A Simple, Low-Cost, Urban Solution to Address the Global Climate Problem
With positive environmental, societal, economic, and psychological impacts
Kids and elders dancing hand-in-hand, neighbours hauling in buckets of food waste from the past week, others sweeping and collecting fallen leaves, dogs running around in the neighbourhood park. This is the scene you’ll see if you visit the Vázquez de Coronado community in Cartago, Costa Rica, every Friday afternoon.
What they’re doing is making a Paca Digestora (Paca), a compact composting pile that recycles nutrients from food, yard, and garden waste back into the soil. Organised by the community leaders, the neighbours of Vázquez de Coronado have been making one Paca a week since June 2022, composting more than 200 kg of food waste with every Paca, from the 80+ families that live in the community. Not only are they keeping food waste out of the landfill, they’re doing it as a community, rebuilding soil and ecosystems, building stronger bonds, educating one another, and fostering biodiversity.
One of the Vázquez de Coronado community leaders, Paula Alvarado, tells me, “This initiative has made our community stronger, knowing we’re all working towards a better climate future; every week, Jorge helps collect cut grass and fallen leaves, Maria goes around to remind everyone to bring their food waste, the teens come to close up the Paca after people deposit the food waste — it’s a team effort.”
A Paca Digestora is a composting pile made of garden and yard waste on the outside and food waste on the inside, compacted with human weight (dancing, stepping, jumping). Every Paca is a live organism, shrinking with every bite and decomposition from native microbes and fungi, earthworms, millipedes, and roly polies. At the end of the article, you’ll find a graphic created by Trueque, a socio-environmental collective that teaches workshops on composting and alternative economies in Costa Rica.
The technique and composting method of Pacas Digestoras was pioneered by Guillermo Silva, a wise and humble elder, forest lover, and environmental activist from Colombia who studied forest engineering. Growing up around forests, he marveled at the spongy forest floor that embraced and recycled nutrients from everything that fell upon it, creating fertile black humus that nurtures plant growth. Observing, listening, and learning from nature, he wondered, why can’t we do the same with human created food waste? Since the 1980s, he has been studying and refining the way to make a Paca that doesn’t emit toxic gases or exudates, and spreading this knowledge to communities around Abya Yala.
Great for the environment, without the hard work of a traditional compost pile
About a third of food grown for human consumption ends up uneaten, becoming ‘food waste’. Most of us living in urban settings then throw that food waste into the garbage can. It ultimately finds its final resting place in a landfill along with other trash. Once there, food waste produces methane, a powerful greenhouse gas that is 21 times more potent than carbon dioxide — producing an estimated 7% of global greenhouse gases that could have been preventable food waste!
Part of the solution is, of course, to reduce food waste through smarter and more conscious consumption. But for certain food waste, like eggshells, coffee grounds, frying oil, fruit peels, bones, etc., Pacas Digestoras offer a regenerative waste management solution. With Pacas, you can build soil, plant on top like a raised garden bed, and rebuild habitats for pollinators. They don’t smell, don’t attract small animals or flies, don’t produce toxic gases. They don’t require much maintenance — just some water once every few weeks if it hasn’t rained and if you want to harvest the compost at the end of the Paca’s life cycle. The composting process doesn’t require electricity or machinery, but rather the power of digestion of decomposers and microorganism, as well as time. They also help save local governments’ money in transporting and handling food waste, as well as maintaining beautifully planted parks.
Bonding with dirt
You can’t really make a Paca alone — and that’s the fun part! In many Paca organising groups, neighbours schedule to meet once a week or two weeks to make one together. All you need is a strong wooden mould structure, food waste, garden or yard waste, and some music! Making a Paca is kid- and elder-friendly. Everyone gets their hands (a little) dirty and learn about decomposition, recycling of nutrients, and gardening. Week after week, plants grown on top of the Pacas get bigger and stronger, attracting beneficial insects like ladybugs, bees, butterflies, and more. You don’t need to use any chemical fertilisers, pesticides, or herbicides. Plants that grow on top of Pacas need less water as Pacas have a high water-retaining capacity. Your community may decide to grow a medicinal, herb, vegetable, or pollinator garden atop the Pacas. The possibilities are endless!
Every time a participating neighbour passes by, they feel proud of the amazing work they are a part of, and every time a newcomer sees a Paca, it piques their interest about what this strange yet beautiful pile of plants is and may become involved in the future. Most importantly, food waste is no longer viewed as smelly trash.
The power of collective climate action
Climate anxiety, also known as eco-anxiety, is widespread and causing feelings of hopelessness, sadness, anger, guilt, and more. A study in 2021 found that 59% of young people surveyed were very or extremely worried and 84% were at least moderately worried. From my experience of being in a community of Paca makers, I feel invigorated and filled with hope when I see my community in action. Seeing other people working towards a common goal with the same sense of purpose and enthusiasm, we feel we are no longer fighting climate change alone. That sentiment can be incredibly powerful. What’s more, more climate friendly projects may emerge from being in a community of action-oriented and like-minded individuals!
A brief overview of how to make a Paca Digestora:
Step 0: Choose a location that’s connected with Earth for drainage and place the wooden mould as the Paca’s structure
Step 1: Make a base with thick branches to separate the Paca from the ground
Step 2: Add garden or yard waste (dry leaves, small branches, grass) and compress with body weight
Step 3: Add more garden or yard waste and make a ‘nest’ (a hole in the middle of the Paca with 20 cm-thick walls)
Step 4: Add food waste (anything, even poop!) into the ‘nest’ and chop it up with shovels
Step 5: Add more garden or yard waste to cover the food waste and compress with body weight (jumping, dancing — have fun with it!)
Step 6: Remove the wooden mould, add 5–8 cm of soil on top, and plant whatever plants you wish (no bushes or trees because the roots won’t be able to anchor properly)
If you have more food waste, repeat steps 3 to 5 until you reach 1 metre in height, and finish with step 6.
The Paca will take about 6–8 months, depending on the climate and humidity, to break down into compost!
If you’re interested in bringing this to your community, please contact the collective, Trueque — Intercambios de Necesidades y Saberes, at truequerxs@gmail.com.
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