By: Katherine Filler

The UK Arboretum is hosting a sustainability series, sponsored by the city governement, aimed at getting people to start to appreciate a more eco-friendly lifestyle.

On Thursday, Esther Moberly from Waste Management will teach attendees about “Composting at Home.”

Moberly said composting is a “natural process where organic matter — food, grass, twigs, leaves, etc. — is decomposing and becomes compost.”

“You can do it at home using the natural process and your composter, which accelerates the process,” she said.

Moberly will teach participants how to build a compost system and how to install it.

Marcia Farris, director of the UK Arboretum, explained some of the common misconceptions there are about composting and installing a composter.

“Composting can be done in all different ways — simple to more complex,” Farris said. “It gives you nice material to add to flowers or a garden bed.”

Farris, who uses a composter in her own home, called compost “black gold” and said it is “wonderful to improve soil with what usually ends up in a landfill.”

Agriculture sophomore Adam Hancock said composting is a very important process for people to learn.

“It is important because it returns nutrients of organic waste like banana peels and apple cores back to the soil to be used by new plants,” Hancock said.

The lesson will also discuss how composters are maintained and what can and cannot be composted. Participants who pre-register will be entered to win a kitchen compost bin that works for short-term kitchen compost storage.

“When you send yard waste, egg shells and other foods to the landfill, they rarely decompose because when they are buried it is a no air environment,” Moberly said. “When using a composter you are creating new organic material.”

This event is the sixth event that the arboretum has held in its sustainability series in an effort to make Lexington a greener city, Farris said.

For more information check out the arboretum’s calendar at http://www.ca.uky.edu/arboretum/calendar_events.php.