Composting Your Way to Happiness
— Todd Smith, Friends of Rye Nature Center Board Member
Image provided by RecycleSmart
As the weeks of isolation have increased during the current health crisis, many of us have turned to nature to escape our stress and worries. For some, that has come through walks in the woods. For others, gardening (even weed pulling) has brought peace. For New York Times author Jessica Stolzberg, her solace has come from composting.
In her recent opinion piece, Stolzberg reminds us that despite the hardships these times have placed upon us, they have given us a much needed time-out. Not being bound by daily commutes and demanding schedules has allowed us to slow down, and in doing so, opened the door to small appreciations we might never have noticed otherwise—the dawn chorus of bird song, the evening serenade of a hooting owl, the yellow blaze of daffodils, and the pinks and whites of trees in flower.
Stolzberg captures another experience many of us have had in recent weeks when she writes about her reconnection with food:
“I’ve never considered our food supply chain so intensely: where our sustenance comes from, whether there will be enough through this crisis, who touches it before it gets to us (and if our heroic grocers are being properly compensated), and how we should handle it once it’s home. We now wash our fruits and vegetables with soap and warm water. […] I take this one more step, beyond our nourishment, and deliver what we don’t consume back to the earth [through composting].”
The author goes on to make a very compelling argument, not just for the practical need to compost, but for the sheer joy and sense of accomplishment composting offers.
“I recently weighed the citrus rinds, cucumber peels, coffee grounds and other kitchen detritus collected in two days by my family of four and it came to 4.3 pounds. I did the math for a week, then a year, then six, and felt something that could only have been eco-joy.”
In these unprecedented times, many of us are grasping for those small moments when we can once again feel grounded, perhaps even in control, again. Composting provides that satisfaction, and it’s something all of us can do right now with our families.
It is a good time to make a commitment to composting. It’s a small thing, but it’s also very satisfying to know that even in these uncertain times, each of us, in the smallest of ways, can make a difference.
The EPA has some great tips on how to get started composting in your own backyard and FRNC Executive Director, Christine Siller, shared her experience with composting on Ryemarkable Moms, check out the video below!
For those of you living in Rye, Rye Sustainability also has lots of composting details on their website and information on how participate in the food scrap recycling program.
