Future Compost
Before I get back to work on my November 30 Soups in 30 Days challenge, I’ve still got some cleaning up to do from last month. This morning, I whipped up a flyer for the neighbors on my block asking for their rotten pumpkins and Jack O’Lanterns! No, I’m not going to make soup with them, I want them for my compost bins. This time of year, I’ve got oodles of carbon in my compost in the form of leaves. I need more nitrogen in the form of food scraps to balance out the carbon. Rotten pumpkins will make a great addition to my compost piles and will help to inspire and educate my neighbors about composting.
Here where I live, everything put out to the curb is brought to a giant incinerator in Peekskill to be burned. No wonder why Westchester County, NY’s air quality is consistently ranked “poor” by both the EPA and the American Lung Association. Keeping those rotten pumpkins out of the fire will help improve air quality and will bring nutrients into my compost pile. It’s a total win win.
Are you a composter at your house? If so, follow my crazy lead! Gather your neighbor’s pumpkins and give them a tour of your compost pile! Show them what an elegant recycling system composting is.
This time of year, especially, I love to consider compost metaphorically. You put in unwanted food scraps, toss it around every now and then and, over time, you end up with a nutrient rich result that can be used to grow food. It’s like the circle of life. And it beats the heck out of trucking perfectly good stuff to an incinerator to be burned and end up in people’s lungs.
Happy Green Halloween!
