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adolph 4 hours ago

Sorry to be a debbie-downer but

the composting process is also a source of greenhouse gas and air pollutant emissions.

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC9933540/

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Carrok 4 hours ago | parent | next [-]

From your source:

> Effective pile management and aeration are key to minimizing CH4 emissions.

So it sounds like a correctly managed pile is not a problem.

Also, I have a hard time believing my composting in my backyard is in any way worse than my sending the same food scraps to a landfill.

	▲	adolph an hour ago \| parent [-]
		Thats great that you can correctly manage a compost pile. That level of conscientiousness is a quality that doesn't seem common across the population. A positive thing about a landfill is that it can take advantage of centralization by capturing biogas created by the large quantities of biodegradable material deposited. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S03603...

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swiftcoder 4 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

So are humans (we breathe out CO2 constantly!). A process emitting greenhouse gases is not an inherent reason to eschew it, so long as the entire end-to-end process isn't net-positive.

Use that compost to fertilise a tree, and you are still net negative on carbon, versus sending those food scraps to the local trash incinerator.

	▲	Lerc 3 hours ago \| parent [-]
		It's all a cycle, They put carbon in, they release carbon out. At least the average American is doing a commendable job in increasing their personal carbon sequestration.