All It Takes is Some Green Talkin’

You never know what yakking about green issues is going to elicit. Sometimes it’s a “give me a break already” but when my child’s Kindergarten teacher overhears me advising my neighbor about composting tumblers, she has a surprise in store for me. “Oooh!” she says. “I had worms in my classroom in Texas! Can you set me up with a worm bin?”

I’m totally excited and totally game. But I’ve never done worm composting in my house. What to do? First step? I read Worms Eat My Garbage. Great book, recommended by my sister-in-law, who’s a master organic gardener and 10+ year vermiculturist (is that even a word?). It gets better, though. I couldn’t get my hands on a copy in the library, which I complained about on my blog. When I posted on a local parenting listserv about reusable lunch containers, a heroically kind woman from the Maryland Dept. of Waste Management followed my email signature, randomly read my post about compost, and sent me a copy of the worm book gratis! The very next day (shout out to the DC Metro area US Postal Service)!

Then, if there weren’t serendipity enough in the world, my neighborhood newsletter (which is so small it’s delivered door-to-door by volunteers and is never digitized) publishes an article the very next day called “Worms in My Basement.” You better believe I contacted the editor, sailed on over to be the 210th person to traipse through this gentleman’s basement, and got a firsthand look at his system.

This kind fellow, henceforth known as Worm Man, is going to come visit my daughter’s classroom! He’s also going to bring some of his wiggly friends and suggests that we set up an experiment with two identical plants, one of which we will feed worm castings, the other which will receive just water.

I really could not be more thrilled about the outcome of opening my big mouth about my composting tumbler to a good friend of mine. One thing led to another — all courtesy of generous and kind strangers (one of which can be YOU if you leave me vermiculture tips for my kid’s school in the comments!).

What’s the best thing that ever happened because you opened your big green mouth? Never done it? Take five minutes and tell a friend your latest green discovery today.

Original post for 5 Minutes for Going Green. Jess Trevelyan blogs about the serendipitous pleasures of life as MamaBird over at SurelyYouNest.