Got Compost? You've got nature's oven! Bake a CAKE and More!

Ok, I just have to thank my sister Shannon for sending me this cool blog post "Cooking in Compost?' on www.houselogic.com .  If you have the time, you can cook just about anything you would in a conventional oven or in boiled water in your handy-dandy compost pile! 

Drawing by Stephanie Smith --She's got a great blog! Check it out!
www.stephaniesmith.com

Compost piles when they are done right are little methane ovens! Check out this awesome website by www.composting101.com  for the best details and troubleshooting your compost. 

They stay consistently warm hovering around 150 - 180 degrees Fahrenheit.  This will boil an egg in about a day, and bake a cake or roast a turkey in about 18 hours.  WOW. 



Mother Earth News, back in 1980 ran a article on creating CHEESE in your compost pile!

Take your kitchen to your backyard!  Compost the parts and create food in the same place!  This is nature at its best!

America Recycles Day! November 15, 2011

Yes! We have an Environmental Holiday IN the FALL!
It isn't all about Earth Day! It is about EVERY DAY!

Join a recycling event near you! Visit the America Recycles Day! and the  Earth911 !  websites to find out where you can go to recycle your waste!   Plug in your zip code and find the recycling center closest to your home or workplace.

Reduce-Repair-Reuse-Recycle
And don't forget these important cycles:

Pre-cycling--Buy no more than you need!

Free-cycling: Give away items instead of throwing them away. Post them on www.craigslist.com or www.freecycle.com !

Up-cycling: Make cool stuff out of materials you have. Prior to recycling them.  Like homes out of plastic bottles and tires!  FOR REAL!

Oceans filling with Microplastics-Say NO! to Plastic! GO GREEN!~

YOU CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE.  DON'T BUY ANY MORE PLASTIC.  Plastic toys, plastic cars, plastic silverware, plastic clothes!  Stopping the flow of plastic is the MOST important STEP.  YOU CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE. 

Recently the big news organizations are finally catching up with researchers regarding the dangers of acrylic fibers.  Synthetic fibers release what are called "microplastic." 

Photo by Maui Surfer Girls

 ". . . After testing this microplastic, they concluded that wastewater from home washing machines was the probable source, noting that more than 1,900 fibers can rinse off a single garment. They say this debris contains potentially harmful ingredients that fish can ingest and then transfer to people who eat them."1

Here is a link to the original article "Accumulation of Microplastic on Shorelines Worldwide:  Sources and Sinks" by M.A. Brown, P. Crump, S.J Nivens, E. Teuten, Andrew Tonkin, T. Galloway, and R. Thomson (Journal of Environmental Science and Technology, 2011 45(21), pp. 9175-1975). 

The massive plastic soup AKA "The Great Pacific Garbage Patch" and the Japanese Tsunami  material sweeping across the Pacific are easy to see, but what about the itsy-bitsy tiny pieces of plastic?  Microorganisms are ingesting these microfibers as they would diatoms --just like the seabirds that feed plastic bits to their young, thinking that they are fish.  Plastic is so pliable, flexible, it looks and feels like food.

CHANGE doesn't happen overnight.  BUT CHANGE DOES HAPPEN.  It starts with ONE person making the change.  JUST SAY NO--To Plastic.


1. USA Today "Washing machines cause 'microplastic' pollution"

Green Halloween!

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Recycled Costume Wall-e! Photo by The Daily Green Website

Did you know that most children's costumes you can buy are made out of plastic?  What is a mom or dad to do?  Have a GREEN Halloween!

Host a "Costume Swap" in your neighborhood or school.  Bring old costumes and trade them! 
Check out the Green Halloween Website for how to's!

Here is the instructable to make your own Wall-E! 

Make a cool costume! The Daily Green: Recycled Halloween Costumes!

Photo by Brian Dettmer. 
Skull made of old cassette tapes!
Check out Artist Brian Dettmer's work.

www.inhabit.com is one of my favorite websites.  Check out their "5 Favorite Green Halloween Treats and Tips!"



Don't forget the candy! Get your hands on sustainable chocolate!
Rainforest Alliance creates great tasting treats that everyone will enjoy. Green your Halloween!

Skip to my loo! --Bathrooms with a mission!

Ok.  Everyone's got a do it.... right?  Water conservation is the perfect way for the average, everyday person to make a signifcant influence on the world around them.

Let's talk loos. 

Composting Toilets:  My personal favorite.  Check out my past blog post "The Power of Poo" on the benefits of having a composting toilet.  Trivia tip:  Which Central Illinois state park has had composting toilets in its visitor center since 1979 (this park has over 400,000 visitors each year)? (answer at the bottom of this blog post)

Rainwater Flushable Toliets!  Check out Urban Garden Studio Brooklyn and their project for Habana Works!  Check out their design here.

High-efficiency toilets (HETs): HETs not only conserve water, they save  you money!  Seattle Homeowners may be eligible to trade out their old toilet for a new HET Toilet. Check out this great article by Mother Earth News "Best Options for High-Efficiency Toilets" for more details.

Loo Watt:  You what?  You can make energy from poo!  Check out my past blog post "Loo Watt"

Recycle my loo! Toliets are normally made of out of plastic or ceramic.  Both substances are not recycleable.  However, stainless steel toliets are completely recycleable and they look cool!

Answer to the trivia question:  Which Central Illinois state park has composting toliets in its vistor's center?  The answer would be Wildlife Prairie State Park, located in Henry, Illinois (near Peoria, Illinois).

No Balcony? No outside? It is OK ---YOU CAN WINDOW GARDEN!

Photo by Compost This!

Now that winter's coming I'm getting into gardening INDOORS!  Gardens can be anywhere!  Don't worry!  You can garden if you don't have land or an outdoor space like a balcony!

Check out this awesome youtube video on Bottle Gardens! 
Bottle Gardens Video
and here is one on creating an indoor garden with lights!
Indoor Garden Video
For great photos of inspirational indoor gardens check out Google!
Google's images of indoor gardens


The future in indoor gardens:  great ideas!

Remember... gardens need light (not too hot!), good water (preferably filtered or at least let it sit a bit), and good soil (fertilized appropriately etc).

Artist Gregory Kloehn. GO GREEN...Dumpster=Home ROCK ON!

Elite Dumpster Home! With Rooftop Deck!

"What is a home? That leads me up to now, that is where we are, we are sitting in a home. The idea would seem absurd, but when you really get an absurd idea and run with it that is where the good stuff come from. If we built it ourselves and equipped it ourselves we would think a lot differently about what we need and what we want and what is possible." Gregory Kloehn

Hopefully, someday we will come to a place in time when all of our waste is recycled and we won't need the traditional dumpster anymore.  Artist Gregory Kloehn, San Fransisco, CA is already there.....

Kloehn decided that really, what makes a home are the following: a place to cook, a place to sleep, a place to entertain, a place to go to the bathroom, water.  All of this he placed, strategically in a Dumpster!  The toilet can be hooked up to a septic tank, and electricity via an extension cord.  It has a rooftop deck and a mini-bar!  It even has has a garden area!!


In addition to the video above, check out these websites for more information:
Mail Online:  "Room with a phew: How a Designer converted a Dumpster into a house complete with kitchen, toilet, and shower"