Megan Jordan Unearths Her Compost Passion

"Environmental conservation has been a passion of mine for a long time, and I started my 'composting journey' a few years ago with a pallet composter in my back yard. At one point in my journey, I became discouraged with the practice for several reasons: I started adding a lot of hay from my chicken coop, which was heavy and made my compost hard to turn & mix with my shovel; my chickens started getting into the compost and would toss most of it down the hill digging for bugs; and lastly, some of the loved ones in my life thought composting was gross, and disregarded the value I saw in it...

... Then, one day several months back, I noticed an ad for the “Come, Post Your Compost!” project on Facebook. It was so validating to see that the Tennessee Environmental Council thought composting was important enough to start a whole campaign & state-wide goal about it! Joining part in the CPYC project reenergized my composting efforts and motivated me to make changes to avoid future burnout. My husband and I converted a 55-gal drum into a rolling compost bin, which has made the whole process easier and more rewarding for me. Additionally, the possibility of winning a money-prize was enough to motivate the residents at the group home I work for to want to learn how to compost. We have had several house meetings to talk about what composting is, why it is important, and what you can or cannot put into the compost bin. Some of my clients knew about composting before, but for others it was completely new! Now composting is a part of daily habit for the group home, and once a week I take a kitty-litter tub’s worth of compost home to my rolling composter. I’d like to think that this habit will continue on with many of the residents as they move out.

For me, the Come Post Your Compost Facebook page has been a great place to learn more about composting while casually scrolling through my news feed, and it’s a great way to support one another. It has been so inspiring to see other Tennesseans who value this practice as much as I do!"

---Megan Jordan of Unicoi County

Thank you Megan for sharing your compost story with us. If you have want to discuss your compost journey through our program, please email us at tec@tectn.org. Happy composting, folks!