Compost heaps

Turner, C., Williams, A., White, R., and Tillett, R. (2005). Inferring pathogen inactivation from the surface temperatures of compost heaps. Bioresource Technol. 95,521-529. 

PREVENTIVE. Severe codling moth infestation can often be seen in the vicinity of pallet box storage areas or warehouse compost heaps, if codling-moth-infested fruit have been left in the boxes or dumped together. In this case the fruits should be removed. 

PLA may be fabricated into film for packaging and is also made into fibers useful for carpeting (24). PLA is indeed biodegradable, but only under controlled composting conditions. Biodegradation of poly (lactic acid) requires temperatures of about 140 °F for many days to insure decomposition, ultimately into CO and water. Unfortunately, such conditions are not typical of landfills (3) or of most backyard compost heaps. Hence, even plastic bags made from PLA will not quickly disappear from the natural environment. Anaerobic decomposition of PLA results in liberation of methane, an even more potent greenhouse gas than CO (25-28). 

All Esmeralda s plants die shortly after she gets them home from the store consequently, she has the best compost heap in town. 

Natural fibers will rot away. You can even put discarded clothes on a compost heap. 

You can make your own worm composter, using stackable storage boxes, wire mesh, a drain cock, and synthetic carpet for a lid, but the simplest way to get started is to buy a readymade kit, complete with a supply of the same kind of worms that normally live in well-rotted manure or compost heaps. 

All compost heaps need a mix of greens —soft green matter high in nitrogen—and browns — tougher plants that take longer to rot and are high in carbon. If you put in a lot of kitchen waste, add bulkier items such as cardboard and egg cartons. 

To get high-speed compost, the compost heap needs to heat up. The best way to achieve this is to fill the composter with well-mixed, well-watered materials all at once, and then leave it for a week or two while it heats up. When it starts to cool, mix it up to introduce more oxygen, then cover it to let it heat up again. You may need to do this several times, but you should be able to use the dark brown, crumbly composted matter in six to eight weeks. This is a great method if you have time to do the turning, and have space for another one or two composters to take your new garden and kitchen waste in the meantime. 

Grass snakes sometimes use compost heaps as nesting sites. The warmth of the rotting vegetation provides ideal conditions for incubating their eggs. 

Nature has provided in the forest an example which can be safely copied in transforming wastes into humus - the key to prosperity. This is the basis of the Indore Process. Mixed vegetable and animal wastes can be converted into humus by fungi and bacteria in ninety days, provided they are supplied with water, sufficient air, and a base for neutralizing excessive acidity. As the compost heap is alive, it needs just as much care and attention as the live stock on the farm otherwise humus of the best quality will not be obtained. ... 

Photodegradable plastics degrade after prolonged exposure to sunlight, so will not degrade if buried in a landfill, a compost heap, or other dark environment, or if heavily overprinted. Oxo-biodegradable... 

For most forms of life, physiological conditions correspond to temperatures of about 25 C, atmospheric pressures of about 1 bar, and osmotic pressures of about 5 bar. Such organisms are called mesophillic. Besides these, there are also extremophilic forms of life which can only exist under extreme conditions. What are known as thermophilic organisms can occur in hot springs, deserts, and compost heaps and these can withstand... 

Unlike xenobiotic substrates, biopolymers such as cellulose have been in the eco-system for a very long time, allowing the evolution of efficient enzymatic pathways specific for the breakdown of these substrates. Common biopolymers therefore readily undergo biodegradation in a wide variety of environmental conditions ranging from aerobic compost heaps to anoxic deep-sea marine sediments. 

One group put polarized metal electrodes into compost heaps. .. O. Nercessian et al. Harvesting electricity with Geobacter bremensis isolated from compost. 2012. PLoS One 7(3), p. e34216. DOI 10.1371/journal.pone.0034216. 

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