| 19 march 2001 New lid is up! Go get your poetry fix.
| cooking up a future
I met someone who is doing something about it this weekend. We were at West End Opera House, arguably the most pleasant local watering hole, when Jeff (who knew my friend) sat at our table to chat. After a few minutes of the obligatory introductions and "what have you been up to," we got to talking about what Jeff does for a living. He makes compost. Now, Jeff is no ordinary compost-maker. He wins awards for the stuff. In fact, the United States EPA (Environmental Protection Agency, for international readers), recently noted Jeff for creating the best compost in his market. The thing is, you'd never expect that town to win awards for much of anything, except maybe "Home of the Scariest Corvette-Driving Sheriff in North Carolina". Like Barney Fife, only large and effective. Anyway, we grill Jeff about this job of his, after lots of wide-eyed exclamations. He tells us that everything is automated. Sewage comes in through enormous pipelines--he doesn't have to touch that stuff. Yard waste and recyclable garbage comes in on the trucks, then he and his crew pick out the plastic and other renegade pieces of junk. Then it's into the vats! Nerds that we are, we want to know more. We want to hear about all those chemicals he uses! We're ready to paint a mental picture of Jeff in his big yellow toxic waste suit, just like in the movies. We want to hear goopy, grodie stories of flesh-eating microbes. He looks at us kind of cock-eyed and says, No chemicals. It's all just done with water. Water, he says. Come on, Jeff! You're holding out on us! Nope, just water. Well, that and heat. Once all of the waste is safely secured in the big cooking vats, it is literally cooked. It is heated to something like 80 degrees Celsius for about a week, and boom--you've got compost. I'm sure that there's something more complex going on in those machines like churning and mixing, but there you have it. Instant compost. Here's the great thing, though--you can go down there and buy some for your yard or garden. In fact, Jeff uses it himself. Last year, he planted half the garden he usually does, and got twice the yield. As in, three-pound tomatoes. I was glad to meet Jeff this week, very glad indeed. The recent election didn't do much for my hope in our environment. Suburban Assault Vehicles are still getting bigger; America is still ground zero for disposable everything. Last week's news? New disposable cellphones. Great--chat, then chuck. I began my spring cleaning this weekend. One pile of doodads goes to Goodwill. Three more are separated for recycling. Spring cleaning, I think, is an occasion to do something about it. I can invest in pleasant seasons to come. May your spring cleaning be gentle. |
