By Jo Dolley

Have you ever had a stop-and-chat at your local composting site? Community composting gathers together a rich array of cooking scraps and other organic materials from residents throughout the neighbourhood, but it also brings together the neighbours who are depositing their scraps. Some people are dropping off scraps as they take their dog for a walk. Those who live close by might dash over nearly daily to make a deposit.

It may seem an unlikely place to meet those who live in your neighbourhood, but a well-positioned composting facility can encourage conversations and facilitate getting to know your neighbourhood – a third place! Professor Ray Oldenburg’s concept of Third Place considers home as First Place, work/school as a Second Place, and sociable neighbourhood sites as Third Places ^[1]. They are where you get to meet people in your neighbourhood. Third places are usually free or nearly free (like a community garden, park, coffee shop, etc) and they spark conversations between people ^[2]. They have ‘regulars’ – for example, the volunteers who turn the compost.

When you consider that the 2021 census found that 26% of all Australian households were lone person households ^[3], and add to that the fact that just under half (46.9%) of Australia’s population moved to a different address once or more within five years ^[4], there are plenty of local residents who might like to meet others in their neighbourhood.  The compost facility offers a chance for people to get out of the house, exchange pleasantries, and catch up on the neighbourhood news.

Community composting facilities are often associated with community gardens, but the great thing about is that is that it’s not only for the gardeners – anyone can use it.

“Community composting facilities can increase the sociability and accessibility of community gardens as public spaces”.^[5]

We all know that the neighbourhood composting facility serves a great purpose in preventing organic material heading to landfill, and in creating great soil. It is great to think that community composting can also serve a purpose in increasing the number and quality of social interactions between people in your neighbourhood.

References:

[1] Oldenburg, Ray (2023). The great good place: cafes, coffee shops, bookstores, bars, hair salons, and other hangouts at the heart of a community (2nd ed.). Great Barrington, Massachusetts: Berkshire Publishing Group LLC.  ISBN  978-1-61472-097-3

[2] Dolley, J.  (2020). Community gardens as third places, Geographical Research 05/2020, Vol. 58, Issue 2. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/1745-5871.12395

[3] Household and Family Projections, Australia  https://www.abs.gov.au/statistics/people/population/household-and-family-projections-australia/latest-release

[4] Population movement in Australia  https://www.abs.gov.au/articles/population-movement-australia

[5] Dolley, J., & Howes, M. (2024). The role of community gardens in achieving UNSDG 11, Target 7: safe, inclusive and accessible green and public spaces. Australian Planner, 60(3–4), 160–176. https://doi.org/10.1080/07293682.2024.2421176