YIMBY, expanding in 2024
As YIMBY dives into its 3rd year of operating, we continue to explore how to best be of service to our community of people, microbes and soil.
This column is usually about composting skills, this week we zoom out and reflect on what YIMBY is up to, and how you might be involved.
Since late 2021 we have been very active; collecting food scraps from households and turning it into great compost and supporting a growing community of composters.
YIMBY composters work really hard to hone their craft and to feed the teeny microbes just what they need, to nurture new life into soil and grow food. The gifts given to YIMBYcomposters are; great compost!, belonging to a vibrant community of people; other composters, and their neighbours, and the skills they learn and share.
‘On the surface this project is about keeping food waste out of our bins & landfill, recycling, and creating a circular economy. But like the invisible microbiome that is contained in a compost heap this project is cooking up so much more’, says Gabby (composter 2021-2023).
Ilka reflects; ‘During the last floods, I was able to text everyone on my list, ask if they were OK, it felt so good, knowing we could reach out to each other’.
This year, YIMBY is increasing our team of composters, who in turn will connect with their neighbours. Through a carefully designed training program, followed by a short apprenticeship, we aim to teach the skills needed and provide hands-on experience to support new YIMBY composters.
We welcome all new enthusiastic composters; to come along to our training and sign up to be a YIMBY composter, and, at the moment, we are specifically seeking people to join existing compost clusters active within Castlemaine. We have learnt that building on existing clusters of composters provides great support for new composters and allows YIMBY to be present in whole areas of the township. At this time, we are specifically looking for people to join existing compost clusters in: The West End, Norwood Hill and North Castlemaine (beyond Berkeley street.) Might this be you?
YIMBY aims to support 30 composters by the end of the year, collecting from around 500 households, we’d love to have you join us! We are supported by The Hub Foundation, The High Williamson Foundation, an anonymous donor, The Good Op Shop, Mount Alexander Shire Council, The Wararack Initiatives and so many others, most importantly our composters and the microbes they nurture.
AUTHOR: LUCY YOUNG
Lucy Young works with Yes In My Back Yard, (YIMBY), a community-scale composting initiative in Castlemaine and surrounds. Send questions or comments to hello@yimbycompost.com or to book in for a compost workshop.
This was first published in the Midland Express on the 9 April 2024