Yes, sir, yes, sir, three bags full (and five cans, too)

7 thoughts on “Yes, sir, yes, sir, three bags full (and five cans, too)”

1. So much compostable material. 🙁

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2. True. On the other hand, we barely keep up with the yard work, let alone taking care of a composter.

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3. As long as on that hand you are acting as an informed citizen. While land within dump truck driving distance of Denver remains cheap enough to scar it with landfills and not bankrupt the citizenry, reducing the volume that goes to landfill by the 20% that yard waste typically represents in the Denver area waste-stream would still decrease the voracious appetite for more "empty" land our society currently has.

   I totally recognize composting is a time commitment for individual home owners, but since we are as groups residents of the earth, it may be better to think of composting as a group activity. In Denver Urban Gardens, we have outreach programs to neighborhood groups offering training and expert advice to sustainable community composting operations in conjunction with community gardens, parks and schools. In this model, you could supply this material to your local group where it would be composted thus taking your portion of that 20% of unnecessary landfill material out of that damaging cycle and returning it to a healthy, managed and sustainable carbon cycle. This, of course, wouldn't eliminate the need for new landfills, but 20% of unnecessary volume is a large contributor to that current need; eliminate that, and we could focus on the next big contributor. In addition, under some versions of this model, as a contributor you might be eligible for sharing in the resulting compost, thus reducing your for high carbon footprint commercial soil amendment needs to keep your yard healthy.

   Our current waste-stream model is unsustainable. We may be a rich enough society now that we can pay someone to "magically" make our waste go away (out of sight — once it leaves our curb — out of mind) without considering the full impact, but we're leaving our children and grandchildren a poorer earth as a result.

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4. Hrm. Fair enough. I'll do some research into what sort of local / community composting opportunities there might be.

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5. Mary told me about how San Diego has a law about composting, and it makes sense. Again, just like recycling, it is going to take the local governments to take charge of the situation and mandate composting laws for the waste companies and cities.

   When we start going through our newly aquired lawn areas, we might need to look into composting options in Westminster.

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   1. I’m trying to think if that’s the point of the “clean green” separate garbage cans (for lawn clippings, etc.) that Jim & Ginger have with their trash company. I suspect so.

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6. In San Jose and Campbell at least, yard waste hauling is included in your trash billing. Campbell has bins for yard waste, but San Jose has you leave it in piles at the curb, in the street. Ick. The cities make mulch, at least, if not compost–not that I’d use it, there being no control over what goes into it, and I do want that control. I’d contribute to a community compost/mulch, but I’m trying to make sure I know what’s in my soil, and thus, my edibles.

   Those long dry grasses in your photos would be great in an enclosed compost maker, as well as moist materials. We don’t have any dry grasses of any height–but we have a large amount of evergreen magnolia leaves. Sigh. Most of our compost ingredients would likely be non-meat scraps (egg-shells ok, cheese rinds and meats, no). In the Santa Cruz house, we’d have better materials, but there is less soil in this lot.

   For a flower&garden show with a green theme, I found it interesting that there were no compost equipment vendors to be seen. I wanted to talk to some organization about mason bees, but no beekeepers to be found.

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