By Camila Soledad Roberto, student of Education Sciences, School of Humanities, National University of San Martín, Buenos Aires.

The following is an article translated from the original in Spanish. It describes a walking and maintenance tour by the ‘Compost Club‘ – a community composting network in the neighbourhood of Colegiales, Buenos Aires, Argentina. It describes how composting food scraps as a community can intertwine natural processes with local families, culture, international partnerships, mapping, education, multi-species connections, stories of the past and celebrations.

An afternoon of composting and community that transforms the neighbourhood

Last Sunday, November 2 at 5pm, the Colegiales Composting Club was launched, demonstrating once again that sustainability is a collective effort. The central activity was a maintenance tour through the nine compost bins installed in the neighbourhood, a real green health check that started from the corner of Crámer and Palpa. The main mission of the day was to ensure the vital process of composting, proceeding to close the lids of several compost bins and placing “at rest” signs. This detail is crucial, as it signals to neighbours that it is time to let the organic material rest to mature. It is estimated that in about six months the first “harvest” will be ready, and some are already very close to that point of maturity.

“The commitment is total, the work is done between everyone,” explain participants of the Composting Club at the beginning of the tour.

Green route

The tour began at the intersection of Crámer and Palpa, next to the Colegiales train station, where the first two compost bins are located. One of them is the club’s inaugural compost bin, number 1, sponsored by “La Verdolaga”, the nursery on the corner. Right next to it, rests compost bin number 6, started on January 15, 2025. This one was part of a series of international initiatives, called Next System – Teach Ins, generated and promoted by Ben Manski and Deissy Perilla, together with their collective of activists and academics.

The launch of the latter was an inspiring example of community collaboration, highlighting the participation of teachers and students from the United States who, in addition, painted the bin. These academics – Gary Anderson, Dipti Desai, and Carol Anne Spreen – are responsible for the New York University Summer Education Abroad Program and maintain a long-standing relationship with Ana Heras. This initiative with the Composting Club is part of the long-term work that Ana develops with them, the details of which are addressed in the book “Third Learning Spaces for Post-Capitalism”.

During the second semester of 2025, the students of the Seminar on Group Dynamics and Pedagogical Self-Management also participated in these initiatives. This Seminar is an optional subject taught at UNSAM and is part of the curricular offer of the School of Humanities. This year it incorporates a University Extension project into its pedagogical design: University Extension Project (EH UNSAM), “Learning in and with groups: composting composting in extension”, second semester period 2025 – EH 2025 Call, DD No. 333/25. These are activities that are developed together with the Learning and Self-Management Program.

Compost tools

After aerating the compost with a spiral instrument, both compost bins were closed and their rest sign was put in place. It was at that point where neighbours like David, Ari, and Pablo shared the history of the Colegiales neighbourhood, a prelude that filled the path to follow with meaning. Then we continued on together with members of INCLUDE, UNSAM students and more neighbours from the neighbourhood.

Next to a railway crossing were located the fifth and eighth compost bins.

Compost bin number five arose from an initial contact with a garden that was later discontinued, while composterity number eight was highly sought after and was created alongside a youth club in Lugano. 

“The inaugurations take place in community, promoting sharing and collective formation,” other participants tell us.

Maps 

In that same place, Pablo, who was also celebrating his birthday, shared the idea of the “mapita”. The concept, which came from RED VERDE SER to the Colegiales Composting Club, is to create an open and interactive map that shows the location, status (open or at rest) and information of all the composters. This is a project that encourages transparency and participation. During the stop, David closed the compost bins after the aerating and the rest signs were placed.

Continuing with the itinerary, the tour took us to the compost bin sponsored by Ana María, the result of an action together with the Solidarity Collective on March 24. The maintenance procedure was the same, but the air was filled with a peculiar and delicious citrus aroma, distinctive from all the others.

A garden, Meanwhile… 

At the same time, Ari carried a long branch of Santa Rita, mentioning that its final destination would be the garden of “meanwhile”. The story she shared captivated everyone. It turns out that “Meanwhile” was born from a question about native plants and the struggle of people from the Balvanera station who, for 18 years, dreamed of transforming the railway yard into a park and a nursery for Indigenous women. As a concrete action, they took a small square in front of the beach, cleaned it, worked the soil, planted native trees and called it the “Plaza del Mientras Tanto” [“Meanwhile Square”], becoming a key place for meeting and learning. After listening to the story, we walked to the next compost bin in Crámer, which was right next to a bathtub with native plants and flowers, repeating the resting ritual.

Children are also part of it

The last stops of the tour took us to the compost bin sponsored by Nadia, which stands out for having been artistically decorated by the “Marcos Sastre” Kindergarten, followed by the second to last, which has Eloísa as its godmother and was also the second compost bin installed in the neighbourhood. Finally, the group reached the last part of the journey: the third compost bin installed, located in a very delicate flowerbed with many plants and sponsored by neighbours, Ani and her son Tadeo. It was precisely at this point that a magical and memorable moment occurred, since, for the first time, the participants were able to hear the sound of the worms producing their “melodies” as they worked.

Celebration

Finally, the day ended at INCLUDE, where most of the participants gathered to enjoy a snack provided by the Solidarity Collective. On the Day of Remembrance of the Dead according to the Andean tradition, the different traditions in this regard were discussed. Likewise, four birthdays were celebrated, with cakes and sweets.

Between talks and snacks, books were raffled. The celebration was twofold, as Meri, a seminary student, brought a cake to sing happy birthday to Pablo and to those who had birthdays in October and early November.

The creative spirit continued, as two new bins were waiting to be installed as future compost bins. Several students of the seminar began to intervene and paint the bins with unique art, leaving them ready to join the composting cycle.