Garbology

Hello all - 


So, this week, on top of all my other work shifts and crazy antics going on here at Holden, I had an extra staff duty this week called "garbo". 


You may be saying, "huh? What's garbo?". Let me explain. 


We don't have any wastebaskets here at Holden. None. Instead, when someone goes to throw something away, their leftovers or waste is sorted into three categories: burnable, landfill, and compost. 


"Garbo" is simply gathering all of the garbage bins on the grounds of Holden and organizing them. It starts with a trip to the garbage dock, where a team of 4 or 5 people sort through landfill and burnable bins. Papery material is burnable (obviously), while more tough plastic materials are landfill. It's our responsibility to sort them. 


From there, the team heads up the hill to Copper Mountain Level 2, where we have a compost set up known as "Compost Lane". This is where we dump all of our food leftovers, scraps, and scrubbings, chop it up with shovels into little bite-sized pieces, and pile it on to other compost. Layers are separated by sawdust and already decomposing compost, to help the decomposing process along. 


The final product of our composting is incredibly useful - basically an earthy dirt, it is used in our gardens here as fertilizer, among other things. 


This is one of the things that I've learned at Holden that I definitely hope to take back home with me to Minnesota, and especially when I move on my own. I think it's awesome how Holden commits to upholding the highest standards of environmental sustainability and we can see the results of our work. 


Anyway. Just something interesting I thought I'd share with you all! 


Hope this finds all my readers well!


From the Village - 


Dean