As Green As You Can Be

The absolute best thing you can do to reduce the amount of garbage you send to the landfill is composting. We have been recycling for years but just started composting last week. When we started the recycling program, it cut our trash volume by two thirds at least! Now that we have a compost bin, our trash collector only picks up very small bag of non recyclable/non compostable items. And it was so easy!

Composting, for me anyway, has always been the “final frontier” in green living. It was always too complicated or too gross to deal with. I couldn’t have been more wrong. Its easy as having a separate, small trashcan with a lid next to your regular trashcan. We put everything organic in there, banana peels, food scraps, paper towels, even coffee grinds and filters. Don’t put meat scraps or dairy items in there, you will invite bugs and or a really bad smell. Neither of these things are welcome in my house so we avoid them.

We used an old “Rubbermaid” storage bin with a tight fitting lid and some holes poked in it. You want some ventilation, but make the holes small enough so that a lot of bugs cant get in there. You don’t want flies in your compost bin, they will lay eggs and nobody wants to deal with maggots. I don’t anyway. We punched a screwdriver through the plastic bin to make the holes.

In my opinion, too much emphasis is placed on the “layering” of the proper composting materials. I think this might even be why some people might be apprehensive about starting. Its really no big deal, if you start with the “proper” layering, it may break down a little faster, but its not a race, and its not anything to stress over either.

That being said, I think its best to keep the correct approximate ratio of different materials in your bin. We compost lawn and tree clippings, food waste and paper towels, you wouldn’t want too much of any one of those things in there because that will really slow things down. It will all break down, but it may take a while.

Chances are, you will have more grass clippings than food waste at any given time, If you are wondering what to do with it, just put a pile of clippings next to your compost bin and put some in every time you put in some food waste.

Some people have a compost pile or a very open container made with pallets or wood. There are a few reasons why we didn’t go that way. The first reason is that we live in a development where the neighbors would certainly have something to say about a pile of rotting waste in the yard. Another reason is the bugs like I mentioned before.

Animals can also be curious about your pile of waste, raccoons are notoriously curious and will make a pretty big mess if given the chance. Open piles also don’t breakdown as fast as a closed bin because they don’t get as hot and when it rains, all the good nutrient rich stuff gets washed away from the top of the pile. Our little compost bin is tucked neatly under our deck no mess, no smell, no worries. I don’t know why we didn’t do this sooner. Now if I could get our town to allow us to stop the trash pickup all together we could save a ton.

The only things that we throw away now are meat and dairy food waste and items that our recycler doesn’t want. That really isnt too much. So I’m feeling even better about our impact on the environment. We can afford a huge solar array or a wind farm (yet) but we can do something, and the feeling you get when you are as green as you can be, makes it all worthwhile.

Here are just a few simple things that nearly everyone can do to be a little greener.

Make a Rain Barrel. Its actually very easy to make a rain barrel.  I got my 40 gallon plastic barrel from a local bottling plant for a few dollars and a flexible downspout extender from the home center.  That, combined with about 7 bucks worth of hardware and 1 hour made me a rocking rain barrel.  Now I am thinking about daisy-chaining multiple barrels together to collect more water.  I can water my lawn, garden and flowers with this water, and its FREE!  Its very simple check out my simple How-to on creating a Rain Barrel.

Composting. I have to admit that I haven’t done this yet.  My wife keeps saying we should and she is right, but I just imagined a big, stinky eyesore in our backyard.  With a little research we’ve found that they don’t have to look bad at all.  As soon as we get ours up and running Ill post a few pictures and a how-to. (Edit: check out my new article on Starting a Compost Bin.)

Recycle!!! If you aren’t recycling by now what are you waiting for?!  Our local municipality offers a recycling service. They supply us with a great big container on wheels and they pick it up every week.  The first thing we noticed is that our volume of trash was reduced dramatically.  So much in fact that we are contemplating canceling our trash pickup all together.  Especially once we get into composting! If your trash collection service doesn’t offer a recycling program, do it your self!  Get a couple plastic bins and start collecting glass in one, paper in another and so on.  Click here to find a recycling center in your area, and dump it off. This is easy stuff!

Replace your light bulbs. Come on now, you mean you haven’t done this yet?  That’s the first thing everyone recommends to save money as well as the environment.  Its the easiest way to be as green as you can be!  the bulbs are getting better all the time too.  The first one we bought was very harsh, but we just got some recently that have a nice soft white light. They have a couple different types at The Green Office, go check them out!

Grow your own veggies! I know I know, “but I only have a quarter acre lot, how can I have a garden“.  Its not that hard at all.  Look into raised beds, you be surprised how much you can get out of a small corner of your yard.  Tomatoes, carrots, potatoes, even corn can all be grown in a suburban development backyard, depending on your geographic location.  Its fun too, and your kids will love helping with the garden.

There are many others that Ill touch on in the future but these are just few that you could easily do this weekend.  After all, don’t you want to be as green as you can be?