What a great thing it is yet a lot of us probably
might not do it or even heard about it!
Compost is defined as a mixture of various decaying organic matters or substances.
I admit I didn't use to compost anything
and it is only really in the last couple of years that I have really thought
about it and started doing something about it.
I always thought that it was something
that farmers did and something that could not be achieved easily. I mean who really thinks about having a bin of decay matter in the garden anyway?
However, something happened which changed
my viewpoint.
A few years ago I was sharing a house with
some of my friends that I had met a university. We had picked the house
together and it was our first sign of freedom as students after living in halls
for a year. We arrived at the house on different days and after some time of
living there I noticed one of my flat mates had started taking out organic
waste to put into a green container in the garden to decompose, kind of like a compost bin. I didn't put any thought about why but understood straight away it
was the right thing to do and soon most of us were putting our organic waste
items into the compost bin also. It was so easy and simple and became part of
our daily habits. The end of the academic year was becoming closer and we had
decided that some of us would be moving on to different homes so we had to
ensure the house looked tidy and respectful for the next tenants. That got me
thinking about the compost bin. Would they appreciate this green container of
organic waste in their garden? Surely they wouldn't mind as we had it there
when we arrived. That's when the original house mate who started the compost bin
piped up saying that her parents were willing to take it back to their place on
their compost heap as she'd started it herself.
I hadn't realised until then that it was
her who started it. She didn't care that there wasn't a proper compost bin
around, she knew what was right and started it herself in a green container
(which was meant for putting glass in to be recycled). It was that easy
for her and it can be that easy for us to!
Compost shouldn't be seen as something that
only farmers do. It shouldn't be seen as a massive chore to getting round to
doing. It should be seen as something that we can do today to help reduce the
waste that we have in this country!
So start thinking about it! Can you buy a
compost bin and start composting? Or even just a cheap container with a few
holes in the bottom?
What can you do to help reduce your waste
today?
