A few weeks back I wrote a blog “Going back to the roots” which you can read at 500Gallons.  In there I talked about how I was motivated to start composting, which up until now seemed a bit daunting. But it is a fairly simple solution to all that waste which we cannot recycle but feel horrible throwing into the garbage.

Soon after I wrote that blog, I started composting. I decided to keep things simple and started with trench composting. Mostly because I had not gone out and bought the compost bin yet; and I couldn’t wait any longer to get started! Of course there were other good reasons. I was planning on digging the grounds anyway since I wanted to grow some vegetables in my garden this summer. Also trench composting was something I had done in the past in Bangalore and I felt more comfortable trying it again.

So my husband and I collected composting material, kitchen scraps, for about a week. It was hard initially – after dumping something in the garbage accidentally, we would realize that it could be composted. But after a couple of days, we got a hang of it. I did not buy those fancy expensive kitchen compost pails to collect waste. Instead I had a bunch of big old plastic Tupperware boxes that were lying around. I just used one for each day. I then dug a trench and buried the collected waste in our backyard. My babies had fun watching and helping. The whole process was simple, fast and easy.

But once the summer heat picked up, it became a pain to dig trenches. So I finally made the trip to the Santa Clara County Service Center to pick up a compost bin provided by San Jose City at a subsidized rate. I probably should have done this sooner; Composting has become a much simpler process with the bin.  The center happens to be close to my place and the Earth Machine is light and was easy to set up. San Jose City even offers several free classes on composting.

Starting to compost has brought an awareness to what we throw into the garbage everyday – an important lesson to learn and pass on to the kids. It has made me take a second look at garbage!

I now have a healthier yard, a healthier wallet and a healthier conscious. Once I started composting, I was also motivated to plant some herbs and vegetables. And since our garbage had reduced quite a bit, I downsized our garbage bin and the monthly fees dropped by half! It feels good to do something that makes a positive impact on our environment – however small it may be. After all “little drops of water make the mighty ocean”.  I have to say that it has been a win-win situation.