Why I Compost

A poem inspired by Why I Meditate (after Allen Ginsberg) by Wes Nisker

I compost because I consume.

I compost because I want to be part of Pachamama’s life cycles, to feed the organisms that feed me.

I compost because humans produce and consume too much without giving back.

I compost because food waste is not waste, it’s food for other beings.

I compost because I can’t eat everything I cook.

I compost because nature is beautiful and I want to keep it that way.

I compost because I come from dirt.

I compost because it’s how I say ‘thank you’ to Pachamama.

I compost because there’s no concept of ‘trash’ in nature; everything can be recycled back into the land.

I compost because it’s part of my unlearning.

I compost because ‘ashes to ashes, dust to dust’.

I compost because after learning to compost, I can no longer bag up organic waste, knowing it will rot into a liquid mess and methane, making life miserable for people who work in landfills, polluting groundwater, causing even more global warming.

I compost because out of sight is not out of mind, and certainly not out of our planet.

I compost because of white supremacy.

I compost because I love life.

I compost because life is an entangled web of wonder, reciprocity, and generosity.

I compost because my most precious gift to the planet is my poop, and it serves a much greater purpose being composted than flushed down the toilet.

I compost because composting closes the cycle of life, bringing more life, while disrupting the cycle brings death.

I compost because of Guillermo Silva and his Paca Digestora, and composting this way is fun.

I compost because community means more than human beings.

I compost dogs’ poop because I want them to be part of the solution, not part of the problem.

I compost because some days I wake up depressed and angry about the climate crisis.

I compost because some days I wake up full of energy and optimism to make this planet, my home, a better place.

I compost because I want to learn to speak the language of life.

I compost because mushrooms and fungi are our oldest, most amazing teachers.

I compost because I refuse to believe that my (and other people’s) small actions don’t matter.

I compost because I want to be composted.

Sumapaz, Colombia, home to the world’s largest Páramo (alpine tundra), a unique ecosystem and water reserve of global importance. A place that is sacred for the Muisca peoples.

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