Giving back to the land what belongs to it

What can we say about composting and the composter? An ecological allotment would be unconceivable without recycling organic matter, whether its own or other.

When we started the allotment, a colleague came up with the idea of composting their own household waste and by the end of the year had set up a small, rudimentary composter.

These were the days when commissions were set up, trying to be self-sufficient, and of course, above all, to be ecological, to recycle and to look after our land in the best possible way.

The small composter moved to the communal area and more people tended and fed it. We started taking our organic waste and very soon bought three new composters and made another one with wood from recycled pallets.

Over the years we have come to learn that what we call rubbish is not waste. It is a valuable material. We have learnt to separate waste into what goes in and what doesn’t. To know the proportion of dry and organic matter and their importance in compost making.

Today it encompasses a wide space with several composters under a roof to protect them from the winter wind and rain and the hot temperatures in summer.

Composting has managed to bring us together and closer to the composting group which sprang up in the neighbourhood. Sharing ideas, tasks, enjoying the sifting and finally the result: sharing out compost, which is 100% organic, free of chemical additives.

The allotment has brought people together, beyond what they do. It has become an inseparable part of the neighbourhood, a place to visit when having a stroll, going shopping or to the doctor’s, or as somewhere for people to share their worries.