Green Me Baby

WTF does green really mean? The real greenies are offended by Greenwashing, the faux green folks that are all green in marketing but have little action to support their claims. Here are my questions—why does no one know what composting is? Why are there not government incentives for restaurants to compost in exchange for a tax deductible? What about giving fast food companies a tax deductible for offering to donate used cooking oil to centers and individuals using cooking oil to power—no, not their Prius, —but, their vegetable oil-powered cars? The truth is this all requires participation. Drug cocktails may work and be free for the poor in developing nations, but if they cannot travel to the clinic, they won’t be able to take the medicines regularly. It’s the same thing with composting. The infrastructure must be set up and easily accessible in order for people to comply.

I’m a newcomer to the green thing, having recently purchased my first composting pail as I am lucky enough to live in Alphabet City, an area once abandoned by landlords and the city because of the plethora of a smack junkies and homeless people. The irony is that because of its shady past, there are many beautiful gardens because the lots abandoned by the cities, surrounded by boarded up buildings, became community gardens when committed lifers came together to buy these unwanted plots. Now coveted land in the East Village extension, one such garden on possibly my favorite street in the city, East 12th Street, was purchased by three people for $2500 in the 1970s.

A little research confirmed what my sister suspected–people just aren’t going to commit to composting. Maybe it just seems too complicated and involved. The city of New York did a pilot project in Staten Island a few years ago and found that not enough people participated in the composting program and the cost was too great to warrant continuing it, let alone expand it.

But, even on a small scale, I think it’s worth it. Education is the first step in composting. Essentially, imagine you are a vegetarian. Now compost the waste. That means coffee grinds, tea bags, egg shells, used paper towels and napkins, and waste from fruit and vegetables, such as the outside of an onion or the inside of a green pepper. You can also compost flowers, weeds and certain types of packaging. You CANNOT compost any meat or dairy.

If you want to save more paper, a great baby step is to switch to the french press instead of using a standard coffee machine that requires paper filters. There is also the option of the reusable gold cone filter for applicable machines. I also recommend defaulting to kitchen towels to reduce use of paper towels and switching to cloth napkins once you have used up your existing paper napkin supply.

I purchased this bamboo compost pail. It’s a fine size for one or two people and why consume more plastic when you can choose bamboo? Still, if you have a household of more than two, you might need a bigger one and it will likely be plastic or metal. I assume most any bucket with a secure top could be made into a compost pail if one figured out how to install a carbon filter in the top. The filter prevents the odors of the decaying food scraps from stinking up your home by neutralizing them. The pail is simply a holding cell for the scraps until you have time to dump them in your community compost pile. If you have a family, you might need a bigger one. There are plenty of options and the best prices are at online gardening stores, or probably local nurseries.

Give it a shot. I think the earlier America starts learning about composting, the better. If you have kids, have them help make dinner by giving them food prep jobs they can do without sharp knives. Then, while you are cooking together, teach them about composting. It will all come together, circa grammar school science class.

There are other options for city dwellers including complete, in-house composting systems, but I am still a bit too girly to accept sharing the apartment with worms, contained or otherwise. For now, I’ll be heading to the 12th and 13th street community gardens to compost. Check out the links below to learn more about composting and community gardens.

For more about composting in all five boroughs, click here.

To learn more about neighborhoods and make a map showing playgrounds, gardens, demographics and more, head over to the amazing OASIS project.

For more information about community gardens in NYC, click here.