Question

better than soil at holding moisture, compost minimizes water waste and storm runoff, it increases savings on watering costs, and helps reduce erosion on embankments near bodies of water.
1 increases savings
2 savings increase
3 no change
4 also it increases savings

Explanation:

The original sentence has a comma splice (two independent clauses joined by just a comma). The first option "increases savings" (without "it") makes the sentence a list of parallel verb phrases: "minimizes...", "increases...", "helps...", which is grammatically correct. Option 2 changes the structure and creates a new independent clause incorrectly. Option 3 adds "also it" which still creates a comma splice. Option 1 corrects the structure by making the verbs parallel.

Answer:

1. increases savings