The Virtual Composter - Learn to compost. Every year each person creates 360 pounds of food and yard waste. In efforts to reduce waste, some communities in the United States are already switching to market-based systems in which citizens are charged per bag of garbage they create. If these ingredients are avoided, and the compost is occasionally mixed to let in oxygen, foul odors should be eliminated. By addressing the solid waste issue, composting provides a way of instilling in children a sense of environmental stewardship.
Many educational programs focus on reducing, reusing, and recycling our solid wastes.
Composting fits in with this idea but takes it a step beyond by integrating the fields of physics, chemistry, biology, and ecological sustainability. Contrary to the 'out of sight, out of mind' philosophy, children who compost become aware that organic wastes are a potential resource that should not be simply thrown away and forgotten. They learn through direct experience that they personally can make a difference and have a positive effect on the environment. Composting, if integrated into school curriculums, provides a rich topic for scientific investigation and discovery.