Compostable Insecurities

It's another one of those things I should have been doing for a very long time but never did, and constantly kicked myself, and always meant to, but either had an excuse or just couldn't get around to it. Composting. A fairly easy no-brainer. Yet, I didn't do it.

Well, we lived in an apartment. -So? Still can get a small container. Well, where to put it? -There were places.These were merely excuses. When we moved to a house with an actual garage and yard, the excuses were going to have to stop. Sure, it's Winter. Sure, it's cold, can't really bury the waste or do anything with it, right? No - no more excuses. But... but... I don't have a container for under the sink. I have to go buy one...

Right under my sink...

It went on and on with me. With ME! We have a unique garbage situation in our small town, one that would seem to encourage not throwing things away. So, every time I continued to throw away organic waste, I yelled at myself yet again. Just DO it already. Finally, I did -  just got up and did it. We moved into a place that was previously inhabited by a cousin, and he left some things behind. I went down to the basement to see if maybe I could find a suitable container. I'd seen something I thought might work for my purpose, and sure enough, there it was by the washer & dryer. It was a plastic container that previously held moistened towels, the kind that pop up one at a time as you use them. It was perfect. Plastic, so throwing it "away" would suck, so now it's re-purposed. Fairly airtight, so it won't smell up under my sink and won't leak. Whatever was in it before may have been oh-so-toxic, but now it has a second life as wonderfulness. 

So there was my first step. But what next? It's still too cold to bury stuff, and just dumping it outside wasn't really a good solution. But having this first step out of the way got me moving to the next one.

Ideally, I would have found another container to re-purpose, but lacking that (and not using it as yet another excuse), we went ahead and purchased a very large garbage bin at the local hardware store. You know, that big kind with a big lid and wheels? It took me a few days to get around to drilling the holes in it, but I did that too. I have to stir it more frequently, and pay more attention to it when the weather gets warmer... you know, make sure it's balanced and not smelly etc... but it's finally going. It's out there. I don't have to smack myself in shame every time I peel an orange or banana or oops that spinach went bad - not just throwing it all away anymore! I did it. One of those damn things I've been meaning to do forever and ever... and it really is not hard. A lot of this stuff boils down to just-get-up-and-frickin-do-it.

I was so stuck on the thought that I couldn't do it perfectly, that I was just plain stuck. NOT doing it. Holding back. It's OK if it's not perfect. It's compost. It's pretty forgiving, actually. Starting to smell? Well, then it's a little unbalanced and needs an infusion of browns to balance the greens. No big deal. It's not with worms? Well, I'm not comfortable doing worm-composting, I wish I was, but I have this terrible fear that one day I'll come out and hundreds of worms will have died. I wish to avoid that particular guilt. Silly? Oh, for sure. But, just the same, I'll just stick to the non-worm variety. The point is, I'm not tossing that stuff in the garbage anymore. I finally put myself aside and did it.

And it wasn't in the least bit difficult. I can tackle other things now! Time, soon, to get those rainbarrels going... but... it's cold....

Worm Slaves

"Here she goes again." It's OK if you think that. I can see how it looks like I pick on vegans. It could be because I've been lectured one (ten?) too many times. It's a hazard of the trade. I accept it, but I do enjoy giving it back.

I love worms. Always have. Don't like fishing with them; hate to have to kill them to put them on the hook. Always pick them up from the sidewalk where they are at risk of drying in the sun or getting trod-upon. Never been grossed out by worms. Never ate one either, by the way. I guess kids do that sometimes when dared. I avoided that fate. I would love to compost with worms, but it seems daunting. Especially in an apartment. But it seems like a great thing to do.

So, imagine my amusement when I came across a debate on Facebook about whether or not composting with worms, or vermiculture, is vegan. Imagine my chuckle as some vegangelical came across and said, "NO! You are enslaving worms!!! You are making them serve you!" (Oh, and bee keeping is ALSO not vegan, but that's another post. I promise.) I did a search, and came across this from a vegan-ish board: "vermiculture is not vegan. vegans don't use animals or animal by products, compost from worms is an animal by product. the worms are working for you, they are not pets like dogs and fish because they are kept for an end result, poop. even if you keep them in the best conditions and treat them with respect, you are still harvesting them for your own purpose."


Seriously? Um... So, giving them a nice warm home and lots of great food and keeping them from harm and giving them the best life ever... that's... well... that's not a good intention, it can't be vegan because you are using their poop? It's OK to eat things that grow out in the wild 'cuz them worms is free-range type worms? The poster goes on with a little more clarity: "i understand that it is nearly impossible to find out what type of compost was used to grow food and plants, and that most food is grown with animal manure or compost with animal by products, however these methods or unnecessary because vegan compost works just as well as vermicompost and other composts with animal by products. we get to choose how we fertilize our own plants at home, choosing vermicompost is not vegan."


Frankly, I'm confused. Someone please enlighten me on this one, because I REALLY don't get it, even after this enlightened explanation. It could be this particular person is just a crock, and this isn't an all-encompassing feeling. But I have seen it more than once, and so that tells me I need to address it. See, extremism scares me. I wish to understand. I want to know. Inquisitive mind, remember? Someone please tell me why providing worms with a good place to live and lots of free food and protection from birds and the elements is WRONG? We're using their poop. They are using us for all the things just back there in that sentence right back there you just read back there. It's a SYMBIOTIC relationship. And those are good. By this crock (IMHO) line of reasoning, we should flush all the e.coli out of our systems, because we are using them for our own health. How very.

Look, live how you want, but please learn some logic. I wish for there to be logic. Because my brain hurts, otherwise. And I like my brain. I give it a nice home and it gives me...

Wait... I'm USING my brain for my own purpose.

Mm hmm.