Wanna know one of my favorite Portland things so far? 

(A compost bin? Really?)

Yup. Back in Minnesota I lurved composting. But it did not love me back, alas. I never knew how to find the balance between taking it out and waiting until the pail was full. And then after I bought my fancy composter for the backyard and filled it, I never knew what to do with the excess.

And oh did The Husband complain! “This is gross. I hate having this here. It’ll decompose in the landfill anyway. And your garden is already dead as usual so this won’t even help. And we are going to get raccoons. RACCOONS!”

So I’m loving that Portland makes it super easy. Just toss it in the bin every night (conveniently located right outside the kitchen door), wheel the cart to the street on Thursdays, and voila!

(And no raccoons!)

And the city definitely incentivizes. We have a huge compost bin and a huge recycling bin, both picked up weekly. Garbage? Oh that’s a teeny tiny bin that they only pick up every other week.

Institutionalized care for Mother Earth AND convenience? Love!

(Snicker. And you thought this was going to be an EXCITING blog…)