Organic matter and the carbon cycle: let’s bury it (again)!
Yes, but first, what is this Organic Matter?
Organic matter, also called bio-mass, is all the matter generated directly or indirectly by any form of life, whether human, plant, animal -insects included- or even microbiological such as fungi, yeasts, ferments, and a whole clique of useful bacteria.
All organic matter has
a common point : it contains Carbon
which is a bit like its basic ‘Lego brick’. This carbon will appear in different forms depending on its combination with other elements throughout the Cycle of which it is a part.
In nature, it is usually found ‘stored’ in the form of soil, wood, vegetables, flesh, oil and much more…
When nature follows its spontaneous cycle, these materials usually return to the soil, where they break down again into ‘building blocks’ for reuse.
Leaves fall off, carcasses disintegrate and turn into humus which then feeds the plants which produce flowers/leaves/fruit/roots which then feed humans/animals. The latter, in turn, eliminate them in the form of faeces which fertilize the soil. At least that’s how it has been for millions of years.
But this carbon can also take a completely different route: burned or simply under the action of a temperature high enough to reduce its mass, part of this ‘stock’ is transformed into a gas – CO2 for example (but also CH4, the famous methane) – and released into the atmosphere. This is the type of route that most of the organic matter is taking today.
Nature is well done: plants, through photosynthesis, absorb part of the CO2 and transform it back into oxygen & sugars. If we don’t cut them!
And if we want to act and contribute actively to nature, we can avoid that a third of our garbage is burned and thus its Carbon sent in the air in the form of CO2: by composting we remain as close as possible to the cycle of nature by giving back a part of what it gave us. <3
With BokashiCompost, we bring in bonus life to the soil in the form of effective Micro-Organisms (yeasts, lactate bacteria, photosynthetic bacteria): we strengthen the plants present so that they can continue to do their job of recovering atmospheric carbon to re-stock it in the soil.
If you want to know more about the carbon cycle (the composting part is not covered), here is a very clear video :