Rethinking Compost Piles: New Take on an Old Idea

Since the dawn of mankind leaving behind their nomadic lifestyles, the compost pile has been an essential staple for any well functioning household. With the rise of built in kitchen garbage disposals, and other modern luxuries, this has become a distant dream of the past. In light of recent breakthroughs in mycology, this simplistic innovation deserves to be be revisited as a primary means for waste disposal.

Compost piles have been traditionally used exclusively to dispose of organic waste, particularly scraps left over from the kitchen. Often times these compost piles would serve dual purposes, being put to good use feeding animals or fertilizing crops. In the urban world the majority of households have abandoned the needs for mass animal feed or crop fertilizer.

Yet with a few changes compost heaps can be re-imagined to suit the needs of modern living. Rather than being utilized as a method of turning food waste into animal feed, it can be used to turn the waste back into food. Not only will these new compost piles produce food, but they can be used to permanently dispose of far more than just organic matter. They can be used to filter out plastics, metals, and even diesel or petroleum based chemicals. This can all be done simply by inoculating the compost with Oyster mushrooms and misting it regularly. Aside from adding the water and picking the fruits, there is zero maintenance required. Within 4-7 days healthy masses of mushrooms will be ready for picking. If the owner is not interested in harvesting the mushrooms they don't have to! They can allow the fruits to continue maturing without any negative effects on the final outcome. Leaving the mushrooms to grow and pass through their entire life cycles will probably result in even more efficient filtration. As the fungus grows it not only purifies the matter in the pile, but it also acts as an air filtration system. Having an inoculated compost heap would result in improved local air quality.

In today's world most people would view compost pile maintenance as an unnecessary chore. But this is silly, anyone can see that with a few simple improvements this can be used to change the world. No longer will people need to separate trash and recycling, it can be one. This can be applied even further on larger scales. Applied correctly, landfills could become bulk mushroom farms. Or better yet, if everyone were to participate in creating their own fungal composts, the world may no longer need landfills.