Marco Bitran: How To Recycle Grass Clippings

The snow shovels have been put away. The grass is starting to turn green and grow and, before you know it, lawn mowing season will be here.

This year do your lawn or your garden a favor: don’t bag and send those grass clippings to the landfill.

The Environmental Protection Agency estimates that yard waste accounts for 18% of the refuse sent to the landfill. Therefore, it is time to start to rethink clipping removal.

Instead of bagging, grass clippings should either be left on the ground – a term commonly know as “grasscycling” – or collected and added to an ongoing compost pile.

Some homeowners bag and discard grass clippings out of habit or because it’s a common practice in the neighborhood. Others don’t like to see globs of cut grass on top of the lawn. There is also a misconception that grass clippings cause turf disease or form a thatch layer.

The idea that grass clippings result in thatch in not true. It has been refuted for many years. Consider golf courses. They mow fairways and greens almost daily and return clippings back to the turf. In cases where clippings are removed, they re-used in manure spreaders; in garden beds and around trees.

If you opt not to participate in “grasscycling” and want to bag your clippings, you should consider starting a compost pile. Although a compost pile is more labor-intensive, the long-term rewards offer a rich soil amendment for your garden and flower beds.

Marco Bitran: The Basics of Composting

Entrepreneur Marco Bitran recently served as CEO of Al Exchange, Inc., an innovative business which specializes in investment strategy. Bitran personally developed a technology for the company that allows financial advisers to explore alternative investment tactics. Community-minded and family-oriented, Marco Bitran recently began a composing project with his son, who is in grade school.

Composting is a basic and natural phenomenon, beneficial to the soil as well as the environment. By turning yard and household waste into fertilizer, composting helps recycle materials that would otherwise end up in a landfill. In a compost pile, the process of decomposition is accelerated by the presence of bacteria and fungi, which constantly feed on the discarded scraps of plant and animal matter.

Ideally, composting bins or piles should be located in an area with excellent air circulation, proximity to a water source, and easy access to whatever garden or yard will eventually receive the compost. As decomposition results in an unpleasant odor, it can be wise to establish composting systems out-of-doors.