Cost/Benefit Analysis

In the process of researching my potential transition from a non-composting person to one who does, I've run across the possibility that building and using a personal composting system might not actually be the most sustainable solution for my particular situation.   It would be fun to try, but doing something because it seems

Some particularly elegant and relevant art.

 

neat or cool is not the appropriate reason to do it, when it comes to sustainability.  It needs to make sense and be the most sustainable option for the situation.

I have little doubt that composting is more sustainable than non composting, but what I'm still evaluating is the method by which I ultimately end up doing that.  My current living situation is not one that doesn't really foster having the opportunity to use the end products of composting.  By this, I mean that I live on the 3rd floor of an apartment building and don't own enough plants to make use of the volume of compost that would result from my own personal compost bin.  Essentially, I would have to somehow transport my compost to a place where it could be put to use.  So if I'm going to have to drive somewhere to drop something off anyway, it seems more sustainable to not buy all of the supplies that I need to create a proper composting system and instead just use a simply container to gather compostable materials and then eventually drop it off to be composted at a community garden or something similar that already has a composting system set up.

Sometimes making efficient use of already existing resources and processes is more sustainable than going through the expense and resources to replicate those processes.

I haven't fully decided which way I will go yet.  Stay tuned.