Why Compost?
The reasons to compost are many and varied, some practical and some altruistic.
If you garden, you will have garden waste to deal with.
For gardeners, as we harvest each crop, we are faced with dealing with the refuse. Burning is not a very "green" solution, and as a practical matter is banned in many areas. It's often just simpler to locate a compost bin near the garden and load it up. Returning the compost to the garden not only acts as a fertilizer, but improves the soil condition (loosens clay and binds sandy soils) and buffers the pH of the soil as well.
If you cook in a kitchen you will have kitchen waste to deal with.
We all have egg shells, coffee grounds, spoiled and leftover vegetables, and the occasional houseplant to deal with. Dumping it in the trash is expedient, but is really just hiding the problem. Composting is actually "disposing" of that waste, and pays back when used on houseplants or gardens.
If you have trees, you will have leaves in the fall.
In many areas, in the fall months the trash disposal is simply overwhelmed with bags and bags of leaves. This immensely rich source of soil amendments and nutrition is being hauled off and buried along with toxic wastes and trash that won't decompose for centuries. It's just not sustainable.
If you have a lawn, you will may have grass clippings.
The lazy man's way to deal with this is to use a mulching mower, but if you aren't then there is a high volume of clippings to deal with. From a composting perspective, grass clippings are great because they are a great source of nitrogen to balance the high carbon sources like leave, bark, sawdust, and wood chips for a great compost pile.
If you have a landscape, you probably need mulch.
There are a variety of mulches available, but organic mulches like wood mulch or compost work well in the long run as they return nutrients to the soil, along with improving the texture of the soil over time. This reduces the amount of watering needed, saves money.
Land fills are not a very eco-friendly way to deal with our waste.
Go to a land fill sometime. If you've ever been there, nothing more needs to be said.
Organic Compost is a great addition to your garden or house plants.
Better than potting soil, it buffers the pH of the soil, it's biologically active, and acts as a fertilizer. Its as close to nature as you can get, so plants naturally thrive in it. It increases the microbiologic activity in the soil, which can free nutrients for use by your plants. Reduce your need for fertilizer and other soil amendments.