WEBVTT

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[sil.]

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[music]

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[music]

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The sun radiates energy
that plants used to grow.

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When they die, plants start to
rot, decompose, decay away.

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Rotting may sound bad, but actually it\'s an all
natural way to return energy to the ecosystem.

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And without it, the remains of everything that
ever lived would crowd us off the planet.

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When things have gotten rotten,
it\'s thanks to decomposers,

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microbes, worms, and other invertebrates.

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These creatures help recycle
energy and nutrients.

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In nature, very little goes to waste.

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[sil.]

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People on the other hand
make tons of garbage.

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[sil.]

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Recycling paper, cans, and bottles
is one way to reduce garbage.

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Another way is composting.

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Yard waste is a perfect
candidate for the compost bin.

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So are kitchen scraps.

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Most people collect kitchen fruit and vegetable scraps in some sort
of bucket and periodically dump it into a bin or pile outside.

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When organic materials rot,

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they take up much less space and
turn into nutrient rich humus.

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[music]

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Things can turn rotten just about anywhere.

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Cold temperature slows down
decay, but doesn\'t stop it.

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[music]

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Today we\'re going to get into compost pile, find out what
actually makes it tick, why does it work like it does?

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Why do you put a bunch of what
appears to be garbage to you in,

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one month later we\'ve got some nice soil, we
can use to plant, plants. Why does it work?

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A compost bin is a way to control decay.

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Who\'d have thought during the year you\'d be
sticking your hands in the middle of rot… oh.

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Composting works best with a combination
of carbon-rich plant materials

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which tend to be dry and brown.

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And nitrogen-rich materials which
are usually green and juicy.

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Together, they\'re a balanced diet for
the creatures that thrive on compost.

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The organisms that break the materials down in our bucket need
air, so we\'re gonna put holes in the bucket so they can breathe.

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Without good air circulation,
compost can get sort of slimy

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which is something to avoid.

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Please don\'t forget to give me a description, you open it up, what does
it look like? Is it covered with mould on the surface, it looks dry.

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Remember compost if it\'s working shouldn\'t
smell, it should smell like dirt.

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Yeah, remember. If you open it up and you
see something crawling around in there,

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(inaudible) organism, record it.

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Composting is practically automatic. Thanks to a zoo
of hard working little creatures called decomposers.

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It\'s got legs. Almost there.

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Organic stuff rots because it\'s
broken down by feasting decomposers.

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If Composting is working, you\'re gonna have a
section that\'s going to be nice and uniform,

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just gonna be brown and it\'s all
gonna be mixed together real nice.

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A core sample is a slice
of life from compost.

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It\'s a good way to get the
inside story on a compost bin.

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If you see a worm, if you say
an organism, then recorded it.

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Decomposers demand very little,
just food, air, and moisture.

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The menagerie of life forms turns organic waste
into dark rich humus that gardeners love.

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[music]

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Big cities have lots to offer, including
different sources for compostable waste.

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[music]

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Compost can help turn a
vacant lot, into an oasis.

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[music]

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Some neighborhoods work together
to grow community gardens.

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[music]

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Where do you get the manure from?
From the police stables.

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We get our bags, a lot of bags, they give it out.
So you know manure, you don\'t wanna keep manure.

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And its manure mixed with the bedding materials,
so it\'s already mixed with wood chips or straw.

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[sil.]

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Collecting horse manure for a compost
pile turns a problem into a solution.

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[music]

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An experiment can help sort out which
mix of organic wastes will rot best?

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Wood chips have lots of carbon,

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horse manure lots of nitrogen. Carrots
scraps are high in nitrogen too.

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Mix them together and get
ready for a rot riot.

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[music]

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Decomposers need fresh air to do their
work and different compost bins have

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different schemes to keep air flowing.

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Worms help out by opening up airways
as they burrow through soil.

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Worms are among the most important
of a decomposer organisms.

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Those are worms that are good for compost. When
they move around the compost bin, they leave holes.

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Uh… the worms been reproducing? They are
reproducing, like, crazy in… in here.

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Yeah, come here, try it. See.

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These are actually the eggs, you
can here… if you wanna see?

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They are like umm… lizard eggs.

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[music]

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Plant materials usually have millions of
microorganisms already living on them,

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but to jumpstart a new bin, it\'s a
good idea to add finished compost

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which has a slew of decomposer microorganisms
ready to help break down plant materials.

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[sil.]

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We gonna make a bioreactor
out of a soda bottle.

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This is the two liter bottle with the
top cut off and holes in the bottom.

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That will give you something
to set the compost on

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and at the same time gives you a little place for the leachate or the liquid
to come out and also gives you air holes. Okay, so aeration will be constant.

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So it just looks like, it\'s real.

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A bioreactor can be used in controlled
experiments on the composting process.

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There are lots of recipes for rotting,
and some work better than others.

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[music]

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Insulation helps to seal in the
heat given off by decomposers.

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[music]

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As decomposers munch away on food scraps and each other,
they give off heat energy and the compost starts to cook.

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And it feels warm on the outside.

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Some like it hot thing.
You got some 90 degrees.

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Eventually, the party\'s over and the compost
cools down. The decomposers have done

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all they can without
more food, water or air.

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[music]

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Good record keeping is an important
part of a scientific experiment.

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When compost is working well,

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it can heat to 140 degrees Fahrenheit,
that\'s 60 degrees Celsius.

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You know, if you do graph of the outside
temperature versus the compost temperature also.

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We got 90, plus 32,

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put 98-76.

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0.8.

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It takes time to enter data, but computers
make it easy to see your results.

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[music]

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You wanna take a sample from up here, about half way down and three quarters
way down then from the bottom, and look at it under the microscope.

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Some decomposers are plenty big
enough to see with the naked eye,

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but many are microscopically small.

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A slurry of water and compost put on the slide, lets you
peer into the tiny world of composting microorganisms.

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[sil.]

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Just a teaspoon of active compost contains billions of bacteria and
one celled protozoa swimming around in their own little universe.

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[music]

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These microscopic decomposers typically spend their lives
in a film of water that surrounds moist plant debris.

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[music]

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Protozoa often have tiny hairs called
cilia that wiggle in coordinated waves.

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That\'s how protozoa swim around and also how
they swish tiny bacteria into their tiny mouths.

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[music]

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It\'s perfectly clear, you can see the digestive system,
if you look at this you can see right through it.

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Nematodes are very small worms that
live by the millions in compost bins.

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One rotten apple might
contain 100,000 nematodes.

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Some nematodes eat plant material

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and others have a craving for bacteria,
protozoa, or even other nematodes.

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Is that a red one? These
aren\'t (inaudible).

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Get… Did you get to see…
everybody can see it clear?

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A work in compost pile is teeming
with larger invertebrates.

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Its moving man, this thing is not dead.
Let me get your creature disk.

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Look at that one, look at that one.

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Although most invertebrate are visible by eye, a low powered
microscope is a great way to zoom into some detail.

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Wow, you\'ve got tones of
things going on in here.

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Oh, wow!

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These are some happy critters.
Look at this.

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Look, look, that clear thing. A hundred mites would
fit on your fingertips if you were so unkind.

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Some might scavenge on
leaves and plant materials,

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but others are predators, feeding
on nematodes and other insects.

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Mites like their relatives
the spider have eight legs.

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Got some stuff? Oh, yes. Is that way you\'re going yew… because you
found something? Yeah, look. Look at it, Jane, look, look, look.

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Some decomposers have more than eight legs.

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Millipedes, which are usually big
enough to see without magnification,

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eat rotting plant material, but
occasionally enjoy dead insects.

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[music]

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They are still worm like, they\'re just
more clear. They look like maggots.

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Maggots are fly larvae. They feast on all
kinds of rotting debris including compost.

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The centipede is a speedy hunter
with shark pincers that inject prey

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with a paralyzing poison.

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After a meal, the tidy centipede
cleans itself thoroughly.

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Oh, wait, wait, wait. Yeah, look.
Did you look at it already?

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Another poisonous predator in the compost pile is the
tiny pseudoscorpion, which is about the size of a mite.

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The pseudo scorpion can\'t see or hear,

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but it can sense the smell and
the vibrations of moving prey.

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Most caterpillars prefer
to eat green leaves,

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but those living in a compost
pile consume dead plant material.

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Mark, is this one like yours?

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The Rove Beetle is visible without magnification. It uses its
piercing mouth parts to catch and kill other small invertebrates.

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[music]

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There are all kinds of worms
in the compost pile. Oh, God.

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They plough on through ingesting,
digesting, and reshaping organic debris.

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As organic material winds through
the worm\'s digestive system,

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it\'s ground up and broken down until it
passes out of the worm rich in minerals.

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[music]

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Tiny land snails, the size of a fingertip are never
far from the shelter of their elegant homes.

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Snails feed on plant debris

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while peering around with eyes
on the ends of tentacles.

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Snails glide along on a
slime track of mucus.

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[music]

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I just blew it out of there.

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It\'s really good?

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[music] Spring tails are barely visible without magnification. They
feed on decomposing plant debris, nematodes, and insect droppings.

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Spring tails and Sowbugs

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are the descendants of some of the
earliest land dwelling animals on earth.

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They have survived relatively unchanged for millions
of years and have perfected the art of decay.

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[music]

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A compost pile dishes up the
kind of food that ants prefer,

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kitchen scraps, seeds and other insects.

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What do his mouth parts look like? You wanna put them
in the food web, what do his mouth parts look like?

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Like… like… like that? So
you got little creature?

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[music]

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The riding collection of microorganisms and
invertebrates that live in a compost pile

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makes up what scientists call a food web.
Organic debris at the base of the food web

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provides a feast for decomposers,
supplying them with energy

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to live, grow, and reproduce.

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The tiny microorganisms and larger invertebrates that eat
organic debris are at the primary level of the food web.

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[music]

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Above them at the secondary level of the food web are the
protozoa and invertebrates that eat the first level decomposers.

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Secondary level decomposers in turn

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are eaten by the decomposers
at the top of the food web.

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It\'s a natural and efficient system of recycling
that quickly reduces organic waste to useful humus.

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[music]

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Finished compost is brown, crumbly, and full of nutrients.
It has the fresh clean scent of the earth itself.

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[sil.]

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This humus provides raw materials for a new
generation of plants. Hold on to it, separate it…

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[music]

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The cycle repeats as the
energy radiated by the sun

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becomes available to support new
life and helps turn a vacant lot

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into a garden paradise.

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[music]