Such is the name of my new composter. I think I like Ethel better though. I’m not one for naming my appliances and articles so this one will probably be forgotten in a few days. Or in a few hours - I just thought of the name right now.

B had fun helping put it together. Usually he’s pretty long on excitement and rather short on listening but, while there was a mix of that this evening, he wasn’t too bad. I initially chuckled a little at the irony of such an environmentally-conscious activity (is composting an activity?) being housed in such a plastic container but then I read in the booklet that it was 100% recycled plastic. Well, okay then; I suppose it’s alright.

I was actually a little surprised at the height of this thing. It’s as tall as B, which is about 38 to 40". (He was 36" when I measured him at two years old and it’s now a year and a half later.) I really don’t have much to start my pile off with. I should gather up some sticks and twigs (of which I have none) to make a bit of a bed at the bottom to help with airflow down there (so suggests the booklet) as well as some brown matter. My green will consist mainly of kitchen scraps since my grass clippings stay on my lawn (cut with an old reel mower, hence no clipping collection) and I’m not overly keen on raking them just to put them in the compost. I’m definitely excited to start though. Yes, excited about composting. Why not? It’s something beneficial to do with my garbage. Already I can put a single green garbage bag out every second week sometimes (collection is weekly). Maybe I can reduce the size of that bag or decrease the frequency.