Compost, the stuff of life

Maiya Focht: New York — the concrete jungle. A biome seemingly inhospitable to organic life, a landscape dominated by man and development. And yet, if you look a little closer, you’ll find little bits of Eden tucked between the skyscrapers — the city’s community gardens. 

Maiya Focht: One in particular stands as a symbol of community activism, taking up a large portion of a city block in the Loisaida neighborhood of Alphabet City.

Maiya Focht: The space was built by Latinx green space activists in 1976. They turned a lot that was relegated to a trash heap into an oasis of healthy vegetation, a place for people to gather. It’s become a model for community access to green space.

Maiya Focht: I had the chance to interview one of the people integral to keeping this garden healthy and accessible to all of Loisaida’s residents last March. He explained to me how special the garden is to him. If you take a minute to stop and look, I think you’ll find how special this place is too.

[TITLE: Community composting @ La Plaza Cultural de Armando Perez Community Garden]

[SUBTITLE: By Maiya Focht]

Pedro Diez: My name is Pedro Diez, I am a member of the garden La Plaza in New York, and I am the person in charge of composting.

[LOWER THIRDS: Pedro Diez, Head of La Plaza Composting Program]

Pedro Diez:  I got involved 16 years ago when my son was six months old and we were trying to find a place to, to hang out with my kid. The history of composting and me, started here. When I moved here there was an existing program that was suspended. We basically restarted the program, rebuilding the beams and the stuff that we have in the back for the system, and that’s 15 years ago and it’s still going.

Pedro Diez: In the last years, people have changed their approach to composting. It was associated with bad smells and rodents, which is a misconception.

[Sound effect: a squeaking rodent and buzzing of flies]

[Animation: A crude cutout of a mouse crosses the screen, as animated flies and stink lines dance over a photo of La Plaza]

Pedro Diez: Not that it doesn’t exist, we have a problem in New York City with rodents. But it’s not because of composting. The other thing I noticed, is people have changed their mentality about sustainability, and now people understand what composting is. I had to explain everything from the beginning and now people know what I’m talking about. 

Pedro Diez: The way it works is we have a system which is open to the public. We ask people to do it so they feel that it’s a process that’s more involved, it’s not just a service. And if you see the door, the gate open you can come in and compost. We don’t stop anybody from doing it. And the way it works is that people bring in their food scraps and they have to mix it with some browns, that’s part of the chemistry of composting.

Pedro Diez: To create an ideal environment for the bacteria to degrade the the stuff that you bring… 

[Animation: semi-translucent bacteria illustrations dance around the video of a can of “browns” being opened]

Pedro Diez: …it has to be a balance between nitrogen-rich stuff and carbon-rich stuff. 

[Animation: illustrated carbon and nitrogen molecules appear over the video of Diez explaining the process]

Pedro Diez: So all the food scraps are very rich in nitrogen so you have to compensate it with stuff that is rich in carbon. 

[Animation: Over a photo of the composting bins appears an illustrated nitrogen molecule over the food scraps bin and an illustrated carbon molecule over the “browns” bin]

Pedro Diez: And we call them browns and greens just as a simple denomination, but most of the carbon-filled stuff are brown. Like wood chips, leaves, and even paper and stuff like that. 

[Animation: arrows pointing to a plant and to a pile of wood chips appear over the video of Diez explaining the process, gesturing to things in his background]

Pedro Diez: So, we are not very scientific about it, but we’re experienced. And we’ve managed to create a good environment for that to happen and create, let’s say, healthy compost. 

Pedro Diez: Well I’m a volunteer and it’s a little bit my passion, so even though it can be frustrating sometimes with the inconvenience of people not doing the right thing, or if I have a stressful week at work it’s harder for me to do it, but at the same time every time I come and do it, I feel a happier person. 

Pedro Diez: La Plaza Cultural for me represents not just a real space but also, eh, a symbolic space. It has meant so much for my life and for my family’s life. My son grew up in this garden, playing around here, and learning how to grow stuff, helping people and understanding that we live in a community. 

Pedro Diez: So for me, the garden is … it would be hard to imagine a life without this garden, and the people in it. We always called this our second home. And uh, for me that’s very important and deep and I appreciate it.