Buckets of Fun!

Today, I got a New Thing, an exciting New Thing. Free from Solid Waste Services, I got a bucket.

I fill up the bucket with vegetable scraps and when I drop it off, I can get a bucket of compost in exchange.

Tim says, “It doesn’t take much to make you happy.” Actually, I think I require a lot to make me happy, but this bucket is A LOT! It’s a 5-gallon bucket! It has a twist top so it will lock in smells.

I already cleaned and clipped a bunch of strawberries. I can just toss the green tops right into the bucket. It’s so big, I don’t even have to aim them.

I can hardly wait to snap the asparagus stalks for tonight’s dinner!

My friend Mollie of Valley Community for Recycling Solutions is so inspirational about moving towards a life of zero trash, but composting has always been a failure in our house. We have a big wooden box of it in the backyard, but somehow it never achieves compost status and so it became a big box of dirt and rot and we lost motivation. But I still want to move towards zero trash, and now I can – someone else will make the compost!

I already recycle everything recyclable, and after last summer’s marine recycling, I have been eliminating and/or reusing single-use plastic in my life. Now I get to subtract the vegetable scraps, too. Some weeks, our entire trash fits into one re-used pretzel bag. I am still confounded by the big plastic Costco packages for my grapes and apples because they’re only taken if you have pick-up service. There’s a limit to how much of it an art teacher will accept for “projects.”

But right now, I’m not worried about that because I am SO HAPPY with my new, giant composting bucket. If you want one, check with compost@muni.org to see if any are still available.