JENNIFER GRZESKOWIAK

Using food scraps to create compost for crops reinforces the circle-of-life notion inherent in composting. The Montana Department of Transportation is making the circle of life even bigger by adding an unexpected element to the composting stream: dead deer. The Daily Inter Lake reported that for the last year, the department has been saving money by sending more than 500 deer found along state highways in the Bitterroot Valley to a composting facility, rather than landfills or natural areas where they could decompose. The department estimated that it previously was costing about $135 to dispose of the bodies in landfills. Officials now are hoping to extend the method to other areas in the state and to begin using the compost for highway revegetation projects, according to the article.