The Eastern sun crept across the skylight, its first rays steadily lightening Annie and LJ’s bedroom.  Its warm light woke her; she lay in bed, savoring the newness of the day, “This is a great day, and I will enjoy every moment.”

She heard voices coming from the kitchen and realized LJ was not next to her, “How did he not wake me up when he was getting dressed?” She decided to meditate later and got up to get dressed.

LJ poured coffee for Marvin and Kathleen, their best friends visiting from Napa, “there’s honey and a soy-based creamer over there,” he indicated with a head nod.  “I’ll start the omelets as soon as Annie blesses us with her presence.  I’m glad she’s been sleeping in lately.  It means she’s getting more restful sleep, so I try not to disturb her.”

As he started squeezing oranges for juice, Annie walked into the kitchen, “Hey, that’s my job, sweetheart.  Good morning Marvin, good morning Kathleen.  I hope you slept well last night?’

“Yes, we did.  The bed is super comfortable,” said Kathleen.  “I started helping LJ prep the food for omelets, but I don’t see a composter for shells and scraps.”

Annie looked sheepish, “we don’t currently have one.  Our old one fell apart, and we have not replaced it mainly because our garbage disposal grinds up just about everything.”

Kathleen raised an eyebrow, “Did you know April 28 is Stop Food Waste day?  A 2021 United Nations report estimated that 17% of food produced globally is wasted.  That is 1.03 billion tons of food.   It is a shocking statistic to contemplate, especially when millions worldwide are still going hungry.  A lot of food is thrown away for easily solvable reasons.  For example, about 15 percent of seafood is wasted annually in the US due to spoilage.  The problem of food waste can feel overwhelming, but there are numerous ways to address it, and composting is one.  Composting benefits your plants; it aids wetlands, helps reforestation, and habitat revitalization.  Composting can also assist in restoring contaminated soil.”

“You’re right.  We’ve been lazy about getting another composter.  It’s not earth-friendly to throw everything in the garbage disposal because water and electricity are used.  Many municipal wastewater systems can capture the food particles, but many can’t, which means that garbage winds up in landfills anyway.  Even our garbage disposal cannot grind up an avocado seed,” said LJ.  He looked at Marvin, “Which one do you have?”

“Over the years, we have had a couple.  We started composting because we were looking for money-saving opportunities.  We were able to reduce our trash bill and could stop buying commercial fertilizer.  Then we learned in addition to creating a quality fertilizer, composting absorbs C02, meaning landfills no longer produce as much methane gas, which reduces global warming.  We also saw how our fertilizer helped decrease soil erosion in our yard.  Our plants are thriving in healthy soil, and we even cut our water bill because the compost helps water retention around the plants.  We rarely use our garbage disposal.  Right now, we have a metal tumbler model.  The hand crank makes it easy to mix the compost.  It’s only the two of us, so we don’t need the large capacity of a compost bin.”

“According to Blue Planet Network, Composting is a beautiful way to give nature a helping hand, “said Annie.  She looked at LJ, “we should buy a composter today.  It’s never too early or too late to help fight climate change; composting is a simple and effective way to begin.”

Annie and LJ are a fictional couple. Their storyline promotes healthy eating and earth-friendly practices.