If anyone mentions composting in my presence, my face lights up and I can’t help but exclaim, “I *love* composting.” My enthusiasm for the practice sends the words tumbling out of my mouth before I know what’s happening. To be clear though, I don’t make the compost.
I use a service. Every week, for years now, I’ve been putting my kitchen scraps in a small bin on my counter and then transferring them to a large bucket that stays on my patio. Once a week, I set the bucket out by my front door.
A wonderful person in a small pickup truck then pulls the bag out of my bucket and delivers it to a composting facility. From there, multitudes of microorganisms turn my discarded banana peels, lettuce cores, and egg shells into nutrient-rich compost that can feed the soil. That enriched soil can then grow new plants, feed new chickens, and start the cycle all over again.
My neighbor once asked me what I pay for the service. To me, it’s not very much; I think of it as a monthly donation to Earth. When he heard, however, he raised his eyebrows and acted as though I deserved a halo, “Oh. It’s good you’re doing that.”
It is a good thing to do, but I disagree about the halo. Composting makes me happy, and from that perspective, it’s also selfish.
Being a part of this Earth-positive process is one of my favorite things; it’s a bit messier than recycling but far more satisfying. Taking recyclables to the curb seems more like a chore. I’m glad we’ve found ways to reuse cardboard and tin cans, and I carry my things out to the bins every week, but I’m never thrilled. A part of me always wishes I didn’t have anything to recycle. I never wish I didn’t have any banana peels.
When I recycle and compost, however, I only have to take my trash out once a week, and it’s rarely a full bag. I’m always thrilled about that.
I don’t like to think about going back to my former way of sending my waste produce off to sit in a landfill. It would deprive Earth of much-needed nutrients for the soil and me of the special delight of participating in this natural, regenerative process.
It really is true, I think, that when we’re doing good things for Earth, we’re doing good things for ourselves, too.
Want to know more about composting? Here’s a cute video, and it has celebrities – The Compost Story
If you’re in the DC area, the service I use is the Compost Crew. I’ve been a satisfied customer for many years.
*Base layer photo is via Unsplash.
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