A Post on Compost

So it's time for a quick update on my foray into composting.  As I have previously mentioned, I was coming to discover that collecting compost materials and delivering it to another location, that can actually make use of the compost, may be a more sustainable and efficient use of my resources and time than actually re-inventing the wheel and creating my own composting system.  I'm still collecting composting materials and am still in the process of educating my roommate, and myself, about what can and cannot be composted but ultimately I plan on not doing the actual composting process and will instead be opting for taking full bins of "compost materials" to a local public place that already has an established compost system.  I've yet to fill up the bins that I have chosen to use for this process, so I haven't yet determined where the best place to compost the materials are but I'm leaning towards one of the public gardens that are around Bloomington and have been given some suggestions by those more in the know than myself.

A picture of the Butler Organic Community Garden, a possible recipient for my compost materials.

Although this project has taken a 90 degree turn from the direction I had originally envisioned, I'm pretty happy with what I've ended up with and feel like I'm still getting the opportunity to learn about composting and its benefits, even if I'm not actually the one gaining those benefits.

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.