Virtue over Dung Soil--Light of Cycles Illuminated by a Small Ranch (October 2002)

Virtue over Dung Soil--Light of Cycles Illuminated by a Small Ranch (October 2002)

In 2002, with the Kyoto Protocol about to take effect, Japanese society was in earnest in its search for ways to reduce greenhouse gases and build a recycling-oriented society. At that time, a farm was quietly starting a practice. While raising cows, the farm accepts waste from nearby food processors and restaurants and mixes it with cow manure to make compost. After three months of fermentation and three months of maturation, the finished compost was odorless, smooth to the touch, and safe for farmers to use.

Crops grown in this compost are returned to restaurants and put on the tables again. And the food waste from cooking goes back to the farm - in this way, the resources go in a circle. The operator said, "I buy feed with the money from the compost," thus creating a self-sustaining recycling business that does not rely on subsidies.

This initiative is not just eco-friendly. It was an attempt to find the connection between life and the economy by coming face to face with the soil again in Japan, which has gone through an era of mass production and mass consumption. While urban policies and industrial structures were being discussed, grassroots practices such as these were the quiet driving force behind a recycling-oriented society.