From Picky Eaters to Soil Saviors: Teaching Kids the Magic of Composting via Storytelling
Mini Blog Series- Part III
Dear Dads,
There was a time when I used to wonder how gardening could be a hobby! The process is slow and requires a hell lot of patience. Who’s got the time?!
I couldn’t be more wrong.
The despair of seeing only browns from my window in the desert land as against the lush greens of the hills of Uttarakhand, India made me long for a garden I could call my own. I got to do something about it. It is unfair to sit around cribbing and not do anything about it, right?!
Gardens are all about investing your time. The more you work on the loving plants, the more they flourish and nourish. I did just that and my 5 AM started with working on my garden. With time, I learned more about how plants grow, what they need, and what they don’t. I read up and followed some amazing YouTubers who explain all about gardening with a great deal of gusto.
Working with plants made me realize one more thing. They needed good fertile soil. I did not have the luxury of driving to the nearest garden store to grab organic fertilizers or manure. The nearest was 300 km away!
The need to be self-reliant introduced me to Composting!
Before starting my composting journey, I decided to learn it together with my 4-year-old daughter. We both would watch YouTube videos of Vani Aunty* as my daughter calls her to learn the know-how of composting. It has two benefits: -
(a) I get to spend more time with her and pursue a hobby of mine as well.
(b) She learns young about a very balanced solution to a rising environmental problem — waste management.
Good value systems are not only about teaching kids moral/cultural values but also showing them how to live a more holistic, meaningful life that is in alignment with the environment.
*Mrs. Vani Murthy, popularly known as Composting Queen, has influenced many to start their waste management journey with her simple yet thorough videos on composting. She also goes by the name of Worm Rani on Instagram.
Our Journey
Well, it was a task to make her pronounce “Composting” correctly first.
Next was to explain to her what it is. What better way to simplify it all than with the help of Storytelling? And hence entered, Mr and Mrs Taproot. A funny couple that lived in a town called Sproutsville.
Storytelling helped me immensely to generate interest in her about composting and why we need to make it part of our daily life. I shall make sure I share the story with you in my next blog.
Our Composting Routine
- We have kept a medium-sized container next to the kitchen sink that stores vegetable and fruit waste of the day. We are only composting with uncooked waste and haven't yet explored the nuances of composting cooked waste.
- Egg shells, all kinds of colorful veggie and fruit peels, spoilt pieces of veggies/fruits — all of them find a place in the box. It is airtight to prevent the army ants from attacking it. A good airtight box also sorts the issue of the foul odor that you may experience while storing the waste.
2. At the end of the day, just before we go to sleep, we carry this box to our garden and empty it into our compost bin. Doing this at night time suits us and we thoroughly enjoy this daily routine.
It is more of a quiet bonding time that I share with my daughter after a long hectic day. Some days, we sit outside at night after we are done with our composting duties and just listen to the rhythmic chirping of crickets and buzzing of cicadas. A toad croak here and an owl hoot there.
At this time, my daughter also comes up with all kinds of stories. Last Sunday the blue squirrel came to the rescue of the dog, Oreo who by the way was being chased by a blue bull. Listening to her while quietly lauding myself to have inculcated this crucial routine in her daily life is fun.
Why crucial, you may ask?
It is not only about the environment-friendly routine that daily composting is but also about teaching kids a lot more. Here is how our daily composting routine has helped us: -
(a) It helped me teach her about habit stacking! I learned pretty late about what it meant but I am glad my daughter learned this at 4!
Habit stacking is a simple technique that helps you create new habits by connecting them to existing ones. It’s like putting two things together to make them easier to remember and do.
More on teaching habit stacking to kids in my upcoming blogs, but for now, we linked our daily nighttime milk routine with composting! The habit grew so organically that with time, even if I missed out, my lil one remembered to compost the minute she swigged her glass of milk.
(b) Helping her understand how to build a routine, follow through on a habit, and be self-disciplined. There have been days when we completely forget to compost, and only remember when the lights have been switched off. Yet in the initial days of building this routine, we made sure we got ourselves out of bed and worked our way through the compost bin. In fact, on most days it was her and not me, who remembered to follow through.
“Oh no! Compo-TING! Papa, switch on the lights. Let’s go!”
(c) A great bonding time with my kid after a long hectic day.
(d) Hands-on exploration! Composting provides an opportunity for kids to get their hands dirty and engage in tactile exploration. They can touch, feel, and observe the different materials, textures, and organisms present in the compost pile.
(e) Nature discoveries! Composting allows children to discover the wonders of nature up close. They can observe various organisms like earthworms, insects, and microorganisms that play important roles in the decomposition process.
(f) Problem-solving skills! Composting involves solving various challenges, such as maintaining the right balance of carbon and nitrogen, managing odors, or troubleshooting any issues that may arise. I involve my daughter in the process of figuring out what is going wrong with our pile. It is fun coming up with solutions, together.
I had taught her about what the “browns” of compost piles comprise — dry leaves, newspaper, cardboard, etc. And this was pretty long back when we had just started. It had rained the whole day and that night we could not find dry leaves to use in our compost. I thought of leaving it as is and putting the browns in the next day. But the lil one was quick on the uptake and said “Papa! Amazon box! You do have one, na? The parcel that you got today?” I was impressed. And beaming with pride.
(g) Unplugging from technology. Nature is full of beauty, wonder, and awe-inspiring moments. In a world increasingly dominated by indoor environments and technology, it is crucial to facilitate opportunities for children to be close to nature. Spending time in nature allows kids to unplug from electronic devices and engage in real-world experiences.
With learning to compost, my daughter was naturally drawn towards gardening. She wanted to give the plant food that she had so meticulously worked on, to her friends in the garden.
The whole process has been so wholesome, organic, and satisfying that I had to share the journey with you.
The journey of learning to compost — has been nourishing not only for the “Plant-friends” but also for the soul. Connecting with nature brings a sense of grounding, a form of mindfulness that calls in a sense of calmness in this otherwise chaotic world. And I am so proud that my daughter learned this early on.
And oh yes!
Next up: Something to help you teach your kid about composting — The Magical Adventures of Mr. and Mrs. Taproot!
Happy Composting!
