Composting is an eco-friendly way to generate organic fertilizer for your garden. Even if you don't have a large collection of plants to take care of, composting can be a good step to take in your energy-efficient mission. When you compost food scraps, newspapers and other biodegradable organic matter rather than throwing it in the trash or even recycling it, you're reducing the amount of energy needed to process and transport waste. Letting these organic items break down in your back yard means the trash company doesn't need to haul it away, and their trucks in turn don't put out as much exhaust or consume as much fuel.