Give me one minute to explain and try to convince you to compost – you don’t have to do it- just thiiiiink about it.

Anyway, here goes:

I think you should compost food scraps from your kitchen & leaves from your yard to have one solid single positive impact on our environment.. Give me 30 more seconds!

You live your life using gas, buying products your probably don’t need, wanting more, and taking.

And you’re probably not satisfied…. You think, maybe if I GET more then I’ll be happy?

But… Have you ever thought maybe if I GIVE more – then I’ll be happy????

Think about when you do something nice for people – money or time wise- it’s rewarding – you always have a sense of satisfaction after

Now how does this relate to compost?

First, let me explain what compost is in case you’re still reading and wondering.

Compost is matter/trash that decomposes and serves as ‘food’ for other organisms as well as plants.

 E.g. your banana peel when combined with other things will de-compose, feed worms and other bugs which will turn into organic material that feeds a tree to produce another banana.

I’m going to give you the life of a typical banana peel -

You’ll put it in the trash, along with plastic bottles, toilet paper, wrappers, etc

Once a week the truck picks up your trash and hauls it away to a landfill far away where you can’t smell it.

This banana peel will take several months or years to decompose back into the ground because it lacks oxygen, moisture, and microorganism

Very few fatty acids, minerals, and vitamins will reach the dirt from this peel. And when they do, it won’t matter because it’s a landfill and (probably) nothing will ever be grown there.

So in essence, a Banana tree somewhere in South America pulled nutrients/vitamins from the ground and made a nutritious banana.

Banana is picked and shipped to your grocery store.

You eat it. You’re body uses the vitamins, carbs, minerals. You poop out what you don’t need.

Throw away the vitamin/mineral peel. It goes to landfill where the cycle ends.

Taken from the earth. Placed in a trash bin, vitamins never to be used by earth again.

The Circle of Life is broken and in the words of mr mufasa

“Everything you see exists together in a delicate balance. As king, you need to understand that balance and respect all the creatures, from the crawling ant to the leaping antelope.”
“But, Dad, don’t we eat the antelope?”
“Yes, Simba, but let me explain. When we die, our bodies become the grass, and the antelope eat the grass. And so we are all connected in the great Circle of Life.”—

I don’t know about you, but I eat a lot. Love food. not crazy about bananas though but i’ll eat antelope. But if there’s something I like i want more and more.

The planet feeds me, you, and 6,999,999,997 other people — 925 million of them which are going hungry – and shouldn’t but that’s for another post

So, does it seem natural – correct – to say thank you and GIVE something in return????

Ok, I hope someone’s still reading – sorry i write so much

Now, let’s pretend you put the banana peel in your kitchen compost bin. You walk outside you put it in your outside compost bin.

You or your hired gardener rake up your yard tree leaves and they’re thrown in the bin as well.

You occasionally add water and occasionally turn when you’re outside (or you get a bin that has a rotating handle  or do what my mom does and get the gardener to do it).

Eventually that banana peel turns into, along with the other stuff
into Dark Rich Black Soil – the kind that smells like beautiful wet earth, and feels cool when you touch.

This black soil is nutrient dense compost.

Now What? I’ll tell you what now – You saved a banana peel’s minerals and vitamins from going to waste. You turned it to nutritious matter that will now be placed on your trees, bushes, and plants that will use this  ’food’ to be strong and grow.

You will never need to buy fertilizers again (which are harmful to the soil, plants and water). The foliage at your home will be beautiful and any realtor can tell you a home with aesthetically pleasing plants will sell better than one without.

Even a city needs good foliage – think of your own city – do you like going to the areas with no landscaping?

BUT WHAT DIFFERENCE AM I MAKING BY DOING THIS? IT DOESN’T REALLY MATTER – I hear this – and yea make you’re not making a huge difference in the world – but you are definitely making a little one every day.

An ant carries one grain of sand everyday to build a mound.

if you build a mound, and you tell one person to build a mound too – and that continues… well, you get the idea… you can get a mountain.

Alright Summary – Benefits of Composting:

• It will be your little grain of sand of contribution in conserving valuable organic resources – returning these nutrients to the soil on your land.
• You’ll save money on trash to landfill service and fertilizers
• You’ll reduce climate warming gases from landfills, and groundwater pollution
• You’ll have beautiful healthy plants and trees

I say – just try it for a week – start with a hole in a corner of your backyard where no one can see, and see what it feels like to not waste food.

If you’re intrigued then check out How to Compost and How to Build a Compost Bin Post 

Also, if anyone in Austin wants a free Compost bin send me a message

i don’t use this one since i made one from pallets