Composting
POSTED ON September 9, 2009
compost photo from http://www.keyandbones.com/tag/compost/
Emptying the compost was one of my chores as a child. It meant carrying the full bucket up the hill and dumping it onto the great mound at the end of the garden, then hosing the bucket out and picking a handful of pennyroyal mint to put in the bottom, so that while it sat under the kitchen sink it smelled nice.
Both my parents are enthusiastic composters, my father starts one where ever he lives and my mother buries special biodynamic herbal preparations in hers.
I know many of you (in the country) have nice large composts that are warm under a blanket of hay, filled with happy earth worms and therefore know all the joys and sense it makes, but in the city we forget.
It wasn’t until Colin Beavan a.k.a. No Impact Man started his year long environmental experiment that I realized I could be composting here in Manhattan too.
I really enjoy walking down to the community garden every week to drop off my compost. It feels good to take direct responsibility for some of the waste I produce. Not only am I preventing organic waste going into a land fill, taking up space in a plastic bag on the back of a carbon producing truck but I am returning the food that has nourished me back to the earth, to nourish other plants so the cycle can begin again. AND, most importantly in a landfill, organic matter breaks down in the absence of oxygen, creating methane, a powerful greenhouse gas which contributes to climate change.
compost photo from http://gardenofeaden.blogspot.com/2011/03/how-to-make-john-innes-compost.html
Sometimes I get really down about our current environmental situation and overwhelmed by all the things we need to be doing to stop global warming, today was one of those days….Staying positive can be a challenge, I find it helps to focus on what we can do now and how we can inspire others in our community to do the same. I hope this encourages you to become part of the natural cycle of our food and waste.
If you live in New York City you can go to the Lower East Side Ecology Center to find a drop off point near you. If you live in another major city you can go to Green Map.
Colin’s book No Impact Man is out and the documentary film is opening in New York this week.
POSTED IN Uncategorized
tweet it
pin it
Great post Amy, I, too enjoy walking my frozen bags of compost to our local garden (now only on Sundays). I’m sure you’ve inspired more people to do the same.
Yeah I remember you mentioning that you freeze your items for compost, so they don’t get all rotten inside, and we’ve done the same now. A great practical tip that makes it really possible instead of something that you wish you could do….
Thank you both, I forgot to mention that compost can be frozen or refrigerated until you make it to the drop off!
Great post! I’ve been talking about urban composting for years, but I’ve been lazy! You’ve inspired me to change my ways.
Hi Amy, glad to see you spreading the word on compost. Mine makes my mouth water sometimes. That “No Impact Man” film looks like fun.
Nice post Amy, I need to get back into composting as well (it seemed so much easier in Seattle because of the curb site pick up of compost). Here’s another post I found on composting http://brooklynbased.net/everything/as-the-worm-turns/
Thanks Scott will check it out. Curb pick up what a luxury!