Some time back, I was watching this show on HGTV where they took a couple of apartment-dwelling Manhattanites, calculated their carbon footprint, and then helped them reduce it. Most of the advice was obvious--start recycling, don't dry clean everything you own, don't leave the TV on for the dog all day when you're out of the apartment (true!), etc. But they also introduced the couple to composting. By composting their food scraps and recycling paper, cans, and glass, the couple was able to reduce their trash load by 95%. I was intrigued, because let me tell you, G & I produce approximately 11,278 cubic feet of trash per day. Ok, maybe not that much, but certainly more trash than two normal people should. And definitely more than two supposed liberal environmentalists should. And we already recycle pretty religiously!
I'd talked to a few people about it, but was really uncertain about how to get started. And the Manhattan couple had a plastic tub full of worms--I admit that might have been a bit of a mental barrier. I like the environment...outside where it belongs. But over the weekend, we were at the in-laws and I found out that they compost! Just throw the stuff in a bucket and it turns into soil! No worms needed! Well, apparently, the worms come on their own, but I've decided that G can handle that part. So on Saturday, I cleaned the refrigerator out of all the food scraps I knew we weren't going to eat and on Sunday I added to it the leftover celery, carrot, and butts from the mirepoix. Look at me, I'm composting!
Well, I was. The maids came yesterday and threw it all out. I'm not totally surprised, because if you were cleaning a stranger's kitchen and found a bucket full of trash under the kitchen sink, what would you do with it? I'm going to ignore the fact that this is an "environmentally friendly" cleaning service who doesn't recognize a compost bin. Sigh.
