COMPOSt THIS!

Hay there ya'll

With Christmas coming I thought I would talk about the importance of composting all that food waste! Food and paper waste takes up over 50% of our landfills! Can you believe it??

And a staggering 50% of all food created..................gets thrown away before it can be eaten, in the USA! That is just downright ridiculous!

Check out these outrageous facts from Duke University:

1. Food and paper are the two largest contributors to landfill, and make up more than half of all landfill waste – more than all plastics, diapers, Styrofoam, and tires, COMBINED. [source: US EPA]

2. Food and paper are biodegradable in nature but not in landfills, due to lack of OXYGEN being buried deep and saturated with water. Landfills EMBALM food and paper for many years. The only real decomposition is anaerobic (lacking oxygen) which produces methane horrible greenhouse gas (see global warming).

3. Food is the #1 LEAST recycled [composted] material [US EPA]

4. The average American produces 4 lbs of landfill waste every day – that’s more than 50 TONS over a lifetime. Half of this waste is compostable .

5. The US is far behind the rest of the world in recycling– most Asian and European have far more advanced recycling efforts, in many cases with steep fees and more categories for separating recyclable materials (including compostables). In some countries, clear plastic trash bags are required so that “trash police” can inspect trash and issue fines for non-compliance.

•6.We are literally running out of landfill space – even with all of our wide open western and mid-western states. Suburban sprawl requires hauling trash longer and longer distances to landfills – with great expense and environmental impact.

7. The US creates more and more trash every year, despite increased recycling attention. This is because of population growth and overall economic growth (we’re buying and trashing more stuff as we “trade up” to higher levels of prosperity). In many cases, even the rates of recycling are decreasing, due to general apathy/complacency.

8. Many communities in the US don’t even have curbside collection of recyclables

SEATTLE has a wonderful composting program that became mandatory last year. Not only does composting remove waste out of the garbage cycle. It is also responsible for providing clean air. Remember the days of dumpster smell? The odor would permeate the dumpster, a sickly sweet, grotesque smell ............never would I want to live in the apartment above the trash pickup area. With compost, it is a clean smell. No more methane trapped in plastic.

I challenge all of you to go out and get your community in on the composting craze! Heck Seattle makes it into something people will by for their gardens!

Thinkin' Sunshine

Ok. Living in the Northwest of the continental US is a bit daunting at times during the winter. Don't get me wrong, I like the rain at times -just not all the time- and I enjoy drab, gray, rainforesty days.......

but today I need to think SUN.

SUNSHINE. What reminds me of sunshine............

let see.....Yellow. More yellow.

Brilliant dewdrops reflecting, sparkling in the morning light.

All of that but most of all I think of sunflowers. Sunflowers to me are the reflection in nature of the sun. Perfectly symmetrical and a mirror image of mathematics......... check out sunflowers, Fibonacci numbers, and the "golden mean" -click here-

Watch the sunflowers

Sunflowers have been part of our myths and stories for centuries. These tall, graceful plants are well-known around the world:

Check out : Flower Stories by Lenore E. Mulets, Colonial Press, Boston, MA 1903.

The Sunflower: A tale from ancient Greece

How to grow bananas in the Pacific Northwest!

Ok. I'll bet you think I'm joking right? Well. I'm not. My cousin, Jill, has a huge banana plant growing in her backyard (near the house). How pray-tell did she keep it from dying in the winter you ask?

Burlap sacks and christmas lights!

Wrap the banana tree with burlap and string lights all the way around and up and down the tree. Keep the lights on all season until mid Spring, early summer. It may be necessary to keep the burlap on longer than that to insure that the tree doesn't freeze.

The burlap and the small amount of heat and energy from the christmas lights keeps the leaves from freezing.

Here is to having a bit of the tropics in the "other" rainforest!
:-)

WINDOW GARDENS!

OK. I have to say it, my sister gives me the most awesome ideas for my blog! Thank you Shan! So here is an awesome site on how to turn your window into a garden! http://www.windowfarms.org/ Check it out! Turn your 'trash' into garden space! Create beautiful gardens in your city apartment! I need to start salvaging my plastic bottles and start creating my garden right here!

Vegetables, Herbs, you name it you can grow it! No need for a balcony~! I've heard that growing one regular sized tree (you know relatively normal sized....not gargantuan) can remove 48 lbs of CO2 a year! Well heck! I want to have green space inside my home, enjoy clean air, provide a sanctuary for my weary self when I get off work, AND protect the planet from global warming. WOW! HERE IS ONE WAY!

Here is to protecting the planet!