Why we started.

Waste management. Yuck.  

That's what our founder, well me... this is what I thought when I smelled the decaying banana peel mixed with the tomato sauce, broccoli and leftover Thai food that I had accidentally forgotten about in the back of my refrigerator. It smelt like something was definitely dying. 

As I carried out that now liquid bag of garbage from my house to my outdoor bin, I was so grateful for the people that managed my waste. These people that just did their job without me needing to think, worry and thankfully not SMELL it.

Then I moved. My now husband (then boyfriend) and I moved into a house on the outskirts of Fort Wayne, Indiana. The most rural residence of my life.

I'll get into more of my backstory in some other blog but a quick summary - before moving to an apartment in Fort Wayne, I lived in Manhattan - like East Village third story walk up above an amazing corner bodega.... 

The people that lived in our house before us were clearly retired and had a great deal of time on their hands. Two full gardens, perennials all throughout the front yard and weird trash apparatuses that had me thinking "oh crap, I hope I don't kill these things".

Luckily when we moved into our house it was fall and I had a few months to get my head wrapped around how to handle all of the greenery. 

After 6 months of "rural living", in the dead of winter with nothing else to do. I decided to research this weird can thing in my yard.

Hint hint. This is a "Composting Tumbler". Thank you Suncaster.

A quick google and I was now in the know. This magical contraption could house our food and yard waste. 

With no ulterior motives other than pure childlike curiosity and nothing to lose, I decided WE'RE DOING IT!!!!!!!! 

Thankfully my husband is one of those nerds that likes to know things to know them (like Ted from How I Met Your Mother). He immediately dove into a full day's research of "compost". That night after the first day of me throwing our food scraps in the bin he asked, "So, have you seen any black gold yet?!". 

Answer is no. No you do not see black gold (below) - aka the really good compost - for a few weeks to months depending on the composting method. 

But that's all it took... That is what got me to spiral down a wild rabbit hole to starting Ground Down. 

Sometimes curiosity causes us to dig a little deeper, to remove the first layer of an onion. When you do remove it, your eyes start to water and you just dive deeper. Maybe you even put on goggles. But you keep cutting through until you can share that onion with the world in one way or another. 

My friends, I appreciate your time spent in checking out Ground Down. 

I am a nerdy extrovert that wants to connect us together through technology and leave this world a better place. 

Leave some comments, reach out to me, explore something for yourself. 

Whatever you choose to do. However you choose to explore. Be present, curious and enjoy your day.

xoxo
M