My journey of composting

We are living on this planet as if we had another one to go to. — Terri Swearingen

My family and I used to always go to Bruce Monroe Park during the summer and I always wondered why they would throw out the dead plants in one of three bins at the far side of the garden. At the time I had already learned some small details about climate change. For example, I knew that climate change was caused by gas from cars and that because of this the Earth’s atmosphere was becoming thicker. This information is true but it doesn't tell the whole story.

At Oyster Adams, my teacher Ms. Riggen taught the class that as we burn fossil fuels like coal, oil and natural gas for energy or cut down and burn forests to create pastures and plantations, carbon accumulates and overloads our atmosphere. With more carbon dioxide around the Earth, it creates a thicker layer, trapping heat and warming the planet even more. Check out the Union of Concerned Scientists website to learn more about the causes of global warming.

When my science teacher mentioned the Do One Thing (DOT) project and that composting could be a good option, I remembered my dad telling me that the use of the other bin at the park was for composting. I chose doing composting to learn more about its benefits and to experience what it was like to compost. I have already learned that food and yard waste make up 30% of what we throw away.

For most people who are doing things like changing their diet, for example, they forget to do it every day. For me, this project was easy at the beginning. During the first week of my DOT project, I collected around four pounds of compost in five days and the bin was full before the week was over. This is when my struggle came. I carried that heavy bin to the park only to find out that I needed a code to unlock it. So my sister emailed the owner and we had to wait another week to drop off the compost.

Even though we are doing this for a class grade — hoping I get an A — I’m hoping I can keep doing this to help the only Earth that we have and to have a healthy planet to live on to see what I become in the future.

Are you looking for ideas to decrease your impact on the planet? Follow the journeys of me and my classmates!