Paper short abstract:

This paper explores interspecies relations and care for soil and water health through practices of material transformation involved in composting. Focusing on processes of breakdown unfolds the coming together of human and nonhuman trajectories in mutually composing the grounds for everyday living.

Paper long abstract:

The paper builds on examples from a qualitative questionnaire about composting practices in Iceland and interviews revolving around composting material from dry toilets. Composting unfolds as a practice that supports ecological consciousness in times of uncertainty. The empirical material indicates concerns about the environmental risks of modern waste disposal and chemical soil fertilization and a longing for actively engaging in the making of healthier and more inclusive systems.

Focusing on waste and microbe imaginaries and their implications on soil and water health I explore how composting presents ways of caring that proposes different relationalities, practices and issues surrounding waste management, soil fertilizing and sustainability.

The circular process of composting waste materials to nutrients, the active role of more-than-human relationships and the labor of care involved goes against the grain of linear thinking and the commercial logic of contemporary western society, it connects humans with other beings, twists the gaze and leads to critical questions about conventional food production, waste management and well being on another scale.

Composting practices involve particular interspecies relations, the concoction of various elements and a commitment in collaborative more-than-human practices of material transformation. Microbes are a key factor in this circular transformation of organic matter and the familiarity with matter, microbes and material processes of breakdown has its consequences and implications that shape futures and the grounds for everyday living.