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Submitted by Emily Frith of Davidson County When I signed up for The Council’s compost challenge I never expected to come to any profound realizations. I was excited to start up a home composting program because I’d been meaning to do so for years and secretly feeling guilty about not having one all along. The promise of a little competition and a little community pushed me over the edge from thinking about my long dreamed about composting project to actually doing it. But aside from mastering the basics and getting some good garden soil, I didn’t expect to learn that much from the project. On this last point I was definitely wrong. I was well versed already in the interconnectedness of all things. In fact, the famous quote about the web of life by Sitting Bull adorned my teenage wall for an entire decade. I knew we didn’t weave the web. Fast forward a few decades and here I am: 38, mother to a young child, running a small business, have a life, trying to keep up with it all and then some. If anyone had time for extra projects it wasn’t me. But what the heck, why not, I’ve been meaning to do this for decades! So I got started. I ordered my compost bin and went to Turnip Green Collective to take my composting class and pickup my earth machine. I walked in the door and was surrounded by a thrift store scrounger’s bounty of goodies. Turnip Green Collective collects and recycles stuff, all kinds of neat things. Walking toward the back of the store I discovered a free art studio where you can use their tools and make any cool thing you can imagine without paying a dime. I was already in heaven. The class gave me everything I needed to begin, how to’s, the browns, the greens, the worms, everything. I got the machine and cranked open the hatch back and headed home. I dreaded putting it together. It took 5 minutes. Not as hard as I thought apparently. In fact, I found this to be a theme throughout this composting project. The mental image of things I agonized over at the end of my list made me feel overwhelmed. Walking outside and doing the things actually relieved stress. And more than just the stress of completing the initial task, getting outside and connecting with the yard, the weather, knowing I was doing another thing to help the environment became less of a chore and more of a soothing ritual for me. I composted, I got outside, I felt good about it. But that wasn’t all I was doing. Slowly I was starting to feel more connected to our food supply. Somehow watching that half a lovely roasted butternut squash that had been forgotten in the fridge fall into the compost pile made me feel even more awake to the consequences of food waste. Perhaps it was the fact that all the leftover food from our household didn’t disappear. Or maybe it was watching that food decompose and become land again. Either way I became more aware of the preciousness of my food. I felt more connected when I was eating and more concerned when I was preserving. I began freezing and processing food for future meals. I then realized that by doing this I was beginning to save money. Oddly enough, watching my wasted food decompose made me feel more reverent to the soil from which it came. From a mental and spiritual perspective, I felt more attuned to the web of life. I felt more part of the whole cycle rather than a disconnected pit stop on the outskirts. My eating had more context and I did so more slowly and with more care. I suddenly felt connected in ways I hadn’t expected. It turns out participating in the Come Post Your Compost challenge did more for me than help me start a home composting program. This was a step in my daily routine that I didn’t even realize was missing. Composting has brought my food cycle full circle. Not only did my household become greener, I became more aware of my consumption and more connected to my yard and ultimately to myself. The wisdom of Sitting Bull still rings true. We did not weave the web of life, we are merely a strand in it. And the decisions we make for the planet don’t just affect us physically, they reverberate through us spiritually as well.
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Congratulations to Composter Emily Frith from Davidson County for winning our first ever "Exemplary Composter" award! Emily stood out when it came to sending in compost totals, posting on social media and recruiting others to join the effort! She earned a $50 Visa card and like many other compost winners, she is taking advantage of one of the many benefits of at-home composting. As we continue our Come, Post Your Compost campaign, get your friends, family members, and neighbors to sign up so you have a better chance to win a cash prize! For the month of December there are still opportunities for two winners. So keep submitting your totals and going above and beyond by posting on social media, recruiting other composters and investing in nature through a donation! To enter the contest, click here and to submit your weekly compost pictures, click here. Happy composting y'all!  Congratulations to our fellow composter Robin Marsh from Hawkins County. She earned a $25 VISA gift card through her avid participation. She is the first of many winners this fall season as we continue our Come, Post Your Compost campaign.
For the month of December there are still opportunities for two winners. So keep submitting your totals and going above and beyond by posting on social media, recruiting other composters and investing in nature! To enter the contest, click here and to submit your weekly compost pictures, click here. Happy composting y'all! Congrats to this month's raffle winner Margaret Predmore of Coffee County. She received a $25 VISA gift card and very generously donated the winning right back to Tennessee Environmental Council efforts! Thank you Margaret!
We continue to encourage you newbies to join our Come, Post Your Compost campaign so you can earn rewards too! This month we are also wrapping up our competition to award two composters: One with the best pumpkin compost selfie, another with the most pumpkins composted. Keep submitting folks! Click here to get started: https://bit.ly/2Q8dWtR To enter the contest, click here and to submit your weekly compost pictures, click here. |
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Tennessee Environmental Council
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To file a discrimination complaint, contact Gwendolyn Blanton at [email protected].
One Vantage Way Suite E-250
Nashville, TN 37228 | 615-248-6500 | [email protected]
TEC is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, founded in 1970.
TEC does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex, age, or disability in its hiring, programs, or activities.
To file a discrimination complaint, contact Gwendolyn Blanton at [email protected].