We caught up with the compost queen, Saskia (aka go_posty), and learned all about how she first started her compost journey, juggles graduate school, runs a compost startup, and more!
If you don’t know who the amazing Saskia is - she’s a previous analyst turned energy and environmental policy student from New Jersey. In her spare time, Saskia runs a compost startup including the Instagram account "go_posty” which helps educate and inspire others to compost and live sustainably. She’s amassed a community of over 1,300 followers from sharing content showing her tips, lifestyle, and personality since March 2020.
Keep reading to learn more about Saskia and if you’d like to see more of her, all her links are listed at the end.
So how did Saskia first get into sustainability?
In 2017, it was Anne Hathaway's birthday and for her birthday she asked people to check out Lauren Singer, an environmental activist. Anne was also asking people to purchase a compostable toothbrush as Lauren had posted about how long plastic toothbrushes take to break down. After that, Saskia continued following Lauren Singer and it opened her eyes to how to live an empowering sustainable life.
How did Saskia first start composting?
Lauren had started talking about composting so Saskia tried it out but struggled to figure it out. She says, “I just held onto all my waste and kind of thought it would just happen for me”. But it didn’t - and the waste turned into awful liquid goop! But, after that, she realised there was a resource and knowledge barrier and decided to help herself and others compost by creating go_posty!
What surprised Saskia the most about the composting community on social media?
Saskia says, “So I think I was most surprised by how welcoming and receptive the community was”. She had always heard negative things about social media so it was amazing that so many people were willing to talk and help each other. Saskia says, “I don't really think there's anything else quite like it.” She was also surprised how it wasn’t just composters who were supportive, but also other accounts in sustainability.
What composting setup does Saskia have?
She has a worm farm, a small pad gallon hot compost setup, and an open-air compost. Saskia also maintains a countertop compost as well for when any of the other setups seem to be overflowing or if there are any materials like citrus, that need moderation. She’s also planning to try bokashi composting soon too.
What is a composting goal that Saskia has?
One day Saskia hopes to have an informal community garden with open garden beds and a compost set up. Eventually, on a larger scale, she would like to buy land for a large formal community garden with an area where people can come and learn. She would love to create a full-circle moment for people - where they drop off their compost and get it as fertiliser to take home and grow something.
What are some common composting mistakes she sees people making?
Saskia says, “I think the biggest mistake people make and I fall victim to it all the time is just not putting enough carbon in your compost.” She finds that most of the issues of it smelling bad, leaking, worms running away, and so on is because there's too much liquid in your compost.
Another mistake Saskia finds is that often people think they need an outdoor space to compost. There’s all these programs nowadays, for example, New York has a pick-up service so you don’t need to have the four hot composting setups as you see in traditional pictures.
How can you keep following Saskia’s journey?
Be sure to check out Saskia for more compost and sustainability content. You can visit her Instagram account here and her website here.
If you loved this one, be sure to stay tuned for our next Humans of Monty feature! We also have so much other exciting content coming up soon so be sure to follow our Instagram, Facebook, Tiktok, YouTube, and LinkedIn to not miss a single one.
Special composters can also pre-order a Monty here.