March 27, 2021

by drplasticpicker

This was a dream. I told Nurse Lan that it was the best gift he could have every given me. I have been committed to collecting the spent coffee grounds from the HMO parking lot on Mondays and Fridays, which are the only two days I work late enough to collect the coffee grounds. But the shop closes at 430pm, and that’s like clinic crunch time. Nurse Lan was able to get them for me and sounds like the coffee shop was apologetic about some coffee waste (like tea bags and napkins mixed in). I looked at him and said, OMG fishing a few tea bags is not a big deal! Nurse Lan wanted to fish it out for me, but I told him that it not his job and I don’t want to get in trouble with the HMO. Although they should thank me for reducing their methane emissions!!! All that beautiful nitrogen from the used coffee grounds would have just caused pollution and increased greenhouse gases in the landfill. Instead I got to take home a beautiful bag of these coffee grounds with just a bit of plastic and paper waste mixed in. I brought it home, and before coming into the house – I used my old plastic salad tongs from Olive Garden and just fished out the bits of plastic waste mostly tea bags. It’s relatively “clean trash.” And then I lived my dream, I mixed the beautiful nitrogens of the HMO coffee shop in with the recent bunny straw/poop/urine and food scraps. We are hot composting, and our composter gets steamy!!!

It was a minor dream achieved yesterday. I love looking at what the world sees as waste, and helping to create something of wonderful value. We don’t buy any compost anymore, and have never used chemical fertilizers. I have compost to share with a certain HMO guerilla gardening project and also give compost tea to my mom. I may give some compost tea to Nurse Frances, as we were talking about gardening. I was having just a little bit of trouble going to sleep yesterday and I looked up this.

So you can buy “Super Compost” for $29.98. I can certify that my compost is organic, local, and using the scraps from the HMO. Isn’t that cool? Anyway, just wanted to share that when I look at the coffee grounds and the hay and the bunny poop and the vegetable scraps – I see ca-ching ching ching! Because the rest of the world is going to try to be fancy and buy the Super Compost, but I make it with the Aerobin400. If you keep the aerobin 400 HOT, it actually drives the ants away. There are only good bugs and good microorganisms in it. I love composting and using the hashtag #ilovecomposting a lot lately and it’s totally true.

Environmentalism and being Financially Independent to Save the Earth is a state of mind. When I see the compost that comes out of the composter, I see $29.98 coming out in 8-lb bags. LOL. And that is it. This is your litter-picking pediatrician and my take on the world. Still making beer vinegar (finished a batch yesterday). Still working (saw a full slate of patients yesterday). Still trying to save the earth this weekend with various projects.