How your waste can change the world
Transcriber: Dania Méndez
Reviewer: Hani Eldalees
Climate change is the most complicated
challenge of our lifetime.
A massive global challenge comprised
of countless different problems.
But what if I told you,
that there was
a sustainability super solution that
could help address the problems of waste,
agriculture and emissions all at once?
A solution that was affordable
and accessible to everyone, everywhere.
Compost.
So, I’ve been an environmentalist
since before I can remember.
Volunteering, protesting,
anything I could do
to help fight the climate crisis.
But not once,
during 15 years of activism,
did I come across anyone
talking about how compost,
this unassuming but powerful solution,
has the potential to play a major role
in combating climate change.
Honestly, though, before I simply
stumbled across this solution,
before I started researching compost,
before I founded
a compost technology startup,
I thought composting was gross.
I think a lot of us have that perception,
we know that it’s pretty good
for the planet,
but, come on,
a pile of rotting food waste,
that is not as exciting as a Tesla, is it?
Today, I want to talk to you about
exactly why that isn’t true.
Why one of our best solutions
to the climate crisis
is being thrown away.
And how we can change that,
using our most cutting edge technologies.
Firstly, let’s clear up
what composting is.
Composting is the controlled decomposition
of organic waste,
into a natural fertiliser.
Given time all organic materials decompose
as various microorganisms consume
and break them down into their
constituent elements.
Composting is when
we actively manage this decomposition,
by creating optimum conditions
for these microorganisms to thrive
And to transform this waste into
a kind of supercharged soil,
rich and nutrients and diverse
microbial populations.
Composting is a dynamic fusion
of a naturally occurring process
with human ingenuity
and an essential tool to tackle
some of our major climate challenges.
The most obvious problem composting solves
is recycling organic waste.
Every year, we collectively send over
one billion tonnes to landfill
and another two billion from agriculture.
Once sent there, it produces
immense amounts of what are called
high warming potential greenhouse gases,
which have far greater
heat trapping than carbon
and are responsible for around
five percent of global emissions.
These are the major a methane
trapping heat at around 30 times greater
than carbon and nitrous oxide at around
three hundred times stronger.
And this is on top of the severe air
and water pollution that it causes
to surrounding ecosystems.
But composting, it stops all of this
by managing the decomposition
in a way that prevents both pollution
and emissions.
Composting, it also drastically
improves our destructive
and extractive agricultural practices.
Over half of all the food we eat
is grown using chemical fertilizers,
non-renewable resources that
are mined and manufactured.
These fertilizers speed up crop growth
but end up depleting soil of essential
micronutrients microorganisms and moisture
leading to chronic desertification,
drought, famine and less efficient yields
every single harvest.
Study after study, though, has proven
that the end product of compost,
that supercharged soil,
can completely restore any type of land
to preagricultural quality.
And then, there is the nail
in the coffin of climate change,
the capture and long term storage
of carbon emissions.
And yes, compost can do that too.
An experiment conducted over two decades
by the University of California,
found that by increasing the
microbial content of soil,
its capacity for carbon capture
is significantly higher
and more stable when compost is applied.
They found that covering less than a tenth
of California’s agricultural land,
in a few inches of compost
would remove and store carbon equal
to the state’s entire home and
business energy emissions.
So, it stops our waste going to landfill.
It improves our soil and it can literally
pull our emissions out of the air.
And yet, in a time when we are
desperate for answers.
Practical, immediate, affordable answers.
Only around seven percent of organic waste
is being composted.
If compost is so incredible,
why don’t we all do it?
Why doesn’t it come up nearly enough
in the climate conversation?
Why did I think it was so gross
when I first heard about it?
What I’ve discovered is that there are
three simple reasons
why we don’t all compost.
Solve them, and we’re one step
closer to solving the climate crisis.
Firstly, if anyone here has ever
attempted and failed miserably,
you’ll know that compost
can be confusing
or at least confusing to get right.
Despite common misconceptions,
you don’t just throw a bunch of
food scraps into a bin and wait.
It takes careful monitoring of
the pile´s nutrient ratio,
its moisture content
and its oxygen levels,
which are then influenced by its local
climate feedstock profile
and so many other factors unique to each.
Let’s face it, most of us,
we just don’t have the time or expertise
to manage all of those factors correctly.
The second reason
is that compost is inefficient,
sometimes taking years to fully
finish breaking down.
And when compost is inefficient,
it’s ineffective.
In most cases, the turn over period of
a typical batch of small scale composting
should be at most three months,
with some taking even less.
Any longer,
and you’ve basically just built a
mini landfill in your backyard,
complete with all its emissions
and pollution.
Finally, because it’s so
time consuming and confusing,
and then when it goes wrong, you can
get rats and snakes and smells,
compost is unappealing.
The unfortunate reality is that
for sustainability solutions to be popular
they have to be cool.
And compost isn´t cool.
No one actually really cared that much
about electric cars,
until Tesla made them look
less like a golf cart
and more like a top of the line Ferrari.
As superficial as it sounds,
while compost is still just seen
as a pile of rotting food waste,
it will never reach the mass
market appeal it needs to.
All these barriers may not
sound like much,
they´re enough to prevent most people
from becoming composters.
But, with today’s technologies,
we can overcome them.
When I decided to start
a compost technology company,
I had no formal background in it at all.
I didn’t study microbiology
or waste management.
I studied I.T. and business management.
But it was exactly that knowledge,
that enabled me to see a solution.
Until now, we’ve managed compost in a
guess and hope of the best kind of way.
With quality assessment
really going beyond
hot equals good
and smell equals bad.
However, through advanced
modern technologies,
we can now fully and deeply understand
the compositing transformation
from food waste to fertilizer.
New developments in smart devices,
big data analysis and cloud computing
can enable us to model,
monitor and manage any pile anywhere.
My company harnesses these technologies
in a small scale composting solution,
and we are not alone.
Other initiatives in composting innovation
include accelerating decomposition
to within 48 hours,
implementing decentralised
composting networks and extracting
the biogas energy emitted.
Together, we’re working to achieve
that end game of organic waste,
one hundred percent recycling rates,
and restoration into the environment.
Before we get carried away though,
it’s important to note that,
despite my clear obsession with it,
compost is not a silver bullet
to the climate crisis.
But it is something we can all do.
Beyond starting your own pile,
there are countless ways
to become a composter.
No matter where you are.
For example, a community garden
or a neighbor down the road
would welcome your waste
into their compost.
Or collection services
from large recyclers
and small social enterprises
are undoubtedly offered in your area
to pick up your organics.
Because for the rest of our lives,
every day, every single person here
will produce organic waste.
Compost, it may not be the most common
or conventional solution
to the climate crisis,
but it’s something that we can all do
to prevent the impact this waste is having
and fully utilize its potential.
Every day for the rest of our lives,
we will produce this waste.
But it has never been easier,
more accessible,
more affordable, more exciting
for everyone, everywhere
to be a composter.
Because with compost,
you can use your waste
to stop our landfill pollution,
save our soils and cut
our carbon emissions.
With compost, you can use your waste
to change the world.
(Applause)