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The other day, my lip balm tube was empty + in need of disposal. Throwing that leftover, cardboard tube into our compost bucket rather than into the trash felt good.
A few hours later, I heard that a plastic straw ban had been rolled back. Plastic straws are totally unnecessary + totally ubiquitous. Ubiquitous means "present, appearing + found everywhere". Yep, straws are found in coffee shops + gas stations + on sidewalks + in ditches. They are ubiquitous until they are banned, and then we learn to drink from cups again.
It's been a horrifying couple of weeks for all of us in so many ways. Let's just think about the regenerative nature of compost for a moment, shall we?
Sometimes it can feel like an inconvenience to choose the compostable option. Sometimes the compostable choice costs a little more, is more perishable, or requires carrying that banana peel back home with us. I get it. I also find that the feeling of inconvenience is vastly outweighed by the satisfaction I experience knowing that the waste I've created will not be preserved in plastic in a landfill for the rest of time.
One of the cool things about backyard composting is getting to see what we put in completely transformed into soil. A few of the things I've seen turned into soil in our back yard leaving no trace of their previous form:
(Look out for non-cotton thread when composting fabric items. If unsure of the fiber content, cut them off before composting. Compost non-plant-based food scraps in municipal composting to avoid attracting pests to backyard compost.)
I've noticed more collective, composting options in my area lately. Yay! A neighboring city is now offering a free compost drop-off site, and there is a bucket drop-off/pick-up program available close by too. It might be worth investigating options again, if there has been a barrier to composting in the past. A little inconvenience now saves a future mountain of garbage...for each of us.
Love,
Jane
A few hours later, I heard that a plastic straw ban had been rolled back. Plastic straws are totally unnecessary + totally ubiquitous. Ubiquitous means "present, appearing + found everywhere". Yep, straws are found in coffee shops + gas stations + on sidewalks + in ditches. They are ubiquitous until they are banned, and then we learn to drink from cups again.
It's been a horrifying couple of weeks for all of us in so many ways. Let's just think about the regenerative nature of compost for a moment, shall we?
Sometimes it can feel like an inconvenience to choose the compostable option. Sometimes the compostable choice costs a little more, is more perishable, or requires carrying that banana peel back home with us. I get it. I also find that the feeling of inconvenience is vastly outweighed by the satisfaction I experience knowing that the waste I've created will not be preserved in plastic in a landfill for the rest of time.
One of the cool things about backyard composting is getting to see what we put in completely transformed into soil. A few of the things I've seen turned into soil in our back yard leaving no trace of their previous form:
- fruit + vegetable peels, pits, seeds + skins
- spent organic cotton underwear sewn with cotton thread + natural rubber elastic
- natural fiber dryer lint (we only machine dry 100% organic cotton sheets + towels)
- food soiled paper
- hair + nails
- coffee grounds + loose tea
- spent, natural fiber, cleaning rags
- compostable lip balm tubes
- compostable bandaids
- leather scraps
- bamboo toothbrush handles + silk floss
(Look out for non-cotton thread when composting fabric items. If unsure of the fiber content, cut them off before composting. Compost non-plant-based food scraps in municipal composting to avoid attracting pests to backyard compost.)
I've noticed more collective, composting options in my area lately. Yay! A neighboring city is now offering a free compost drop-off site, and there is a bucket drop-off/pick-up program available close by too. It might be worth investigating options again, if there has been a barrier to composting in the past. A little inconvenience now saves a future mountain of garbage...for each of us.
Love,
Jane
