Compost Creation

Aug. 29^th, 2010

Yesterday I had the second environmental youth group meeting at my house, and while a bit rough around the edges, we ended up with a pretty solid compost pile in the backyard which was the primary goal of the day. Last week I assigned each of the kids with the task of collecting the various local materials needed for a quick start up compost – sawdust, ashes from cooking fires, dry leaves, fresh cut grass, manure, kitchen scraps, etc… and luckily, about ¾ of them returned this week with the goods! When the boys in charge of sticks to make the box for the compost failed to show, we sent those who had arrived on a mission to find some while the other ladies and I sat and chatted… when they all came back with the better have of a few trees, I had to remind myself that next time I have to put the emphasis on finding dead or already fallen branches. Nevertheless, the muchachos – all skilled with their machetes - constructed a really strong and aesthetically pleasing little square house for the compost. I was impressed.

Towards the end we talked a bit about the importance of the different ingredients found in this community and some of the benefits of making compost. Some were more interested than others, but I think the general idea was understood: use trash to make food for plants instead of always burning it. As far as the kids applying this type of knowledge to their own homes and making compost, we’ll have to wait and see. Some families have pigs and chickens that devour the organic trash like peels of fruits and viveres, so encouraging the women to save these scraps for use in compost might be a challenge; as I suppose it is easier to just throw it out the kitchen window to the hungry pigs that make it disappear real fast. But not everyone has pigs and chickens and everyone here burns all of their trash in the road as there is no collection service. One of the largest components of these burning piles is yard trash… such as the leaves that fall from the shade trees, grasses, fresh cut raqueta (the cactus used for fencing) and the leftover plant matter from various harvests. I would like to experiment putting large amounts of some of these different types of plants, especially the cactus, to see if it will decompose well.  If goes as planned this pile can serve as a demonstration of one environmentally responsible way to deal with the compostable trash that often just gets burned. Hopefully all will go well and this pile will help some of my veggies grow up strong and healthy.

 

I am in the process of steering this rowdy group of jovenes into a Brigada Verde – a Peace Corps initiative focused on spreading knowledge about the environment through the youth in the Dominican Republic. There are various ways volunteers are managing their groups; some run them like you would a classroom, others just play games, pick up trash, and go on hikes. Eventually I would like to start teaching some of the more specific themes included in a series of lesson plans - in an attempt to expose and raise awareness about various environmental issues… but as this group is still developing I think we’ll stick to more hands-on, fun activities until we get more accustomed to working together and the idea of having a “youth environmental club” is well-established.