Cecile Mills, Neighbor

Hi, I’m Cecile Mills and I’m a recycler. While I grew up in Seattle, I’ve lived in the Pajaro Valley since 1971—first in Watsonville and then on the southeast side of the Pajaro Valley in the hills. I am retired from working enjoyably in both education and publishing. None of my academic degrees are related to what I love to do now—recycle things like food scraps or children’s books—so I returned to Cabrillo College a few years ago to study Horticulture. I am a Santa Cruz County Certified Master Composter and collect food waste to enrich my composting to enrich soil depleted by more than 200 years of use. I’m involved with several activities in the area that fall under the loose heading of improving the ecosystem. I’m also on the Monterey County Mental Health Commission, as I now live in that county. To me, community-building is an important activity that will see us through tough times.