Dear Chicky, 

My boyfriend and I (we’re both in our early 30’s) have a bet: I say air quality is better than when we were kids, he says it’s worse. 

Who’s right? 

–Itching to be Right 

                                                                                  
Dear Itching, 

Though it’s always fun to watch one half of a couple do the “I’m right and you’re wrong” dance, I’m sorry to report that nobody’s winning the bet on this one. You’re both right, depending on what kind of standard you’re using to judge air quality, and where you live. 

Overall, air quality has improved in most parts of the United States, due to several decades of pollution rules and enforcement under the Clean Air Act. In the Southeastern parts of the country where population growth has exploded, there are higher levels of pollution than before (since housing wasn’t exactly planned around people riding their air-friendly bikes to work), but they’re still within the normal range on most days. Some cities, like Los Angeles, have made dramatic improvements in air quality, something that Angelenos notice when they step outside their doors and enjoy visible views. That’s the good news. 

The bummer is, “While there’s less air pollution than in the past, pollution is much more dangerous than we originally thought, so that even the lower levels today still impact people’s health negatively,” says Paul Billings, the VP of National Policy and Advocacy for the American Lung Association and husband of Debbie Downer. (That second part’s a lie, but he really burst my happy bubble there.) 

So how the heck are we supposed to know whether to crawl out from under our (air-conditioned) rocks or not? The EPA keeps track of five major air pollutants, which are generated from power plants and vehicle exhaust, as well as other industrial applications: ozone, particulates, carbon monoxide, sulfur dioxide, and nitrogen dioxide are the baddies. All of these pollutants affect everyone, though children, the elderly and those with respiratory or heart conditions are more affected than others, which is why the EPA puts out warnings on certain days that the air is not healthy for some folks. (You can check the EPA daily for any area of the country to find out how nasty it is outside.)  Needless to say, “The air might be cleaner now, but we still need to do more,” says Billings.  

And while clean-air technology like catalytic converts for cars and smokestack scrubbers for power plants has improved, there are more air conditioners, rechargeable cell phones and iPods, not to mention people (who drive cars) than ever before, meaning that to keep the clean air gains we’ve made, we’re either going to have to continue to reduce emissions via regulation or cut down on energy use and population growth. 

Comprimisingly Yours,                                                   Chicky

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Dear Chicky,
I went to a dinner party last week and the host had a tiny composter in her apartment’s kitchen; she said there were bugs inside that eat the food she deposits. It sounds gross, but I feel bad tossing all my leftovers in the garbage—how do these things work? Why don’t they smell?
—Curious about compost

Dear Curious Composter,
All compost systems rely on the same principle: stuff rots and then turns into dirt. If you do it right. The good news is it’s not that hard to replicate what nature does on a grand scale in your very own kitchen. Properly composted food is never smelly and can cut down on your trips to the garbage bin (and the inevitable filling of our landfills). In fact, if you get into it, you can compost up to 1/3 of your household waste.

What your friend most likely had was a worm composter, also called a vermicomposter. This kind of composting is great for an apartment because it doesn’t take up much space, is totally hygienic and the final product is humus. Not the middle-eastern bean spread, but the ultimate fertilizer for your organic container gardening.

The busy earthworms, called red worms or manure worms, (yes, they wiggle, but no, you don’t have to touch them) will keep your composter functioning and odor-free. These special guys eat up to their weight in food every day, and their excrement is the aforementioned humus. Their casts (a nicer name for poop) contain all sorts of good stuff like nitrogen, phosphorous and potassium, meaning that the humus they produce will make your garden grow. And on top of all that, once your scraps are devoured by the worms, all the nasty pathenogenic bacteria (the kind that can make you sick) are totally neutralized.

But there are some caveats; you can’t just dump all your leftovers in a vermicomposter, but fruit and vegetable scraps, eggshells, old bread, coffee grounds, shredded computer paper (no colored ink) and newspaper, and houseplant trimmings are all OK. Go light on the vegetable oils, dairy and meat; all these things take more time for the worms to digest, so don’t throw a big hunk of steak in your composter, no matter how free-range and organic it might be. Some people say small amounts of meat or bone will break down just fine, but it might take some experimenting. It isn’t complicated, by you will need to read up on the subject. You will need to keep the whole operation moist, and you can make your own or buy a composter ready-to-go at a host of websites and garden centers. The worms are also available online or from your neighborhood plant store. Try wormdigest.org, cityfarmer.com and cityknowlege.com.

Wormily yours,
Chicky