Composting reduces the amount of trash that ends up dumped in landfills. When you compost, you allow items to naturally decompose on its own and return its nutrients back into the soil. People often compost in order to create natural fertilizer for gardens, others compost to help the environment. Compostable items are able to decompose and disintegrate(usually over a 90 day period) without leaving any toxicity in the soil. When a compostable item is disposed into a landfill, it results in a 90 day decomposition process taking many, many years. In addition, landfills don't allow items to decompose with oxygen, creating methane gas, a gas 21 times harsher on the environment that carbon dioxide. Methane from landfills is one of the main contributors to global warming.

Recycling is an important process in which materials are converted and reused. This reduces the amount of trash that ends up in landfills and useless. Recycling allows to reduce the amount of materials we use by changing them into something we can reuse. Example: plastics and glass are melted down and remade into something else, cardboard and paper are bleached and reused, etc...