TimothyJSharp
Registered: October 2012 City/Town/Province: Clemmons Posts: 1
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I am your average high school kid; I am starting to notice that the world we live in is cold and harsh. When I eat dinner, I pray for the starving people to receive food. I hold doors for strangers in the hopes that I can turn a possibly bad day around. These are all great things about me; however, I am also starting to realize that I am a dreamer. I love the environment that we live in and I am the most happy when I admire the beauty of our Earth. I want to give back to my community by donating composted potting soil to community gardens.
My passion for environmental appreciation ignited last summer, when I took a summer class in sustainability. One of the topics we covered was composting, and I thought that would be a really interesting thing to get into. So, one day, I got “down and dirty” and assembled DIY compost bin from salvaged wood pallets and chicken wire. This compost bin has become my pride and joy; every week I add more compostable materials and am amazed at what I have accomplished. My whole life has been filled with video games and Facebook, but for the first time I have had a truly fulfilling experience that has held some weight in my heart.
In the summer class that I took, I was expecting to learn all about alternative energies that would rid the world of the need for fossil fuels; however, most of the class was focused on reducing the world’s waste. Americans waste close to 50% of their food annually. The food that is thrown away ultimately ends up in landfills and produces methane. A good portion of food is compostable and could produce nutrient rich potting soil, rather than ozone depleting gases. Composting is a very viable and inexpensive solution to manage the waste of food in our country. Winston-Salem has been ranked the worst city in America at feeding its hungry people.
Why should we waste a perfectly good resource that we have? The root of the problem is our ignorance. Many people do not even know what composting is; therefore, if I provided them with the resources and education to recycle their waste, my community can change. If I was given the funds to start a project, I would install free compost bins to the 21 community gardens in Winston-Salem. Community gardens grow produce to feed the people in need in our area and I believe that my efforts can help our community change our terrible reputation. The compost bin that I made was extremely easy to make, and requires very little maintenance, exactly what our society demands.
Looking back on my life, I regret my years of ignorance. Knowing now that the world is a cold, harsh place, I feel compelled to bring a touch of warmth and love to it.
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