the. microbes to digest themselves.

>> Mhm. Should we start with the microbes? >> Yeah. Okay. So, again, this compost. pile, when you add food waste to the. pile and add soil, you're introducing. energy source to energy consumer. Okay? Yes. And at the base of this is the is. microbial life. >> Mhm. Bacteria mostly. But um the. bacteria go to town, they start eating. this stuff and the smaller it is, the. more surface area there is, the more the. bacteria can eat. They actually take the.

nutrients out of this and use it for. cellular respiration, which is why they. need oxygen. They take oxygen and. combine it with the carbon and they. create ATP, which they use as an energy. source to power their cells and live and. frolic and play. And in doing so, they. create carbon dioxide. That's right. So, um as they're doing this, they're. they're actually breaking this stuff. down from what you'd recognize as a. banana peel closer and closer to that. finished humus product.

>> Yes. So, you got bacteria and they're a. big part of it. And depending on the. phase that the compost pile is in, there will be different kinds of. bacteria in your compost pile. Yeah, and it's not, you know, just. bacteria, there's fungi. doing lots of work. Um we mentioned nematodes. They're. you're going to eventually get mites in. there and slugs. Mhm. You've already. thrown your worms in. Some millipedes. doing some action with all these cute.

little legs. >> And overall, these are known as primary. consumers. Uh some are. Are Are all of them primary. consumers? Well, they're listed. >> Okay. [laughter]. by this person who made this fancy. chart. So then above that Chuck you get. the secondary consumers. >> Secundo. And those are right. Those are. the. Those are the predators of the primary. consumers, right? Yeah. And then you. have tertiary consumers. They're the. predators of the secondary consumers. And so you put all this together and.

what you have is is a food web. You have. microbes breaking the stuff down, worms. and stuff doing the same thing in in. some ways. And then other predators different. graduated levels of predators praying on. the smaller animals to keep their. population in check and to keep. everything in a perfect balance so that. it's as efficient as possible. And eventually a great white shark comes. along. What gets me. is everything eats the whole pile thanks. to a sharknado. What gets me though the best the best.

part of all this to me is that if you. look at the lifespan of a compost pile. from. brand new to finished humus. >> From banana peel. to humus. Yes. It's a It forms a bell as. far as the temperature gradient goes, right? >> Yeah, it's really kind of cool. So the. first stage is the mesophilic stage. Temperatures get up to I think 40° C. I can't remember what that is in. Fahrenheit. Yeah, we'll go with Celsius. then. >> Okay. So it's warmish. Mhm. And then.

as the cellular respiration mounts and. builds and more and more bacteria are. born and start eating and and carry this. cellular respiration out. The byproducts. are CO2 and heat. And heat starts to accumulate in the. compost pile. So much so that it gets up. to something like 50 to 60° C which is. like 100 to 150°. F. Yeah, and. at this point your organisms are going. to change. You're going to have. thermophilic. They're These are little.

heat loving critters. And they move in because it's nice and. warm. They're snowbirds. They're desert. dwellers. And they like it when it's warm. Um. But here's the thing is you want to like. You want You don't want it to get too. hot. So you want to continue to aerate. and keep that temperature in check. What. you want is that natural bell to happen. on its own. Right. So the mesophilic. bacteria die off or they go kind of. dormant as it enters the thermophilic. phase. And then after the thermophilic.

phase ends, the reason it ends is. because they've eaten up all of the. stuff that's there to eat and only the. hard stuff's left over. And so the. thermophiles go away and some of the. mesophiles come back and new stuff comes. in like um. actinomycetes. Actinomycetes. Okay. Which are kind of. like a weird fungi bacteria cross. They. break down like the really hard woody. shrubby stuff. Yeah. And they finish it.

off. And this third phase is called the. curing phase, right? >> Yeah. And at the end of all of it you. have this great nutrient rich humus. Humus. But in the middle of that when it gets. really hot Yeah. It gets so hot Chuck. that pathogens that can make you sick, that can make animals sick, that can. make plants sick. >> Mhm. are actually killed off in the. phase. Which is why when you get your. hands on compost on humus it's organic. It's been basically treated naturally to.

rid itself of. parasites, pathogens, all sorts of bad. stuff. And all that's left is the. nutrients that have been broken down in. the process that a plant can use very. easily. And again the circle of life. starts over again. Yeah, and you know I. mentioned sun earlier can dry it out but. it if it if it gets over 65° C. it's going to kill off so many microbes. It's going to really slow down your. process. >> Right. So that's another reason you turn. it is to kind of keep and again don't.

have it direct sunlight but it's going. to keep that temperature. where it does its thing naturally. >> Right. Where you don't want to you know put a. heat lamp on it. Just want to keep it moist. Turn it over. and let it do its thing. Yeah. And you. might come out there on a chilly morning. there might be steam coming off of that. sucker. And dude that's when you just. like You go hot dog. Yeah, hot diggity. dog. >> [laughter]. >> You go inside and you eat a banana. And you throw it on the on the pile. Yeah. All right, so when is it all over? Oh.

man, I just love This is why I love. earth science. Yeah, it's really. amazing. Cuz it's like it requires a. little bit of human management but then. you kind of just step away and say do. your thing. Yeah. It's really neat. When. is it over? Well, you can tell there's a. few ways of being able to tell. The temperature starts to go down. Mhm. If it's below 100° F it's out of the. thermophilic phase. And it's now into. the mesophilic phase. This says that. it's probably done. I disagree. I think.

you probably want it even cooler than. that because the longer you let it cure. the more diverse the microbes inside are. going to be. The better the soil that. you use to amend it with is going to be. >> True. Temperature's one. One of it is just eyeball it and if it's. if it's about 50% decomposed like if you. still see clearly a banana peel then. it's not done. Right. >> You don't want to recognize this stuff. as food at this point. Right. Or an. eggshell or whatever.

And is it is it smaller? If it's been. reduced by 50 to 75%. >> Mhm. and it's dark brown or black and. crumbly. and it looks kind of like soil then. you're you're cooking with gas as my dad. used to say. Um. the texture. Did you say smooth or crumbly? Yeah. What about the smell? Well, it shouldn't. it shouldn't stink bad at this point. >> No, it should smell earthy. And actually. one of my favorites the actinomycetes.

Yeah. The actinomycetes. Okay. >> [laughter]. >> They are the reason that soil and dirt. has its smell. It's those guys. Yeah. They give it its earthy smell. Isn't. that cool? Yeah, and I think we didn't. mention you know that it's doing well. along the way if it it stops smelling. Like it doesn't just stink the whole. time. Right. And it's not going to smell. earthy. The soil that you add will smell. earthy but when you grab a handful of. humus it should just fall through your. fingers. It should be the closer to.

black the better. And it should smell. like every everything associated with. earth should smell like it. like the word earth. That's what it. should smell like. Like you'll. understand what earth smells like. >> Yeah, they said peat moss. If you If. none of this makes sense go to your. local hardware store or lawn and garden. center and smell the peat moss. Exactly. So now that it's done Yeah. you've got. your. wonderfully natural. fertilizer. Use it. Put it spread it out in your.

garden. Spread it out around your trees. Throw it in your yard. Spread it around. your naked body and run around your. yard. >> want to. It's going to. >> a doobie pile make you do. [laughter]. Or or quack grass. Yeah. Stay away from that stuff. >> Yeah. It's basically like. the easiest way to put it without. getting too scientific is it's going to. make everything better. Right. It's. going to increase soil microbes. It's. going to increase nutrients and enhance. them. It's going to.

improve the pH and chemistry of your. soil, your yard. It's going to. >> soil structure. And again like what. you've just done is taken stuff and had. it broken down into into its components. Unlocked it for your plants to use. So. your plants are going to say thank you. brother. Pretty amazing. Yep. Some. people create a lot of it and sell it. but you know mainly people do this to. just use around their house. Yeah, and. increasingly towns are starting to do. curbside composting pick up food waste.

pick up. Neat. >> Where you got trash, recycling bin, food. waste bin. >> Banana peels. Your banana peels, right? >> [laughter]. >> That's it. All right. Go forth and. compost. Yeah. If you want to know more. about composting you can type that word. in the search bar at howstuffworks.com. Cornell actually also has a really great. site about composting if you want to. know more about the science of it. Love that site. >> And since I said Cornell it's time for. listener mail. I'm going to call this child life.

specialists. We had a couple of these that wrote in. Remember we talked about this? In the. pain scale episode. And we kind of. surmised what it was and we were turns. out we were right. And by the way we. heard from paramedics, doctors. quite a few people about the worst pain. Yeah, you don't want a long bone. fracture. Yeah, almost 100% of them said. a broken femur is like the worst pain. you can experience. [music] And should. we say why? Yeah, go ahead. So Several. reasons, right? >> We are right because apparently that's a.

very sensitive area. But also because. without that structure your muscles. start spasming. Right. Which just rocks. the whole thing back and forth even. more. And then it like fragmented bone. hitting nerve and like. all kinds of badness. Yeah. Woo. So steer clear of that. All right. So uh. We heard from from two. [music] I'm. going to read the one but I'm going to. shout them both out. Hey guys, very. excited to hear you mention child life. specialist during your recent episode on. pain scales.

As a child life specialist myself I. thought I'd take the opportunity to tell. you a little bit about our profession. You are right. Chuck a child life specialist is. we help kids deal with being. hospitalized. That's really the essence. of our job. We support children and. families throughout stressful situations. such as hospitalizations [music] using. our knowledge of child development and. play to facilitate coping. Child life. specialists um. provide children with developmentally. appropriate education about diagnoses. and treatments, preparation and support.

for procedures, and opportunities for. normalization and play. Um What a great job. >> Seriously. I can't think of too many. jobs that are more rewarding than that. >> Seriously. We also provide support for. siblings and provide legacy building and. memory making in end-of-life situations. Ooh. Uh, our profession is very rewarding. Josh, you were right. She predicted you. would say that. >> [laughter]. >> Uh, and I love going to work every day. To become a uh, C L S, you must have a bachelor's or. master's degree in child development or.

related field. Complete a 640-hour. child life internship. Mhm. And pass a. national certification exam. Uh, you can. visit uh, www.childlife.org. to learn more about it. Uh, thanks for. what you guys do. You've made all my. road trips interesting. And thanks for. spreading the word about child life. Maybe you can do an entire episode on. our profession in the future. She said future. Okay. >> [laughter]. >> And that is Natalie Valentine and also a.

big shout out to Amanda Butler from. Auburn University who does that there. Uh, thanks for writing in, ladies. It. sounds like it's a really, really great. job. >> Yeah. Thanks to you both for that and. thanks for everybody who has anything to. do with making kids who are hospitalized. feel better. Um, >> [music]. >> hats off to you. If you want to get in. touch with us, you can uh, tweet to us. at SYSK Podcast or Josh and Chuck. You. can hang out with us on. facebook.com/stuffyoushouldknow.

or /charleswchuckbryant. You can send us an email to stuff. podcast at howstuffworks.com [music] and. as always, join us at our home on the. web, stuffyoushouldknow.com. For more on this and thousands [music]. of other topics, visit. howstuffworks.com.