Hi, you're listening to Cultivate
Curiosity, a podcast that inspires the
next generation to stay curious.
Cultivate Curiosity is brought to you by
the Emerald Coast Science Center, a
nonprofit, interactive science museum and
steam educational facility in Fort Walton
Beach, Florida.
This podcast is perfect for anyone curious
about the world we live in because
you never know what we'll talk about
next.
Hey everyone.
I'm Jacie, the social media coordinator
at the science center.
And hi, I'm Harley, an educator and
the community affairs coordinator at the
Science Center.
And today we have a special guest
with us, Cameron Howard.
Cameron, can you let us know about
who you are and what you do?
Yeah, sure.
My name is Cameron and I am
the founder and president of Sow America.
We are a 501c3 nonprofit with the
mission to regenerate land and communities
through education of agriculture,
entrepreneurship, and self-improvement.
So essentially what that means is we
build gardens and we also divert food
waste by making compost and then donating
that compost to local community gardens.
Awesome.
So how did you get into regenerative
agriculture?
So the way I got into regenerative
agriculture was I was growing micrograins
in my apartment in Raleigh, North
Carolina, and I was growing micrograins on
a shelf.
And the thing with micrograins is it
has like a weekly turnaround because they
grow so fast.
And so I was growing these micrograins,
I was like, well, what am I
going to do with all this leftover
soil that micrograins have been growing
out of?
And so I got my little cat
litter bin and I put in some
worms and I put in the food
waste out of that.
And it was really cool to see
within a matter of like a week
or two that they had changed this
food waste all the way into compost
that I can then plant back into
with my micrograins.
So it brought kind of like a
full circle moment and I was like,
wow, I can do this in my
apartment.
Where else can I do this and
how else can we divert food waste?
So I started looking more into
regenerative agriculture, and something
that was very interesting to me versus
with hydroponics and growing with
micrograins, with soil base is you can
actually heal the soil and make the
soil healthier by growing versus just
taking away from the soil, I guess
from the earth and not giving anything
back to it.
So when I found out that you
can actually make the ground healthier by
growing certain things and also by
composting food waste, I was like, wow,
why isn't everybody doing this?
And then that's kind of how I
opened up into the world of regenerative
agriculture.
So cool.
Yes, it is really cool.
So you mentioned ways to compost divert
food waste.
Can you talk about a couple of
different ways to do that?
Absolutely.
So there's a couple of different ways
to divert food waste.
The most popular that people are familiar
with is hot composting.
And that's where people have their compost
bins and they add in their food
waste and then some carbon materials like
wood chips or cardboard or shredded paper
on top of that, food waste, which
is nitrogen.
And that helps start the composting
process.
But the way that I really enjoy
it is without using thermophilic
composting, which just is a fancy word
for hot composting.
But I like to use what's called
red wiggler worms and black soldier fly
larvae.
So with red wiggler worms, they eat
food waste and they stay in a
bedding and they're pretty easy to
maintain.
And the only thing with red wiggler
worms is they can't eat anything with
meat, fish or bones or anything with
dairy as well.
So I was like, wow, it's a
cool way to compost.
But everybody eats meat, meat, bone or
meat and cheese, dairy products, different
things like that.
And so I was like, well, how
else can we compost?
Or what else is faster?
So I looked into what's called black
soldier fly larvae.
And it's so crazy because these little
insects, they eat food waste so fast
that the food doesn't even get a
chance to rot or smell or anything.
So when you're talking about food waste,
for me and my family, we have
black soldier fly larvae outside of their
house.
And currently we take our food waste
from the night, like when we get
done with dinner, and we give that
to our black soldier fly larvae.
And in the morning that food waste
is gone.
So that's how fast they process food
hungry, right?
That's really quick.
Yeah.
And the only cool part is we
have chickens, too.
And so black soldier fly larvae, their
nutritional content is like 40% fat, 30%
protein, and then some other trace
minerals.
So it's a really good snack, or
nutritional snack for chickens.
And it helps close like that circle
of sustainability, because now you're
going from food waste to larvae to
feed the chickens, and then the chickens
eat that and they give us eggs,
and there we have the whole circle.
So those are the three most common
ways of composting, is worm composting,
using worms, hot composting, which is
piling materials up until it starts to
get hot enough to kill all the
weeds and bad germs and pathogens in
the soil.
And then also with black soil flower.
So those are like the most popular
ways to compost.
We have one that we use in
our house.
That's the heat one.
I think definitely looking into the worm
one would be kind of cool too.
Absolutely.
And the other side of it too,
is with traditional composting, a lot of
people think of composting and they think
of the smell behind it.
And so if you're composting correctly,
there's not going to be a ton
of smell with it.
But with vermicomposting or the black
soldier fly larvae, that pretty much
eliminates most of any of those bad
odors.
So that's the other reason why I
go towards like black soldier fly larvae
for composting, because we want to
eliminate all the smells because we're in
Florida and we definitely have to be
wary of bears and all these other
critters creatures nearby.
And I also think people maybe don't
want to compost because of unawareness,
like how it can be easy, but
also maybe that it might stink.
So if there's other ways to tell
people that it doesn't stink, if you
do it this way, then that's a
bonus.
Chickens, like we have a chicken yard
of science.
So we could do something like that
here with any of the food waste
that we have.
But you said kind of a misconception
about how it smells.
Are there any other common misconceptions?
Yeah, I would say with traditional
composting, when people think of, I guess
the smell when we were talking about
it, a lot of it comes just
from education or lack of experience when
making compost.
So for example, people that might have
pests or that smell, that means that
they have too much nitrogen in their
compost pile, so too much green materials
or food waste.
So to combat that, all they really
need to do is add in some
carbon materials such as wood chips,
sawdust, shredded paper or cardboard and
they'll help eliminate that as well.
Another issue or common misconception that
it's always going to bring pests and
it's always going to bring other bugs
and stuff as well.
And yes, it will bring some bugs,
but they're beneficial bugs that are
aerating the soil and breaking down the
microbes.
The pest is only if you're not
again composting correctly, you're not
hiding those smells and it's not
decomposing those materials quick enough.
So that is another common misconception.
If you're doing that or even flipping
or turning your compost pile to introduce
air into it, then people think it's
going to smell, but it really doesn't.
If you're doing it correctly, that's cool.
So I guess the next thing to
ask is what is your favorite thing
about your job?
So the favorite thing about my job,
honestly, is being able to connect with
other people in the community that are
like minded.
But really there's the educational aspect
of it.
I love being able to talk about
soil health.
And when we do our classes, we'll
have kids come in and we'll look
at soil samples under a microscope and
show like the living soil versus dead
soil, you can tell the health of
the soil by the colors.
So being able to show kids, hey,
this is what really good soil is
and this is what bad is, and
they can see the life moving around
on the screen because I'll hook up
a camera to the microscope and we'll
put it on the screen and then
people can see all that.
And so when kids see that and
it just clicks with them.
They're like, oh, we're feeding things in
the soil, not just the plant.
That's probably like my favorite thing.
But then also being able to see
people become more self sufficient is my
other thing as well.
Because we want to see gardens in
every single county in the country.
That's our goal is to put a
garden in every single county in the
country.
So just to inspire people, that's probably
my favorite part of it.
See more dirt, see more plants.
I think we have two other questions
that might be a little different than
your normal questions you would get.
First one is what is human composting
and how does that work?
Yeah, so that is really interesting
because it has been gaining popularity on
social media, especially like TikTok and
all that kind of stuff.
And it is a very interesting way
to look at after death what happens.
So with human composting, from what I've
seen in the research that I've seen,
I haven't seen any actual composting
mortgage.
Like seeing one in person.
Yeah, I haven't seen one person.
But from what I've seen is they'll
take somebody and they'll put them into
this casket that's oversized and then add
in other organic material like we were
talking about nitrogen and carbon and
other things that might be dear to
that person that they also want to
be buried with that will also decompose.
And then they can take that casket
and that person and I guess insert
them into the ground where they put
a plant or a tree on top.
And so as the human body breaks
down, there's all these nutrients and
vitamins and minerals inside that plant
can then uptake.
And so that has been becoming a
very popular way of dealing with death.
And it's also a lot more cost
effective than buying a coffin and
embalming and all that kind of stuff.
And it's more fun into the earth.
I personally want to be buried under
a pecan tree.
I don't want to be compost.
I want to be cremated and then
put into a pecan tree.
The ashes are actually really good for
plants as well.
So more than one way that you
can pop your earth when you go
absolutely.
Yeah.
And then once it becomes a mature
pecan tree, then people be able to
have your pecan.
Absolutely.
So yeah, that's kind of what I
know about them.
I know it's been gaining in popularity.
I know a lot of the things
around human composting is just
regulations and stuff because different
states have different regulations on all
that.
But I'm curious to see how it
starts to spread because it does seem
that it's spreading more and it does
seem to be a cost effective way
to do that.
But what are your thoughts?
Are we the food waste?
Is that what it is?
I think it'd be super cool.
Yeah, I feel like that in a
way you would give back to the
Earth that you used and took things
from for your own life.
And I don't necessarily want to be
sitting in like a little base with
my family for so many years if
I'm like, cremated or something.
Giving back to the Earth would be
cool, I think.
Yeah, from dust to dust, right.
Diane, who's normally here, was the one
who actually brought this topic up, which
is kind of funny that she probably
saw it somewhere on social media, but
it would be very cool.
I think the pictures I've seen, it
looks peaceful.
Is there a way to compost dog
and or cat fecal waste?
Yes is the very quick answer.
Yes.
However, depending on what you're using
your compost for is really why the
answer is dependent on that.
But most of the time you can
compost cat waste and dog waste because
it's high in nitrogen and also has
a lot of leftover minerals and vitamins.
The thing that would be the most
concerning would be if that animal takes
any type of dewormer or anything like
that that can get passed through and
that can affect some of the microorganisms
and stuff.
And so it's called persistent pathogens or
something like that.
And so, yes, you can compost those
feces, but you can use that to
make compost for plants that you're not
consuming.
So like flower beds or anything like
that.
And so that's where you can compost
that and make sure that you're not
having any pathogens or cross
contaminations and yeah, that's a great
way to do that.
I know cats, they do that naturally
outside that helps feed things.
I mean, lots of animals do.
And it's definitely something that even
when we were looking it up, my
sister was like, can I put it
in there?
And I'm like, I think it depends
on what we're going to use it
for, because if we're using it for
the grow vegetables and stuff like that,
if we put her poop in there.
We'Re eating our poop.
Yeah.
So it's good to know that for
certain things, yes, you can, and it'll
be safe.
Would you recommend like two separate
compost type bins then?
Yeah, it depends on how serious somebody.
Wants to get into it.
I mean, if it's just somebody at
home, then yes, but I would make
sure to get a compost thermometer, because
when the compost reaches around
100 and 4150 degrees Fahrenheit, it starts
to kill off those pathogens and seed
those weed seeds and things like that,
so we can make sure that the
compost isn't passing along any pathogenic
properties to your plants.
So that is a really good way
to do that.
The other good way is just to
test the compost.
So once you get it made, you
can send it off to a lab
for analysis.
They can tell you exactly what's in
it, from carbon content to nitrogen to
PH to all the metals or if
it's E.
Coli or all that kind of stuff
in it.
And that is through a process with
what's called the US composting Council.
And they have a laboratory that you
can send compost to.
And for people that want to sell
their compost, there's like a
certification, but they have a
standardization of compost to make sure
that you're not taking in any pathogenic
or hazardous chemicals or anything like
that.
That's cool.
I have a cat at home, but
we don't compost her stuff.
But I know in foreign countries one
big thing that people do is instead
of traditional composting cat waste and
dog waste, they use black soldier fly
larvae to eat the feces and then
they get fatnate dog.
That protein.
And their excrement is kind of like
worm poop.
It's a sanitized or cleaner material that
you can then use to inoculate other
soils.
Yeah, that's super cool.
So the last question, you kind of
talked about it at the very beginning,
but how do you make an impact
locally?
So the way that South America is
making an impact locally is we have
partnered with Okaloosa County and keep
Okaloosa Beautiful to launch an organics
recycling pilot project.
So what that means is we are
working with commercial organizations to
divert wood waste, leaf litter, food waste
and also fish waste.
Because here on the Emerald Coast, we
have the largest private fishing fleet in
the world and it's America's luckiest
fishing village.
And so we want to take advantage
of anything that's going to waste and
you can make really good compost with
that.
So we are diverting food waste that
way and then you can also divert
food waste or brewers waste from different
breweries and distilleries and things like
that.
So that is how we are making
an impact locally.
And then for people that want to
just make an impact in their community,
one thing that they could do is
they could just compost their food.
What you start doing, start looking into
different methods of composting and see
what works for them.
But then they can just start taking
their family leftovers and put it into
a three gallon bucket or something like
that.
And then they can add in worms,
black soldier flies, or the traditional
hot composting method.
Those are two of the really easy
ways to make an impact.
One other way that we were making
impact in Montgomery, Alabama, which is
where we're headquartered out of, is we
were doing compost pickups.
So if somebody's really wanted to make
a bigger impact in their community, find
out some residents who all want to
divert food waste and then they could
give them a three gallon bucket, set
it outside.
If it's a neighborhood initiative or
street initiative, then they can set out
those buckets and people can fill up
their food waste and then they can
come collect the food waste for the
whole street or neighborhood and then
compost it themselves.
And then now they're impacting an even
larger community.
So those are some simple ways to
make impact where they're at.
And that's kind of how we are
making an impact as well.
Cool.
I think that is all for our
podcast today then.
Thank you so much for being on
with us.
Yeah, thank you for having me.
Thank you.
Check out his social medias so that.
Way you guys can and check it
all out.
See you guys all in two weeks.
Bye bye.
Thanks for listening to this week's
episode of Cultivate Curiosity.
If you have any questions, feel free
to email us at socialmedia@ecscience.org.
Tune in for our next episode in
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