composting

Time magazine has an article on composting, and gives a shout out to San Francisco's curbside recycling program.

Funny to think that there was a time not long ago that I didn't compost. It grossed me out, and I didn't understand the need.

Now composting is easy, fun, and surprisingly non-stinky and not gross.

So why compost? When you throw food in the trash, it will decompose in landfills and then release methane. Methane is a greenhouse gas that effects the Earth's climate. Too much of it is a bad thing.

I got a cute little compost bin at Target, and everyday it gets filled up with food scraps. Every day or two I take it downstairs and dump it in my bigger green compost barrel, which then gets picked up every week by SF's recycling truck. The food scraps don't smell or get moldy, and I know I'm doing a good thing for the Earth every time I throw food in it. Every week my bag of trash gets smaller and smaller, and my recycling and composting bins are overflowing.

I'm still learning, too...my work invited some folks from the SF Recycling Program to come in and train us on recycling and composting. I didn't know that paper with soiled food, waxed cardboard, and tissues you've used to blow your nose can be composted. Cool!