Program piloted in Chula Vista cul-de-sac takes root across city as residents embrace effort; leader offers advice on how to start your own By Caron GoldenSan Diego TribuneDec. 23, 2023 6 Am Pt Excerpt: Dawn Waibel lives around the...
Pia Coleman and her family use the compost in their own backyard garden.(Nelvin C. Cepeda / The San Diego Union-Tribune)
Program piloted in Chula Vista cul-de-sac takes root across city as residents embrace effort; leader offers advice on how to start your own
By Caron Golden
San Diego Tribune
Dec. 23, 2023 6 Am Pt
Excerpt:
Dawn Waibel lives around the corner from Matthias and Bonney. She rents her house, so she wasn�t interested in making an investment in composting, plus she�s aware that she can�t produce enough on her own to make it worthwhile. But she has a container garden and met Matthias through one of her programs, so she�s become one of the neighborhood composting participants.
�I�ve met a lot of different people and made new friends,� Waibel said. �I don�t eat meat or dairy, but I process so many vegetables my compost bucket is usually at least half full or full every week. I love that I have an easy way of taking care of it and it�s also more environmentally friendly.�
Pia Coleman lives a few houses down the street from Matthias and Bonney with her husband and their five children. Two are in high school. The younger ones are ages 6, 3 and 1. Coleman keeps a garden that the little ones help with. Six-year-old Luciana often carries a container of the family�s scraps to the drop-off with her siblings and mom.
Over the summer, Coleman grew zucchini, lettuce, kale, tomatoes and bell and jalape�o peppers. Compost from the program enriched their growth. By participating, she�s gotten to know Matthias, and received gardening advice from her.
�I remember she was walking door to door and that�s how I realized she was my neighbor,� Coleman said. �I was just starting to get into regenerative gardening. She got me at a time when I was all in, and she�s taught me a lot.�
As for the green waste bin, Coleman said her family only uses it for cleaning up the yard.
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