Climate Change & Compost's Healing Capabilities: An Interview with Dr. Sally Brown

The US Composting Council's sister foundation, the Composting Council Research and Education Foundation's go-to publication on the intersection between compost and climate change (carbon sequestration among other impacts) has been a best-seller. This interview with one of the authors, Dr. Sally Brown, was published earlier this year.

Meet Dr. Sally Brown, Research Associate Professor of Environmental and Forest Sciences at the University of Washington, and one of the authors ofThe Compost & Climate Connection. The Composting Council Research & Education Foundation (CCREF) asked Dr. Brown to share why she wanted to be a part of creating this new publication and why the information in it is so important.

CCREF: When the idea of doing a companion piece to CCREF’s Soil & Water Connection came up, why did you want to help write this new publication?

Brown: With so much going on related to climate change, a lot of people feel lost and don’t know what they can do about it. Composting is something that everyone can participate in, either within their communities, locally or in their own backyards. It’s a local solution that they can do right now to make a significant impact. I felt it was important to share what is going on, regarding climate change, and then give specifics on what compost is, how to compost and the benefits to our soil and the environment overall.

CCREF: So the take away is that here is something positive people can do?

Brown: Yes, I want people reading The Compost & Climate Connection to walk away with a positive message – that composting is something that can help with climate change and it’s something we can all do right now. It may seem a small thing to do, backyard composting, but I do see examples of how things can change, just with small steps. For example, just the other day I read an article about what’s happening in New York City, where they are starting to have city-wide organics collection. When I lived and worked in New York many years ago, I worked cooking in restaurants, there was no awareness then of buying local or composting. It’s great to see what can happen on such a large scale. It does show that what starts with just a few people can take off and grow.

CCREF: Can you sum up the main lesson you think the readers of this publication will learn?

Brown:  The first main lesson is that we have to do something about our degraded soils and the second is recognizing that we have the tools to fix this problem – it’s something we can all do right now. It’s called compost.

The publication can be purchased in January at the CCREF store at COMPOST2018 in Atlanta, GA or on the CCREF website at https://compostfoundation.org/ICAW-Store#soil