Composting: Nature's Most Interesting Process

You may think composting is just a bunch of old banana peels rotting away into dirt but, friend, you're not looking closely enough. Inside that compost pile is a microcosmic universe doing some magical stuff. See omnystudio.com/listener https://omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Speaker names marked ? are inferred from speaking time and the show’s known hosts — they are not voice-verified.

• 0:00Speaker 00

  This is an iHeart Podcast. Guaranteed Human.

• 0:04Josh Clark?

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• 1:06Josh Clark?

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• 1:41Speaker 02

  Hey, everybody. Chuck here with another edition of our Think Spring playlist. And right now, this is something you should all be doing, which is composting. You can learn a thing or two about it in this episode, composting: Nature's Most Interesting Process. It's really not too hard, and it really means a lot. So give it a shot.

• 2:07Speaker 04

  Welcome to Stuff You Should Know from HowStuffWorks.com.

• 2:18Josh Clark?

  Hey, and welcome to the podcast. I'm Josh, the man Clark. There's Charles W. Chuck Bryant, and I think I neglected to say last time-

• 2:26Speaker 02

  Yeah, you did.

• 2:29Josh Clark?

  Guest producer Noel is with us.

• 2:31Speaker 02

  That's right. So if you listened to the Shroud of Turin episode-

• 2:34Josh Clark?

  And you were like, "Man, that sounds great."

• 2:36Speaker 02

  Yeah, that was Noel.

• 2:37Josh Clark?

  Yep. Thanks Noel.

• 2:39Speaker 02

  Uh, this show today, I've been replaying one of my favorite Simpsons jokes ever. Over and over in my head.

• 2:48Josh Clark?

  I laughed already just hearing Simpsons jokes.

• 2:50Speaker 02

  It was from the, uh, one of the Halloween episodes when, um, they did the Nightmare on Elm Street riff. This is old, old ones.

• 2:58Josh Clark?

  Yeah.

• 2:59Speaker 02

  Where, uh, groundskeeper Willie was Freddy Krueger. And he turned into a, I think like a shredder or a tractor or something and ran over people or something?

• 3:12Josh Clark?

  Sure.

• 3:13Speaker 02

  And said, "When you're done, when I'm done, they're gonna need to do a compost boredom."

• 3:20Josh Clark?

  Oh wow, that is a bad joke.

• 3:22Speaker 02

  Yeah, it was really good. One of the, I mean, the Simpsons didn't get too punny, but that was a, that was a good one.

• 3:28Josh Clark?

  Well, anything goes on a treehouse of horror.

• 3:30Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 3:30Josh Clark?

  You know?

• 3:31Speaker 02

  Agreed.

• 3:33Josh Clark?

  So, you know, um, there's a bunch of cities that have kinda gotten woke to the idea that we should be recycling or composting our food. Did you know that?

• 3:45Speaker 02

  Sure.

• 3:46Josh Clark?

  I saw a stat that said something like 40% of food gets wasted. But I got suspicious because I also saw that 40% of the, um, stuff that goes to municipal landfills or trash is food waste, which doesn't necessarily mean it's wasted food because I don't think you would count like a banana peel as food waste.

• 4:11Speaker 02

  Is a pizza box food waste?

• 4:13Josh Clark?

  No. Okay. It's a box. They're not counting food packaging as food waste. No, but I think they're counting everything that has to do with food that could conceivably be eaten as wasted food, which is not the same as food waste. Okay. The, the point is, the legitimate stat that I saw just about everywhere is that if you took all the garbage that the United States throws away into a landfill, forty percent of that is food waste. And I'm sure some of it is a whole cake. Some complete moron threw a whole cake away. Yeah. For no good reason. I was on a diet. Well, that's actually a pretty good reason, but you know what I'm saying. Yeah. Forty percent of all that trash is food. The problem is, you might say, well, who cares?

• 4:56Josh Clark?

  Trash, it decomposes. That's great. That's true. It does decompose. But in the landfills that the United States uses, we make sure they're anaerobic. Yeah. Oxygen doesn't get down there. Yeah. So a whole different decomposition process takes place. And in a landfill, in anaerobic decomposition, methane is produced. And methane is bad news. Yes. Methane is something on the order of seventy percent worse.

• 5:24Josh Clark?

  I didn't know there's a much more scientific way to put it, but it's seventy percent better than carbon dioxide as far as greenhouse gases go. Yeah. Seventy percent more potent. How about that? Yeah, okay. So you don't want methane. No matter. If you have to choose between methane and carbon dioxide, you want to go with carbon dioxide. And it just so happens that if you compost food waste, mostly carbon dioxide is produced, methane's not. So if you're diverting this food waste from the landfill, there's a whole bunch of different stuff you're doing. Number one, you're saving all that forty percent of the space for actual trash. So you're extending the life of your landfills. You're keeping all that methane from being produced.

• 6:06Josh Clark?

  And as if it couldn't get any better, you are creating a, an amazing fertilizer that you can use for, to grow, you could grow a tree out of a shoe. This fertilizer's so good.

• 6:21Speaker 02

  The old shoe tree.

• 6:22Josh Clark?

  Sure.

• 6:23Speaker 02

  Uh, yeah, it's, um, we've danced around this a lot. We, we, well, you just referenced our, and I don't like to toot our own horns a lot, but that landfills episode was great.

• 6:33Josh Clark?

  Landfills, and don't forget the, um, plasma incinerator one.

• 6:37Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 6:37Josh Clark?

  Great. Basically, any of our waste management ones are, mwah.

• 6:41Speaker 02

  Yeah. Uh, what else? I think guerrilla gardening, we touched on this some, and, um, a couple of others, we've mentioned composting. And to the extent where I thought we had done one on composting.

• 6:52Josh Clark?

  Not yet.

• 6:53Speaker 02

  But we had not until about five and a half minutes ago.

• 6:56Josh Clark?

  Mm-hmm.

• 6:57Speaker 02

  Um, and that's a guess. So if you write in and say like, it was eight minutes, Chuck.

• 7:02Josh Clark?

  You're grounded.

• 7:04Speaker 02

  So, like you mentioned, we, I don't think these numbers are accurate anymore, but we generate, let's just say, a lot of millions of tons, hundreds of millions of tons of trash. And about 25 to 30% of that is recovered through recycling, which includes composting, which is good. But that number, if it was 70%, would be amazing.

• 7:27Josh Clark?

  Does that include composting, that, that recycling number?

• 7:30Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 7:30Josh Clark?

  Oh, okay. Yeah, if it'd be 70, that'd be great.

• 7:33Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 7:34Josh Clark?

  80, why not?

• 7:35Speaker 02

  Yeah, let's shoot for 90.

• 7:36Josh Clark?

  Well, supposedly, Seattle itself, um, has a goal of something like 60 to 70% of all of its trash being recycled by the end of the year.

• 7:45Speaker 02

  Of course they do, because Seattle does it right.

• 7:47Josh Clark?

  And they actually have compulsory mandatory composting now. Like, you have to compost if you live in the city of Seattle.

• 7:54Speaker 02

  Why don't I live there?

• 7:55Josh Clark?

  I don't know. I don't know. I ask myself that a lot.

• 7:58Speaker 02

  You know, Emily and I went for our two shows ago on that lovely spring weekend.

• 8:04Josh Clark?

  Oh, it was gorgeous.

• 8:05Speaker 02

  And we, we stayed extra in Seattle, and after we were like, we're moving here, that's it.

• 8:10Josh Clark?

  It's a great town.

• 8:10Speaker 02

  I've said it before on the show, dogs and bars. That was all it took.

• 8:15Josh Clark?

  Yeah. Dog bartenders?

• 8:18Speaker 02

  But again, dogs playing poker?

• 8:20Josh Clark?

  Sure.

• 8:21Speaker 02

  Uh, again, it's easy to fall in love with Seattle on a perfect weekend in April.

• 8:24Josh Clark?

  Yeah. I hear it rains there a lot, though.

• 8:28Speaker 02

  I'd still live there. It's a great place. And you know what? You may see us again this year, Seattle. Tease, tease.

• 8:35Josh Clark?

  You're such a tease.

• 8:37Speaker 02

  All right, so composting is great for a thousand reasons, but one first and foremost is that it's not hard to do and it's not expensive to do.

• 8:46Josh Clark?

  No.

• 8:47Speaker 02

  If you just want to be, and there are many different levels of composting from big city programs to the home farmer that takes it super seriously, to just, if you just want to lessen the impact a little bit on your landfill, your local landfill, feel like you're doing the right thing, and get a little bit of nutrient-rich goodness fertilizer to use, you can have just a little, small, little composting operation going on at your house.

• 9:15Josh Clark?

  Yeah, this is all, this is all you need. Organic waste, and we don't even mean something that's like organic, we mean like organic, meaning it's composed mostly of carbon. It was once alive at one point, right?

• 9:27Speaker 02

  Yeah, and I made a poopy noise, which you can't use poop.

• 9:30Josh Clark?

  No, that's night soil.

• 9:31Speaker 02

  That's the opposite of what I should have done.

• 9:34Josh Clark?

  What's a banana sound?

• 9:41Josh Clark?

  That's a banana sound, right?

• 9:44Speaker 02

  You need soil, you need water, you need air, or oxygen.

• 9:48Josh Clark?

  Right, so the organic waste is the stuff you're gonna have broken down, which in this case, in the case of a compost pile, is food. The soil...

• 9:57Speaker 02

  Well, partially, sure.

• 9:58Josh Clark?

  But no, no, it's food for the things that are in the soil.

• 10:01Speaker 02

  Yes.

• 10:02Josh Clark?

  Right? It's an energy source.

• 10:03Speaker 02

  Yes, yes.

• 10:04Josh Clark?

  And nutrient source for what's in the soil. So you add soil, when you're adding soil, you're basically adding starter culture to the compost. What you're doing is grabbing microbes from, say, in your yard, and putting them on the compost pile and say, "Dinner's on, boys."

• 10:21Speaker 02

  They eat and poop.

• 10:23Josh Clark?

  Yes.

• 10:23Speaker 02

  But you don't want to poop in it.

• 10:25Josh Clark?

  You need a little bit of water, like you said, to keep it moist, but you don't want to keep it overwet, because microbes like slightly moist soil. And then air, because again, again, this is really, really important. You can let your compost pile... Degrade anaerobically, but it's gonna produce methane, which is bad for the environment.

• 10:46Speaker 02

  Bad for your neighbors.

• 10:47Josh Clark?

  Bad for your neighbors, bad for you. It's gonna stink. It might blow up. Who knows? You don't wanna smoke near what's called a passive compost pile. So you wanna just introduce oxygen. And all this sounds very complicated. It's not. It's hitting it with your hose. And by that, I mean spraying water on it with your hose. I just realized you can hit something with your hose, too. It's like turning it over, right?

• 11:10Speaker 02

  With a pitchfork.

• 11:11Josh Clark?

  To add oxygen. It's as simple as that.

• 11:13Speaker 02

  Yeah, it's really easy. So what you're gonna end up with, Ian, like we said, is really fertilizer, but it's called humus. Don't call it hummus.

• 11:23Josh Clark?

  No, that's different.

• 11:24Speaker 02

  It has two Ms, right? This has just one M. And those little microorganisms in there, they're gonna break this stuff down. They're gonna eat it. They're gonna poop it out. And they're gonna multiply. And there's gonna be, we'll talk about the critters a little more later, but there're gonna be different critters along the way that eat those critters.

• 11:41Josh Clark?

  Right.

• 11:42Speaker 02

  Then critters that eat those critters.

• 11:43Josh Clark?

  Right.

• 11:44Speaker 02

  And it's gonna get really hot up in there. It might steam. Then it's gonna cool back down. It's gonna get smaller. And it's just like this little microenvironment.

• 11:53Josh Clark?

  It is.

• 11:54Speaker 02

  Really, really neat.

• 11:54Josh Clark?

  There's actually a food web in there. There's a lot of physics and chemistry that's going on. It is very neat. I'm fascinated by it, too. But the upshot of composting is that you're taking something, and it's being broken down into its constituent parts so that it can be reused by plants. And the whole circle of life can start over again.

• 12:19Speaker 02

  Yeah, you're sort of just accelerating the natural process of rot.

• 12:24Josh Clark?

  You're optimizing it.

• 12:25Speaker 02

  Yeah, like you mentioned, a passive composter, which is to say, you know, lazy hippies.

• 12:33Speaker 02

  You could just throw all that junk out of your window if you wanted in a big pile and throw some grass clippings on and throw your fall leaves on there. Just leave it there. And that thing will eventually compost itself.

• 12:49Josh Clark?

  Well, again, it'll produce methane. You'll blow up.

• 12:53Speaker 02

  Or you could turn it every now and then and maybe avoid that.

• 12:56Josh Clark?

  No, I think that makes it an active pile.

• 12:59Speaker 02

  Well... Slightly active pile then.

• 13:03Josh Clark?

  Right.

• 13:03Speaker 02

  I don't mean like every other day.

• 13:05Josh Clark?

  Right.

• 13:05Speaker 02

  Just to avoid methane, maybe.

• 13:07Josh Clark?

  But that would still technically be an active pile. It'd be a poorly managed active pile.

• 13:12Speaker 02

  Yeah, slightly active.

• 13:13Josh Clark?

  Poorly managed.

• 13:14Speaker 02

  So.

• 13:17Josh Clark?

  I'm serious. That's what they call it.

• 13:19Speaker 02

  I know.

• 13:19Josh Clark?

  Okay.

• 13:20Speaker 02

  I just, we like to make up our own names for things. I didn't know you were gonna cease that in.

• 13:24Josh Clark?

  Oh, oh.

• 13:24Speaker 02

  Near nine.

• 13:25Josh Clark?

  I gotcha. Sorry. We'll call that the doobie pile.

• 13:29Speaker 02

  Okay.

• 13:31Speaker 02

  No, it's called active management.

• 13:32Josh Clark?

  I just wanted to make sure that we got it on the record.

• 13:35Speaker 02

  So, uh, the big goal here is to reduce your waste. They say in this article, ultimately will save you tax money because your landfill won't.

• 13:43Josh Clark?

  I thought that was hilarious.

• 13:44Speaker 02

  Yeah, I mean, don't count on seeing any, any tax breaks coming anytime soon.

• 13:49Josh Clark?

  But you, you, that got William F. Buckley's attention.

• 13:53Speaker 02

  Probably so. Uh, so how do you, how do you do this? Let's say you wanna start composting.

• 13:58Josh Clark?

  Mm-hmm.

• 13:58Speaker 02

  There's a one, two, three, four, five step process. To get this thing going.

• 14:03Josh Clark?

  Okay, well, let's talk about them.

• 14:05Speaker 02

  First thing you wanna do is just pick out the place you wanna do it.

• 14:09Josh Clark?

  Right.

• 14:10Speaker 02

  Because it's, you know, it's a bit of a mess.

• 14:13Josh Clark?

  It, it's, it doesn't have to be necessarily, but depending on your neighbors, they might be like, well, great. I'm glad you started a, an unsightly pile of kitchen rubbish.

• 14:24Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 14:24Josh Clark?

  And, and food waste.

• 14:26Speaker 02

  That I can see from my deck.

• 14:27Josh Clark?

  Thanks a lot for that. So that's something you wanna keep in consideration. Apparently, even if you do have a very well managed active pile. What would you call that?

• 14:40Speaker 02

  I'm not making up funny names anymore. No more jokes.

• 14:43Josh Clark?

  I've ruined it. It's still, it still may stink here or there.

• 14:47Speaker 02

  Sure.

• 14:48Josh Clark?

  So you want it kind of away from the house, but not so far away that if you're feeling lazy, you're not gonna go out and tend to it on a daily or every other daily basis.

• 14:59Speaker 02

  Yeah, and if you have that much land, that you have a compost pile a mile from your house.

• 15:04Josh Clark?

  Hmm.

• 15:05Speaker 02

  Good for you.

• 15:06Josh Clark?

  Yeah, sure.

• 15:07Speaker 02

  You've got some acreage. There might be some local rules, either from your HOA, heaven forbid if you have to belong to one of those, or maybe just your municipality might have rules and regulations.

• 15:21Josh Clark?

  Yeah.

• 15:21Speaker 02

  So check with them first.

• 15:22Josh Clark?

  Sure. That's what everyone does before they start a compost pile. They go down to City Hall and say, "What? Tell me the rules and regulations surrounding composting in my yard."

• 15:30Speaker 02

  Now, I think the first thing everyone does is start throwing their eggshells out the window.

• 15:34Josh Clark?

  Sure.

• 15:35Speaker 02

  That's how it always starts.

• 15:36Josh Clark?

  Right.

• 15:36Speaker 02

  It's like, "I'm tired of these things being in my trash."

• 15:41Speaker 02

  They recommend downwind, because like you said, it might stink a bit. Sun is good in a way, but you don't want it baking in the sun all day.

• 15:49Josh Clark?

  No, because it'll dry it out. Remember, you want it to be kind of moist.

• 15:52Speaker 02

  Yes.

• 15:52Josh Clark?

  And the sunlight can't actually dry it out.

• 15:55Speaker 02

  Sure.

• 15:55Josh Clark?

  So you want, apparently the best place to put it is under a deciduous tree.

• 16:00Speaker 02

  Good spot.

• 16:01Josh Clark?

  Yeah, because in the, in the wintertime, there's no leaves on the tree, so the sun's going to keep it warm when it's cold.

• 16:07Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 16:07Josh Clark?

  But during the summer, it's going to be shaded by the tree, so it won't dry out. It's just perfect.

• 16:13Speaker 02

  It is.

• 16:13Josh Clark?

  Deciduous tree equals love.

• 16:16Speaker 02

  Wind is good to provide a little air, but you don't want it blowing, scattering the stuff all over the place, drying it out again.

• 16:22Josh Clark?

  Right.

• 16:22Speaker 02

  No good. What else? Drainage? Don't start one in that old baby pool that you don't want to throw out.

• 16:28Josh Clark?

  Especially if your baby's in there.

• 16:33Speaker 02

  Yeah, you want good drainage. Like, generally, you build, either build a bin, we'll talk about this stuff, actually, right now.

• 16:39Josh Clark?

  Yeah.

• 16:39Speaker 02

  But it's off the ground.

• 16:41Josh Clark?

  Sure.

• 16:42Speaker 02

  It's on legs.

• 16:44Josh Clark?

  Yeah.

• 16:45Speaker 02

  Although you can have a pile.

• 16:46Josh Clark?

  Right.

• 16:47Speaker 02

  But, you know, generally, you want to, you want to build a bin or buy a bin.

• 16:51Josh Clark?

  Right.

• 16:52Speaker 02

  And those things sit off the ground.

• 16:55Josh Clark?

  Right.

• 16:55Speaker 02

  Because of drainage.

• 16:57Josh Clark?

  That's part of it, for sure.

• 16:58Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 16:59Josh Clark?

  You also want dirt rather than, say, like a concrete pad or something like that.

• 17:05Speaker 02

  Yeah, don't compost in your driveway. It's not a good idea.

• 17:09Josh Clark?

  As far as structures go, you can, like you said, you can go buy one. They're not very expensive, from what I understand, right?

• 17:15Speaker 02

  Yeah, it depends on the size.

• 17:17Josh Clark?

  You can also say, go buy some cinder blocks and build something like that.

• 17:20Speaker 02

  Sure.

• 17:21Josh Clark?

  But basically, you can cut compost structures into two. There's a single bin and there's a three bin system. So in the single bin system, you put new stuff on top, new banana peels. This is what I think of when I think composting, you know?

• 17:39Speaker 02

  Banana peels?

• 17:39Josh Clark?

  Sure.

• 17:40Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 17:41Josh Clark?

  You put new stuff on top and then you take a pitchfork or shovel or something like that and you work, you work it in to the compost. And at the bottom of this structure, say it's open when you're walking up to it, the finished compost will accumulate at the bottom. And the reason it accumulates at the bottom is because it's a finer, finer grain.

• 18:04Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 18:05Josh Clark?

  And that's it. Single bin, new stuff at the top.

• 18:08Speaker 02

  Easy peasy.

• 18:09Josh Clark?

  Stuff that's in process in the middle, stuff that's finished in the bottom, and it will just naturally kind of separate like that.

• 18:15Speaker 02

  Yeah, and when we're talking structure like that, if you want to build one, you know, build a wood frame and it's like got chicken wire walls and a chicken wire bottom. And that gives you the air. And if you've got something to collect it underneath, it's going to fall, you know, when it's small enough.

• 18:29Josh Clark?

  Right.

• 18:30Speaker 02

  Some other stuff might fall, you may need to add it back in.

• 18:32Josh Clark?

  Yeah.

• 18:33Speaker 02

  But with the three bin system, you've got, well, you've got three bins. You've got the starter stuff. You've got the, once it starts to break down, little stuff. And then you have the more finished product.

• 18:44Josh Clark?

  Right.

• 18:44Speaker 02

  And you have to actively manage that system.

• 18:48Josh Clark?

  Yeah, that system sounds unnecessarily difficult.

• 18:51Speaker 02

  Ah, I kind of like it.

• 18:52Josh Clark?

  Oh, you're a three bin guy?

• 18:54Speaker 02

  Well, we're about to get into this for real. We've been. Lazily composting for a while. But we're doing our whole backyard, like, we're getting rid of our grass, basically.

• 19:05Josh Clark?

  Oh, yeah?

• 19:05Speaker 02

  100% of it.

• 19:07Josh Clark?

  What are you gonna do? Compost?

• 19:08Speaker 02

  Mulch in beds and plants and herbs and...

• 19:12Josh Clark?

  Zero-scape? You gonna put like cacti in and all that?

• 19:15Speaker 02

  Uh, no cacti. Though we do have a palm tree. We've had that forever, though.

• 19:19Josh Clark?

  There you go.

• 19:21Speaker 02

  Yeah, just getting rid of the grass, basically.

• 19:23Josh Clark?

  Cause it takes up so much water?

• 19:25Speaker 02

  Nah, just, it's just, it's not good grass to begin with. And I'm not the best about cutting it. Lawn mowers are terrible.

• 19:34Josh Clark?

  Plus, you don't water it enough. You never let a quarter inch of water accumulate.

• 19:39Speaker 02

  Exactly. Yeah, just, and, you know, it'll look nicer. So, part of this, and this company that's doing it is, uh, it's not just a landscaping company. They're, they're a, uh, they're a bunch of hippies.

• 19:50Josh Clark?

  Oh, gotcha.

• 19:51Speaker 02

  So, they're, they're designing it in such a way that it feeds itself and part of that is composting.

• 19:56Josh Clark?

  Gotcha.

• 19:57Speaker 02

  Anyway, long, long way of saying, we're gonna start, like, for real composting very shortly.

• 20:02Josh Clark?

  And you're going with the three bin structure?

• 20:04Speaker 02

  I don't know. I think I'm gonna build it.

• 20:09Speaker 02

  It's, well, it's the structure Emily tells me to build.

• 20:11Josh Clark?

  Okay.

• 20:12Speaker 02

  That's the easiest way to say it.

• 20:13Josh Clark?

  Gotcha.

• 20:14Speaker 02

  Yeah. Uh, but if you buy one, like you were saying, um, there's all different kinds, just, you know, look, look it up online or go to a hardware store and, you know, many of them will look like a big barrel on legs. And it literally turns, like, has a crank on it.

• 20:30Josh Clark?

  Right.

• 20:30Speaker 02

  To where you can turn this thing in circles.

• 20:32Josh Clark?

  It's old timey.

• 20:33Speaker 02

  So you don't have to use a pitchfork at all.

• 20:35Josh Clark?

  Right.

• 20:36Speaker 02

  You don't have to muss your hands or your hair.

• 20:38Josh Clark?

  It's like a bingo spinner.

• 20:41Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 20:41Josh Clark?

  But with banana peels.

• 20:43Speaker 02

  Have you ever played bingo? Like legit bingo in a room with hundreds of people?

• 20:47Josh Clark?

  Not hundreds, no.

• 20:48Speaker 02

  Well, more than like you and Yumi.

• 20:52Josh Clark?

  Yes.

• 20:52Speaker 02

  Like a bingo parlor. Is that what they're called?

• 20:54Josh Clark?

  Yeah. I've actually gone to a couple of like senior retirement homes and helped out with bingo.

• 21:03Speaker 02

  Wow.

• 21:04Josh Clark?

  And that's a pretty, pretty cool experience, actually, because.

• 21:07Speaker 02

  Do you run the bingo?

• 21:08Josh Clark?

  It's.

• 21:08Speaker 02

  Or do you just play and kind of crack jokes?

• 21:10Josh Clark?

  I'm not qualified to run the bingo.

• 21:11Speaker 02

  Right, right.

• 21:12Josh Clark?

  Just walk around and point out if somebody missed one that they, you know, that was called, that kind of thing. But do you want to talk about taking it seriously?

• 21:20Speaker 02

  Do they?

• 21:20Josh Clark?

  Oh, my God.

• 21:21Speaker 02

  And then you have to be a certified bingo master to run the show?

• 21:25Josh Clark?

  Yeah, and they'll like tell you to hurry up and like shout if you're, if you're not like loud enough or fast enough or going too fast, like.

• 21:34Speaker 02

  So the point is not to have fun?

• 21:36Josh Clark?

  No, the point is to win.

• 21:37Speaker 02

  Wow. What do they win? They have prizes?

• 21:40Josh Clark?

  Yeah, nothing much usually. I mean, but you can, I think, like you can play bingo in casinos for thousands and thousands of dollars.

• 21:47Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 21:48Josh Clark?

  Usually at old folks homes, they don't, you know.

• 21:50Speaker 02

  Sure.

• 21:51Josh Clark?

  They, there's not thousands of dollar prizes.

• 21:53Speaker 02

  Just honey buns and cigarettes?

• 21:54Josh Clark?

  Right, right, exactly.

• 21:56Speaker 02

  All right, well, let's take a break here after we have talked structure. And we'll talk a little bit about what you want, what kind of junk you want to throw in that pile.

• 22:13Speaker 05

  First thought is like, wow, how are we going to do all this?

• 22:15Josh Clark?

  Hey, this is Josh and Chuck from Stuff You Should Know.

• 22:18Speaker 02

  That's Alan Goya, planning engineer at AT&T, and he's talking about Intuit Dome, home of the Los Angeles Clippers, where every seat, screen, phone, and transaction is connected with AT&T fiber and 5G, redefining the fans' experience. And Alan's master plan made it all possible.

• 22:34Speaker 05

  It was going to rival anything that was already built, and that takes quite a bit of people and different teams to all be on the same page.

• 22:42Josh Clark?

  That includes field services manager, Drexel Jones. His team made sure it all came together and held up on game day.

• 22:48Speaker 02

  Through Alan's whole crew design, we connected the event visitors to the world. And after years of hard work and collaboration, it was opening night. To actually see the whole stadium light up and data's flowing is a beautiful thing.

• 23:02Speaker 05

  What the fans' experience is incredible. It gave me a lot of pride.

• 23:05Josh Clark?

  AT&T, connecting fans to what they love.

• 23:09Speaker 06

  Connecting changes everything. AT&T.

• 23:15Speaker 02

  You know, you're never done decorating your home. You know what I mean?

• 23:18Josh Clark?

  Sure.

• 23:18Speaker 02

  Yeah, because it's a process. There's always something you could do, or buy, or update. The only question is, what's next? For us, our animals just wear out our rugs so quickly. It's usually a new rug.

• 23:29Josh Clark?

  Well, Chuck, whether you need a rug, or whatever is next for you, you can go to Wayfair. It's the smart place to get it.

• 23:36Speaker 02

  That's right. Whatever your style, whatever your budget, whatever you're looking for, Wayfair makes it easy to find it. And you can feel good about your purchases too, because Wayfair verified products go through a thorough 10-point quality inspection.

• 23:47Josh Clark?

  And with over 20 million 5-star reviews, Wayfair must be doing something right. You can find pieces made for real life and get even more value with Wayfair Rewards. Join Wayfair Rewards today to get 5% back on every purchase. Head to wayfair.com to shop all things home. That's W-A-Y-F-A-I-R dot com.

• 24:13Josh Clark?

  Buy smart, drive for less, and trade for more. That's Toyota affordability. And it all starts with a great deal on a truck from your local Toyota dealer.

• 24:23Speaker 02

  That's right. Make a smart buy on the Off-Road Ready Tacoma or Half-Ton Tundra, two of Toyota's most capable and longest-lasting trucks, built with the strength for the tough jobs, the tech to power your next big adventure, and the rugged style for everything in between.

• 24:35Josh Clark?

  Or discover Toyota's off-road lineup, including the iconic 4Runner and Land Cruiser, designed to go beyond the everyday. And with Toyota's proven reputation for quality and reliability, plus hybrid power on many models, you can get more for every mile and drive for less along the way.

• 24:51Speaker 02

  That's right. And long after you leave the lot, your Toyota keeps delivering with great resale value. So you can trade in for more when you're ready for your next Toyota. From a great deal today to a great value tomorrow, a Toyota is right for you. Shop toyota.com for deals and details, or stop by your local Toyota dealer today. Toyota, let's go places.

• 25:26Josh Clark?

  All right Chuck, so we're talking what you want to throw in the pile, right?

• 25:30Speaker 02

  You got your bin, either a triple, three banger.

• 25:34Josh Clark?

  Got your site?

• 25:34Speaker 02

  Or a single, you got your site.

• 25:36Josh Clark?

  You bribed your neighbor to look the other way?

• 25:38Speaker 02

  Bribe your neighbor, exactly. You bought a goat.

• 25:42Josh Clark?

  Oh man, talk about green living.

• 25:44Speaker 02

  My neighbor has goats now, like five of them.

• 25:46Josh Clark?

  Are they loud?

• 25:48Speaker 02

  No.

• 25:49Josh Clark?

  Oh, that's great.

• 25:49Speaker 02

  Every once in a while I hear them, but it's a joy to hear, so it's not like, it's not like a rooster.

• 25:54Josh Clark?

  Do you wake up and look out and say, "Morning Satan"?

• 25:57Speaker 02

  No. Well, goat's one of my favorites, so it's kind of nice to have them around.

• 26:02Josh Clark?

  Are they baby goats or adult goats?

• 26:03Speaker 02

  No, they're big ones. I mean, she got them to maintain the property.

• 26:06Josh Clark?

  Hmm.

• 26:07Speaker 02

  Because she was tired of cutting, I guess she didn't want to zero-scape it, so she bought goats.

• 26:10Josh Clark?

  Right.

• 26:11Speaker 02

  Anyway, it's, it's awesome. Kitchen waste, Josh, that's what you want to throw in there.

• 26:18Josh Clark?

  Well, yeah, that's the first one. That's the one that everybody says, that's why you compost, right?

• 26:22Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 26:23Josh Clark?

  And yeah, banana peels, everybody knows that, but did you also know you can compost apple cores in orange rinds?

• 26:31Speaker 02

  You can also eat apple cores.

• 26:33Josh Clark?

  Yeah, you, you believe there is no such thing as a core, right?

• 26:36Speaker 02

  Yeah, it's because there's not.

• 26:38Josh Clark?

  Sane people who leave their apple cores leftover, they can compost those things. Those are the easy ones. You can also do coffee grounds?

• 26:47Speaker 02

  Yeah, that's a good one.

• 26:48Josh Clark?

  Paper filters?

• 26:49Speaker 02

  Throw that filter and all in there.

• 26:51Josh Clark?

  Well, okay, so let's just say I ate maybe a whole pizza to myself. I've got a couple of napkins wadded up. What do I do with those Chuck?

• 26:59Speaker 02

  Uh, I think you can throw those napkins in there, Josh.

• 27:03Josh Clark?

  Yeah? Isn't that crazy?

• 27:05Speaker 02

  It is crazy.

• 27:06Josh Clark?

  Newspaper?

• 27:08Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 27:08Josh Clark?

  Corn cob's?

• 27:09Speaker 02

  If you still read a newspaper, if you get your news on the internet, throw your laptop in there.

• 27:14Josh Clark?

  Watermelon rinds?

• 27:16Speaker 02

  Yeah, seeds, leaves. Uh, you know, the butt end of the asparagus that no one cooks?

• 27:24Josh Clark?

  Yeah.

• 27:25Speaker 02

  Throw that junk in there.

• 27:26Josh Clark?

  Um, you can also do yard waste, too.

• 27:28Speaker 02

  Sure.

• 27:29Josh Clark?

  Right? So you've got grass clippings, which we'll talk about in a second. We've got a couple of warnings as far as grass clippings goes.

• 27:35Speaker 02

  Not too much.

• 27:36Josh Clark?

  Um, but like, let's say you're raking leaves or something like that.

• 27:40Speaker 02

  Mm-hmm.

• 27:40Josh Clark?

  Throw some leaves on there.

• 27:41Speaker 02

  Yeah, good crunchy brown ones.

• 27:42Josh Clark?

  And you can also throw like, um, trimmings from your, uh, like shrubs, if you trim your woody shrubs.

• 27:49Speaker 02

  Okay.

• 27:50Josh Clark?

  Um, the key here is this, Chuck. You want to cut all this stuff up in small bits.

• 27:58Speaker 02

  Yeah, don't throw a whole corn cob in there. You can.

• 28:01Josh Clark?

  No, your compost pile will just throw it right back out.

• 28:04Speaker 02

  Yeah, it'll just spit it right back out.

• 28:06Josh Clark?

  Right.

• 28:06Speaker 02

  Very funny. It'll make a burping noise.

• 28:08Josh Clark?

  Yeah.

• 28:09Speaker 02

  Uh, they say to shred the corn cob. I don't have a corn cob shredder.

• 28:12Josh Clark?

  I don't either.

• 28:13Speaker 02

  Um, I've never thought about that.

• 28:17Josh Clark?

  I, I wouldn't waste like my blender blade on chopping up corn cobs. I think the point is, is

• 28:22Speaker 02

  That's for margarita time.

• 28:23Josh Clark?

  Break it into little pieces, sure. You can break it into little pieces, though.

• 28:27Speaker 02

  Yeah, you probably cut a corn cob up.

• 28:29Josh Clark?

  Yeah, and you can also, like, you can take all this stuff and chop it. Anything you can put in a smaller pieces, the better.

• 28:36Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 28:37Josh Clark?

  Cause as we'll see, what you're really doing is, you're not just breaking it up. You have to look at it like what you're doing is increasing the surface area. So more microbes can work on it at once.

• 28:47Speaker 02

  Yeah, like if you have, I know you hate broccoli, but.

• 28:50Josh Clark?

  Man, I hate broccoli.

• 28:51Speaker 02

  You cut the little florets off.

• 28:53Josh Clark?

  Mwah.

• 28:53Speaker 02

  And you've got that big green broccoli stalk.

• 28:55Josh Clark?

  Yeah.

• 28:56Speaker 02

  Uh, cut that thing up as small as you can.

• 28:59Josh Clark?

  Set it on fire.

• 29:00Speaker 02

  You have patience for, and throw that junk in there.

• 29:03Josh Clark?

  Yeah, basically channel your inner anal chef.

• 29:07Speaker 02

  Gross.

• 29:08Josh Clark?

  You remember him?

• 29:09Speaker 02

  The anal chef?

• 29:10Josh Clark?

  Yeah.

• 29:11Speaker 02

  Was that a real thing?

• 29:11Josh Clark?

  Yeah, on Saturday Night Live. Phil Hartman.

• 29:14Speaker 02

  No, I don't remember that.

• 29:15Josh Clark?

  The anal retentive chef.

• 29:16Speaker 02

  Oh, okay.

• 29:17Josh Clark?

  I forgot the retentive part.

• 29:18Speaker 02

  Yeah, yeah, yeah. I remember that now.

• 29:19Josh Clark?

  Big qualifier.

• 29:21Speaker 02

  It's like, I don't get that. I don't get that joke, mommy.

• 29:24Josh Clark?

  Remember the anal retentive chef?

• 29:26Speaker 02

  Yeah, I do remember that now.

• 29:27Josh Clark?

  He'd like start to, if he was dicing like green peppers and one of them was bigger than the rest, he'd just be like, okay, well, you want to take those chunks and you want to put them into a paper towel and then you want to fold that up and then you put that into some aluminum foil and you fold that up and you put that in a paper bag and you roll it up and then you staple it and then you throw it away.

• 29:46Speaker 02

  Boy, man, what a loss that was. Oh, it still makes me sad. So, you mentioned newspaper earlier. If you live near the ocean and you've got your hands on some seaweed or some kelp, you can rinse that stuff off.

• 30:02Josh Clark?

  Right.

• 30:03Speaker 02

  So you don't want all that salt content in there.

• 30:05Josh Clark?

  No.

• 30:06Speaker 02

  But it's really good and nutrient rich if you rinse that off and put it in your compost pile.

• 30:10Josh Clark?

  Yeah. And it's also good for you to eat, too. I know I sound nuts, but just eat that stuff.

• 30:16Speaker 02

  What do you mean?

• 30:17Josh Clark?

  It's so good for you.

• 30:19Speaker 02

  Yeah. Sawdust?

• 30:22Josh Clark?

  Do you know I eat that?

• 30:23Speaker 02

  No, but like I'm building my compost bin, I can put that sawdust back in it. How about that?

• 30:28Josh Clark?

  Yeah.

• 30:29Speaker 02

  Pretty neat.

• 30:29Josh Clark?

  Circle of life, baby.

• 30:32Speaker 02

  What should not you compost?

• 30:33Josh Clark?

  Night soil.

• 30:35Speaker 02

  Which is poopy soil.

• 30:36Josh Clark?

  Yep.

• 30:36Speaker 02

  That means your dog, your cat, you, don't go take a big dump over your compost pile.

• 30:42Josh Clark?

  No.

• 30:42Speaker 02

  I know you want to.

• 30:43Josh Clark?

  No, that's not good.

• 30:45Speaker 02

  No.

• 30:47Josh Clark?

  Disease garden plants. That's a big one.

• 30:49Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 30:50Josh Clark?

  Some of this stuff, though, as we'll find, doesn't quite make sense, but it's just good to err on the side of garbage in, garbage out. Except with compost. If you put garbage garbage in, then it's going to be really bad. If you put good, healthy garbage in, it's going to come out as quite good. So you don't want to put any diseased plants in there. Invasive weeds are another one, too.

• 31:16Speaker 02

  Yeah, but it says you can also put weeds in there. So I guess you just need to figure out which ones are uh, the bad ones.

• 31:21Josh Clark?

  Yeah. So the, this specifically calls out buttercups, morning glory and quack grass. I'm quite sure that there's plenty of seeds that wouldn't survive the composting process.

• 31:33Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 31:34Josh Clark?

  But apparently these do. So stay away from the quack grass.

• 31:37Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 31:39Speaker 02

  That was, I think that was the big mantra at Woodstock.

• 31:42Josh Clark?

  Sure. It's a gateway drug.

• 31:44Speaker 02

  Don't have the yellow sunshine or the quack grass.

• 31:46Josh Clark?

  It was the brown, the brown acid.

• 31:47Speaker 02

  Brown acid.

• 31:48Josh Clark?

  Which I mean, who wants brown acid, you know, bleh.

• 31:53Speaker 02

  And what about, uh, you were talking about kitchen stuff. What about meat and dairy?

• 31:57Josh Clark?

  Oh, okay. That's, that's controversial.

• 31:59Speaker 02

  It is. Cause Emily has taken classes and they were like, no, don't use any of that.

• 32:04Josh Clark?

  Yeah. That's like, uh, animal cells and, and fats in particular, they putrefy. They don't decompose and putrefaction makes some stinky stuff. And I think it can also generate a lot of disease-bearing pathogens. So I was surprised to see this article say, heck yeah, put it in there.

• 32:24Speaker 02

  Well, and they kind of said in this article, if, if you're really heavily managing this thing, you can do it. But I don't know. I've just heard, don't.

• 32:32Josh Clark?

  They said, turn it into a slurry, which I don't want to see Freud and riches blender at home.

• 32:37Speaker 02

  A steak fat slurry.

• 32:39Josh Clark?

  Gross. With corn cob leavings on it. But, um, he, he said, whip it up into a slurry and as long as it's a good, hot, actively managed pile, it'll, it won't be a problem. I'm going to go ahead and say, I don't think you should do that.

• 32:54Speaker 02

  Okay.

• 32:54Josh Clark?

  I don't know what to do with the animal leavings. But I don't think you should compost it.

• 33:02Speaker 02

  All right. Uh, it might make sense to you to say, hey, I have an outdoor fire pit. I bet that would be great in my composter.

• 33:11Josh Clark?

  No.

• 33:12Speaker 02

  Incorrect.

• 33:13Josh Clark?

  Although this specifically says charcoal ashes.

• 33:16Speaker 02

  I think that's.

• 33:17Josh Clark?

  Any kind of charred ashes?

• 33:19Speaker 02

  Yeah, like burnt wood is called charcoal.

• 33:22Josh Clark?

  So are you sure? Because I know what you just said was true. But supposedly, the entire Amazon Basin, and I learned this from the greatest book of all time, 1491 by Charles C. Mann.

• 33:34Speaker 02

  Uh huh.

• 33:35Josh Clark?

  The entire Amazon Basin was a managed forest that the indigenous peoples down there had made completely fertile and fecund by, instead of slash and burn, they were using slash and char techniques. And there was way more carbon locked into the charred tree stumps than there was the ashes. So it became more fertile. So I have a question about that one.

• 34:01Speaker 02

  You know, I'm gonna back off of my determined stance and say, I don't know.

• 34:07Josh Clark?

  It would make sense if it was coal, like if it was coal.

• 34:10Speaker 02

  Well, like charcoal briquettes because they have cement and all sorts of chemicals and junk in them.

• 34:14Josh Clark?

  But if it's charred wood or wood ash, I wonder.

• 34:18Speaker 02

  Alright, well.

• 34:19Josh Clark?

  Somebody let us know. Charles C. Mann, tell us.

• 34:22Speaker 02

  Uh, the pesticide-treated plants, you know, you know my stance on pesticides, period.

• 34:27Josh Clark?

  Sure.

• 34:28Speaker 02

  Don't use them, but if you do, definitely don't put that stuff in there. Because your whole thing here is you want a more or less organic compost pile.

• 34:36Josh Clark?

  Right.

• 34:37Speaker 02

  In the end.

• 34:37Josh Clark?

  And so, one of the things that people love about compost, it actually is organic. And we're going to explain how. I didn't know this until we did this research. But we'll explain how because we're gonna go through the process that your compost pile undergoes right after this.

• 35:04Josh Clark?

  Buy smart, drive for less and trade for more. That's Toyota affordability. And it all starts with a great deal on a truck from your local Toyota dealer.

• 35:13Speaker 02

  That's right. Make a smart buy on the off-road ready Tacoma or half-ton Tundra, two of Toyota's most capable and longest-lasting trucks, built with the strength for the tough jobs, the tech to power your next big adventure, and the rugged style for everything in between.

• 35:26Josh Clark?

  Or discover Toyota's off-road lineup, including the iconic 4Runner and Land Cruiser, designed to go beyond the everyday. And with Toyota's proven reputation for quality and reliability, plus hybrid power on many models, you can get more for every mile and drive for less along the way.

• 35:42Speaker 02

  That's right. And long after you leave the lot, your Toyota keeps delivering with great resale value. So you could trade in for more when you're ready for your next Toyota. From a great deal today to a great value tomorrow, a Toyota is right for you. Shop toyota.com for deals and details or stop by your local Toyota dealer today. Toyota, let's go places.

• 36:04Speaker 07

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• 36:34Speaker 02

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• 37:18Speaker 02

  All right, I did something we rarely do, which is look something up as we're podcasting because it just sounded lazy to be like, "Oh, we don't know this one." GardensAlive.com says, "Wood ashes are so strongly alkaline that it doesn't take a lot to upset the balance in the pile and stop the processing. You can add a very small amount of wood ash from like your fireplace or wood burning stove." But apparently not much. So I think, you know, like, you're kind of right in that it's not completely furboten.

• 37:54Josh Clark?

  Right, but I think-

• 37:55Speaker 02

  But it sounds like too much is not a good thing.

• 37:57Josh Clark?

  I think that's what Freud and Rich are saying, like, "Don't even mess with it."

• 38:00Speaker 02

  Okay, so why bother?

• 38:01Josh Clark?

  Put in animal fats instead.

• 38:03Speaker 02

  Well, and that's what the person from Gardens Alive was saying is, like, it's so little that it's not really going to make a difference if you're trying to get rid of it in a different way.

• 38:11Josh Clark?

  Right.

• 38:12Speaker 02

  She was like, "It's not really going to matter."

• 38:13Josh Clark?

  But it raises a great question, Chuck. Why, in the name of all things holy, would it matter what the alkalinity is of your compost pile? And I'll tell you why.

• 38:24Speaker 02

  Because- It's a chemistry experiment.

• 38:26Josh Clark?

  It is. It's a chemistry experiment, but it's also a biological experiment. You have a microcosm growing there. And there's actually really easy things you can do to optimize this and basically create a Xanadu paradise for the microbes and primary and secondary and tertiary consumers of this stuff that you're putting in there to break down, so that they just have the greatest life that any invertebrate or microbe ever had.

• 38:56Speaker 02

  All right. Should we talk chemistry a bit, then come back to just the management and stuff?

• 39:01Josh Clark?

  Uh-huh.

• 39:02Speaker 02

  All right. What you're really talking about here for an ideal composting scene- You need a disco ball?

• 39:07Josh Clark?

  Right.

• 39:08Speaker 02

  And you need a proper CN ratio, which is carbon to nitrogen ratio. And depending on how wonky you want to get, if you want to start measuring things, you can do that. But from what I gather, just try and do a lot to a little, about 30 to 1 carbon to nitrogen.

• 39:30Josh Clark?

  Right.

• 39:30Speaker 02

  And eyeball it.

• 39:33Josh Clark?

  And the rule of thumb is this, if it's green and recently deceased, and by green, like a nice banana peel would qualify as this, right?

• 39:45Speaker 02

  Even as yellow.

• 39:46Josh Clark?

  If it's pliable and green, or, you know, again, recently deceased, it is high in nitrogen.

• 39:55Speaker 02

  Right.

• 39:56Josh Clark?

  If it's brown and dried, it's high in carbon. So you want to, actually, when you're adding the compost, you want to just kind of layer this stuff in about those ratios, 30 to 1. And there's actually tables, like if you're big time into this,

• 40:10Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 40:11Josh Clark?

  There are tables out there that tell you just about exactly the carbon to nitrogen ratio in each individual thing.

• 40:17Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 40:18Josh Clark?

  But what we said earlier, you want to avoid grass clippings. This is why, because they're too high in nitrogen.

• 40:25Speaker 02

  Right.

• 40:26Josh Clark?

  And what happens when you have too much nitrogen?

• 40:28Speaker 02

  It's bad.

• 40:29Josh Clark?

  Right. It makes your pile stinky.

• 40:32Speaker 02

  Yeah, that's, is that where the methane starts creeping in?

• 40:34Josh Clark?

  Uh, that actually

• 40:35Speaker 02

  Or something else?

• 40:36Josh Clark?

  Leads to ammonia gas.

• 40:37Speaker 02

  Oh, okay.

• 40:38Josh Clark?

  Right. But you also don't want too much carbon either, Chuck.

• 40:41Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 40:42Josh Clark?

  Because, so you, carbon and nitrogen, carbon is like the building block and it's an energy source for these microbes. Nitrogen is essential to their growth and their metabolic activity as well.

• 40:53Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 40:54Josh Clark?

  But when they have this in these concentrations, that's when they flourish.

• 40:58Speaker 02

  Yeah, and the other problem with carbon too is it's just, it breaks down so slowly.

• 41:03Josh Clark?

  Well, it depends on the source.

• 41:04Speaker 02

  Yeah, that's true, but generally. A lot of the carbon sources like newspaper and corn cobs and stuff like that. It's just a much slower process.

• 41:13Josh Clark?

  Right, right. So like they have much tougher structural support in their cells.

• 41:20Speaker 02

  They have structural integrity.

• 41:21Josh Clark?

  Exactly.

• 41:23Speaker 02

  They need to have a good saying that rhymes. Like if it's yellow, let it mellow. If it's brown, flush it down.

• 41:29Josh Clark?

  Sure.

• 41:30Speaker 02

  I thought you were heading toward that. I was just kind of like on the edge of my seat.

• 41:34Josh Clark?

  No.

• 41:34Speaker 02

  Like if it's green.

• 41:35Josh Clark?

  I walked right past that one.

• 41:36Speaker 02

  If it's brown. Maybe, maybe there is one that we don't know. Or maybe someone can write one. Like a creative listener?

• 41:43Josh Clark?

  I'd love to hear. I'll bet we get a bunch of those.

• 41:45Speaker 02

  All right. Oxygen, if you're talking, if we're talking ratios.

• 41:51Speaker 02

  And again, you can wonk out as much as possible, but the good news is about your compost piles. It's not like it needs to be like the oxygen that you need.

• 42:00Josh Clark?

  No.

• 42:00Speaker 02

  Walking around to breathe.

• 42:02Josh Clark?

  Which is I think 21% in the atmosphere.

• 42:04Speaker 02

  Yeah, that's what we have going on. It can get by these aerobic microbes at as low as 5%.

• 42:10Josh Clark?

  Yeah, that's cutting it close.

• 42:12Speaker 02

  That's cutting it close. They say try to hover somewhere around 10 or up.

• 42:15Josh Clark?

  Right.

• 42:16Speaker 02

  And how do you measure that?

• 42:17Josh Clark?

  You don't. You just aerate your pile and it's fine.

• 42:20Speaker 02

  By either turning it or you can do hold PVC.

• 42:25Speaker 02

  And I guess that brings us kind of to the management part.

• 42:27Josh Clark?

  Sure.

• 42:29Speaker 02

  You don't just sit there unless you want to have a totally passive pile. And who wants that? You have to manage this thing either every day or every other day, turn it like we were saying.

• 42:40Josh Clark?

  Sure.

• 42:40Speaker 02

  Either with the little crank, if you've got a handy little barrel unit. Or with a pitchfork or they call it a composting fork in here.

• 42:48Josh Clark?

  That's pretty fancy.

• 42:49Speaker 02

  It's probably the same thing, isn't it?

• 42:50Josh Clark?

  It's the same thing as a pitchfork except like $50 more.

• 42:55Speaker 02

  You want to water it some, but again, do you want to give watering advice?

• 43:01Josh Clark?

  You don't want it for me. You don't want it to be soaking wet.

• 43:04Speaker 02

  No.

• 43:04Josh Clark?

  You want it to be moist.

• 43:06Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 43:07Josh Clark?

  Damp.

• 43:07Speaker 02

  People hate that word, so we'll say damp.

• 43:11Speaker 02

  And again, I mentioned the perforated PVC pipes that can help. It says you can avoid turning it by having those pipes.

• 43:17Josh Clark?

  I would still turn it.

• 43:19Speaker 02

  I would too, just to mix it up, right?

• 43:20Josh Clark?

  Yeah, but putting PVC pipes throughout your pile would make it really difficult to turn, so.

• 43:25Speaker 02

  Well, you can pull them out.

• 43:27Josh Clark?

  I guess you could.

• 43:28Speaker 02

  You know.

• 43:28Josh Clark?

  But getting them back in is a real pain.

• 43:30Speaker 02

  You can stick them back in.

• 43:33Josh Clark?

  Another way to get to introduce oxygen is earthworms.

• 43:36Speaker 02

  Oh, man. This is where I go crazy.

• 43:38Josh Clark?

  Oh, yeah?

• 43:39Speaker 02

  We have a lot of worms on our property, just because there's a lot of worms in Georgia.

• 43:44Josh Clark?

  Yeah. We did a great episode on earthworms, remember?

• 43:47Speaker 02

  Yeah, and every time I find them, I pick them up, I show them to Emily, and she immediately says, "Throw it in the garden." You know?

• 43:56Josh Clark?

  Sure.

• 43:57Speaker 02

  And that's because we weren't composting heavily. Now, it's going to be throw them in the compost pile.

• 44:00Josh Clark?

  Sure.

• 44:01Speaker 02

  But these guys are great because they naturally, I mean, they do a lot of things, but one of the things they do is naturally aerate by just tunneling through that stuff.

• 44:07Josh Clark?

  Yeah, so earthworms and then worms in general are probably the most important non-microscopic

• 44:17Josh Clark?

  resident in your compost pile.

• 44:19Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 44:19Josh Clark?

  Because they do so much. So worms, and especially earthworms and most types of nematodes, they actually go in and like eat a lot of the stuff that's in the compost pile, a lot of the food waste, right? Or organic waste. And in doing so, they break it down, and as they break it down, they make it easier for the microbes to digest themselves. Should we start with the microbes?

• 44:45Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 44:45Josh Clark?

  Okay. So, again, this compost pile, when you add food waste to the pile and add soil, you're introducing energy source to energy consumer, okay?

• 44:56Speaker 02

  Yes.

• 44:56Josh Clark?

  And at the base of this is microbial life. Bacteria mostly, but the bacteria go to town, they start eating this stuff, and the smaller it is, the more surface area there is, the more the bacteria. Bacteria can eat and they actually take the nutrients out of this and use it for cellular respiration, which is why they need oxygen. They take oxygen and combine it with the carbon and they create ATP, which they use as an energy source to power their cells and live and frolic and play. And in doing so, they create carbon dioxide.

• 45:29Speaker 02

  That's right.

• 45:30Josh Clark?

  So as they're doing this, they're actually breaking the stuff down from what you'd recognize as a banana peel, closer and closer to that finished humus product.

• 45:42Speaker 02

  Yes.

• 45:42Josh Clark?

  So you've got bacteria and they're a big part of it. And depending on the phase that the compost pile is in, there will be different kinds of bacteria in your compost pile.

• 45:53Speaker 02

  Yeah, and it's not, you know, just bacteria. There's fungi doing lots of work. We mentioned nebotodes. You're going to eventually get mites in there and slugs. You've already thrown your worms in, some millipedes doing some action.

• 46:10Josh Clark?

  Right.

• 46:11Speaker 02

  All those cute little legs. And overall, these are known as primary consumers.

• 46:16Josh Clark?

  Some are. Are all of them primary consumers?

• 46:20Speaker 02

  Well, they're listed.

• 46:21Josh Clark?

  Okay.

• 46:22Speaker 02

  By this person who made this fancy chart.

• 46:24Josh Clark?

  So then above that, Chuck, you've got the secondary consumers.

• 46:27Speaker 02

  Secundo.

• 46:28Josh Clark?

  And those are, right, those are the predators of the primary consumers, right?

• 46:34Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 46:35Josh Clark?

  And then you have tertiary consumers. They're the predators of the secondary consumers. And so you put all this together and what you have is a food web. You have microbes breaking the stuff down, worms and stuff doing the same thing in some ways. And then other predators, different graduated levels of predators, preying on the smaller animals to keep their population in check and to keep everything in a perfect balance so that it's as efficient as possible.

• 47:01Speaker 02

  And eventually a great white shark comes along.

• 47:03Josh Clark?

  What gets me.

• 47:04Speaker 02

  And eats everything.

• 47:05Josh Clark?

  The whole pile, thanks to a shark nado. What gets me, the best, the best part of all this to me is that if you look at the lifespan of a compost pile from brand new to finished humus.

• 47:19Speaker 02

  From banana peel.

• 47:21Josh Clark?

  To humus.

• 47:22Speaker 02

  Yes.

• 47:22Josh Clark?

  It's a, it forms a bell as far as the temperature gradient goes, right?

• 47:26Speaker 02

  Yeah, it's really kind of cool.

• 47:27Josh Clark?

  So the first stage is the mesophilic stage.

• 47:30Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 47:30Josh Clark?

  Temperatures get up to, I think, 40 degrees Celsius. I can't remember what that is in Fahrenheit.

• 47:36Speaker 02

  Yeah, we'll go with Celsius.

• 47:37Josh Clark?

  Okay. So it's warmish. And then as the cellular respiration mounts and builds and more and more bacteria are born and start eating and carry this cellular respiration out, the byproducts are CO2 and heat. And heat starts to accumulate in the compost pile, so much so that it gets up to something like 50 to 60 degrees Celsius, which is like 100 to 150 degrees Fahrenheit.

• 48:06Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 48:06Josh Clark?

  That's hot.

• 48:07Speaker 02

  At this point, your organisms are going to change. You're going to have thermophilic, these are little heat-loving critters. And they move in because it's nice and warm. They're snowbirds. They're desert dwellers. And they like it when it's warm. But here's the thing is you want to like, you don't want it to get too hot. So you want to continue to aerate and keep that temperature in check.

• 48:28Josh Clark?

  Right.

• 48:28Speaker 02

  What you want is that natural bell to happen on its own.

• 48:31Josh Clark?

  Right. So the mesophilic bacteria die off or they go kind of dormant as it enters the thermophilic phase. And then after the thermophilic phase ends, the reason it ends is because they've eaten up all of the stuff that's there to eat. And only the hard stuff's left over. And so the thermophiles go away and some of the mesophiles come back and new stuff comes in like ectenomyces. Ectenomyces.

• 49:02Speaker 02

  Okay.

• 49:03Josh Clark?

  Which are kind of like a weird fungi-bacteria cross. And they break down like the really hard woody shrubby stuff.

• 49:09Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 49:09Josh Clark?

  And they finish it off. And this third phase is called the curing phase, right?

• 49:14Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 49:15Josh Clark?

  And at the end of all of it, you have this great nutrient-rich humus. But in the middle of that, when it gets really hot.

• 49:24Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 49:24Josh Clark?

  It gets so hot, Chuck, that pathogens that can make you sick, that can make animals sick, that can make plants sick, are actually killed off in the phase, which is why when you get your hands on compost, on humus, it's organic. It's been basically treated naturally to rid itself of parasites, pathogens, all sorts of bad stuff. And all that's left is the nutrients that have been broken down in the process that a plant can use very easily. And again, the circle of life starts over again.

• 49:56Speaker 02

  Yeah, and you know, I mentioned sun earlier can dry it out, but if it gets over 65 Celsius, it's gonna kill off so many microbes, it's gonna really slow down your process.

• 50:07Josh Clark?

  Right.

• 50:07Speaker 02

  Uh, so that's another reason you turn it is to kinda keep, and again, don't have it direct sunlight, but it's gonna keep that temperature where it does its thing naturally.

• 50:16Josh Clark?

  Right.

• 50:17Speaker 02

  Where you don't wanna, you know, put a heat lamp on it. Just wanna keep it moist, turn it over and let it do its thing.

• 50:23Josh Clark?

  Yeah.

• 50:24Speaker 02

  And you might come out there on a chilly morning, there might be steam coming off of that sucker.

• 50:29Josh Clark?

  Yeah.

• 50:30Speaker 02

  And dude, that's when you just like.

• 50:32Josh Clark?

  You go, "Hot dog!"

• 50:33Speaker 02

  Yeah, hot diggity dog. And you go inside and you eat a banana.

• 50:38Speaker 02

  And you throw it on the pile.

• 50:39Josh Clark?

  Yeah.

• 50:40Speaker 02

  Alright, so when is it all over?

• 50:41Josh Clark?

  Oh, man, I just love, this is why I love earth science.

• 50:44Speaker 02

  Yeah, it's really amazing. Cause it's like, it requires a little bit of human management, but then you kinda just step away and say, "Do your thing."

• 50:51Josh Clark?

  Yeah.

• 50:51Speaker 02

  It's really neat.

• 50:52Josh Clark?

  Uh, when is it over? Well, you can tell, there's a few ways of being able to tell. Um, the temperature starts to go down.

• 50:59Speaker 02

  Mm-hmm.

• 50:59Josh Clark?

  Uh, if it's below 100 degrees Fahrenheit, it's out of the thermophilic phase.

• 51:05Speaker 02

  Yes.

• 51:05Josh Clark?

  And it's now into the mesophilic phase. This says that it's probably done, I disagree. I think you probably want it even cooler than that, because the longer you let it cure, the more, um, diverse the microbes inside are gonna be, the better the soil that you use to amend it with is going to be.

• 51:22Speaker 02

  Sure.

• 51:23Josh Clark?

  Temperature's one.

• 51:25Speaker 02

  Uh, one of it is just eyeball it, and if it's, if it's about 50% decomposed, like if you still see clearly a banana peel, then it's not done.

• 51:35Josh Clark?

  Right.

• 51:36Speaker 02

  You don't wanna recognize this stuff as food at this point.

• 51:39Josh Clark?

  Right.

• 51:39Speaker 02

  Um, or an eggshell or whatever. Um, and is it, is it smaller? If it's been reduced by 50 to 75%

• 51:47Josh Clark?

  Mm-hmm.

• 51:48Speaker 02

  And it's dark brown or black and crumbly, and it looks kinda like soil, then you're, you're cooking with gas, as my dad used to say.

• 51:57Josh Clark?

  Um, the texture? Did it say smooth or crumbly?

• 52:01Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 52:02Josh Clark?

  What about the smell?

• 52:03Speaker 02

  Well, it shouldn't, um, it shouldn't stink bad at this point.

• 52:06Josh Clark?

  No, it should smell earthy. And actually, one of my favorites, the actinomy sites.

• 52:12Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 52:13Josh Clark?

  The actinomy seats.

• 52:14Speaker 02

  Okay.

• 52:16Josh Clark?

  They are the reason that soil and dirt has its smell. It's those guys.

• 52:21Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 52:21Josh Clark?

  They give it its earthy smell. Isn't that cool?

• 52:24Speaker 02

  Yeah, and I think we didn't mention, you know that it's doing well along the way if it stops smelling. Like, it doesn't just stink the whole time.

• 52:32Josh Clark?

  Right, and it's not gonna smell earthy. The soil that you add will smell earthy, but when you grab a handful of humus, it should just fall through your fingers. It should be, the closer to black, the better.

• 52:43Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 52:43Josh Clark?

  And it should smell like every, everything associated with earth should smell like it's, like the word earth, that's what it should smell like. Like, you'll understand what earth smells like.

• 52:53Speaker 02

  Yeah, they said peat moss, if you, if none of this makes sense.

• 52:56Josh Clark?

  Go to your local hardware store or lawn and garden center and smell the peat moss.

• 53:01Speaker 02

  Exactly. Um, so, now that it's done.

• 53:04Josh Clark?

  Yeah.

• 53:05Speaker 02

  You've got your wonderfully natural fertilizer. Use it. Put it, spread it out in your garden, spread it out around your trees, throw it in your yard.

• 53:15Josh Clark?

  Spread it around your naked body and run around your yard?

• 53:18Speaker 02

  If you want to. Um, it's gonna-

• 53:21Josh Clark?

  That's what a doobie pile will make you do. Or, or quack grass.

• 53:26Speaker 02

  Yeah. Stay away from that stuff.

• 53:29Josh Clark?

  Yeah.

• 53:29Speaker 02

  Um, it's basically, like, the easiest way to put it, without getting too scientific, is it's gonna make everything better.

• 53:36Josh Clark?

  Right.

• 53:37Speaker 02

  It's gonna increase soil microbes, it's gonna increase nutrients and enhance them, it's gonna improve the pH and chemistry of your soil, your yard, soil structure.

• 53:47Josh Clark?

  And again, like, what you've just done is taken stuff and had it broken down into its components, unlocked it for your plants to use.

• 53:55Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 53:55Josh Clark?

  So your plants are gonna say, "Thank you, brother."

• 53:58Speaker 02

  Pretty amazing.

• 53:59Josh Clark?

  Yep.

• 54:00Speaker 02

  Uh, some people create a lot of it and sell it, but, you know, mainly, people do this to just use around their house.

• 54:06Josh Clark?

  Yeah, and increasingly, towns are starting to do curbside composting pickup, food waste pickup.

• 54:11Speaker 02

  Neat.

• 54:12Josh Clark?

  Where you got trash, recycling bin, food waste bin.

• 54:15Speaker 02

  Banana peels.

• 54:16Josh Clark?

  Banana peels, right. That's it.

• 54:19Speaker 02

  All right. Go forth and compost.

• 54:21Josh Clark?

  Yep. If you want to know more about composting, you can type that word in the search bar at howstuffworks.com. Cornell actually also has a really great site about composting. If you want to know more about the science of it.

• 54:31Speaker 02

  You were very excited about that site.

• 54:33Josh Clark?

  Love that site. And since I said Cornell, it's time for listener mail.

• 54:39Speaker 02

  I'm going to call this Child Life Specialists. We had a couple of these that wrote in. Remember, we talked about this?

• 54:45Josh Clark?

  In the Pain Scale episode.

• 54:47Speaker 02

  Uh huh. And we kind of surmised what it was and we were, turns out we were right. And by the way, we heard from paramedics, doctors, quite a few people about the worst pain.

• 54:57Josh Clark?

  Yeah, you don't want a long bone fracture.

• 54:59Speaker 02

  Yeah, almost 100% of them said a broken femur is like the worst pain you can experience.

• 55:04Josh Clark?

  And should we say why?

• 55:06Speaker 02

  Yeah, go ahead.

• 55:07Josh Clark?

  So.

• 55:08Speaker 02

  Several reasons, right?

• 55:09Josh Clark?

  We are right, because apparently it's a very sensitive area, but also because without that structure, your muscles start spasming.

• 55:18Speaker 02

  Right.

• 55:18Josh Clark?

  Which just rocks the whole thing back and forth even more.

• 55:21Speaker 02

  And then like fragmented bone hitting nerve and like all kinds of badness.

• 55:26Josh Clark?

  Yeah. Woo. So steer clear of that.

• 55:30Speaker 02

  All right. So, uh, we heard from, from two. I'm going to read the one, but I'm going to shout them both out. Hey, guys. Very excited to hear you mention Child Life Specialists during your recent episode on Pain Scales. As a Child Life Specialist myself, I thought we'd take the opportunity to tell you a little bit about our profession. You are right. Chuck, a Child Life Specialist is, we help kids deal with being hospitalized. That's really the essence of our job. We support children and families throughout stressful situations, such as hospitalizations, using our knowledge of child development and play to facilitate coping. Child Life Specialists provide children with developmentally appropriate education about diagnoses and treatments, preparation and support for procedures, and

• 56:13Speaker 02

  opportunities for normalization and play. What a great job.

• 56:17Josh Clark?

  Seriously, I can't think of too many jobs that are more rewarding than that.

• 56:21Speaker 02

  Seriously. We also provide support for siblings and provide legacy building and memory making in end of life situations. Oof. Our profession is very rewarding. Josh, you are right. She predicted you would say that. And I love going to work every day. To become a CLS, you must have a bachelor's or master's degree in child development or a related field. Complete a 640-hour child life internship

• 56:47Josh Clark?

  Mm-hmm.

• 56:48Speaker 02

  And pass a national certification exam. You can visit www.childlife.org to learn more about it.

• 56:58Speaker 02

  Thanks for what you guys do. You've made all my road trips interesting. And thanks for spreading the word about child life. Maybe you can do an entire episode on our profession in the future. She said future.

• 57:08Josh Clark?

  Okay.

• 57:10Speaker 02

  And that is Natalie Valentine, and also a big shout out to Amanda Butler from Auburn University, who does that there. Thanks for writing in, ladies. It sounds like it's a really, really great job.

• 57:21Josh Clark?

  Yeah. Thanks to you both for that. And thanks for everybody who has anything to do with making kids who are hospitalized feel better.

• 57:30Josh Clark?

  Hats off to you. If you want to get in touch with us, you can tweet to us at @SYSKPodcast or @JoshOmClark. You can hang out with us on facebook.com/stuffyoushouldknow or slash Charles W. Chuck Bryant. You can send us an email to [email protected]. And as always, join us at our home on the web, stuffyoushouldknow.com.

• 58:08Josh Clark?

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• 58:49Josh Clark?

  Hosted by Andrew Stratton, these perspectives highlight that life is more than a moment, a condition, or a tough day. Living with a rare disease can be challenging, but it does not define the Voices of VivGart. In these episodes, they share their stories, from diagnosis to working with their care team on their treatment plan. Listen to Voices of VivGart on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hey everybody. I am here to talk to you about Dude Wipes, who offer fragrance-free wipes that are made with 99% water and plant-based ingredients. So they're gentle enough for sensitive skin, but they're tough enough for even the worst messes. Water cleans better, and Dude Wipes Flushable Wipes deliver textbook freshness and ultimate clean.

• 59:30Josh Clark?

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• 59:42Speaker 00

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