My tomato plants have done their job for the year. No more good
tomatoes or blooms are on the vine so today I picked off all of the respectable
tomatoes and heaved my tomato plants into my compost bin. Alas, colder
weather is near (in Kentucky anyway) and this is just one of the things to do to
get ready for autumn. My tomato plants won't be lonely, a lot of leaves
will be joining them very soon.
Don't fret, I made sure there were no bugs or diseased areas on the plants.
You don't want to spread disease into your compost bin. That just wouldn't
be good for your compost bin at all. Speaking of compost bin, mine has
seen better days. It has gotten pretty sad looking. I made it around 8 years ago out of wood.
It has done its job, but I plan
to get or make a new one for this coming spring.
Don't have a compost bin and don't know how to compost, and would like to?
Do It Yourself Composting At Home
Many people have closets similar to the one above. No, you may not have a robe with duckies on them, but you probably have at least one closet that needs to be decluttered. Don't just dump all of your unwanted clothing into the trash, however. You have the opportunity of doing something green, get yourself a little more organized and receive a tax deduction. How cool is that?
You can combat a messy closet by going through your used clothing and put them into four piles.
1. Clothing you still wear and that you will keep - this will be clothing that you have worn in the past 12 months or you know you will wear in the next 12 months
2. Clothing you don't wear, but is in good condition which you can donate - there are many great choices when it comes to donating your clothing. Just a few are:
3. Clothing you don't wear, but may be cleverly reused - find out some ways to reuse used clothing here
4. Clothing that is falling apart, which can't be worn or reused and needs to be thrown away
Clothing donations are needed by many of the 600,000 homeless families in the United States. But the need doesn't end there: more than 28 million children living in low-income families and their parents could also benefit from donated clothes.
Clothing donations should be clean, undamaged, and reasonably wrinkle-free. Clothing can be folded and packed in sturdy boxes or bags; avoid hangers. Items that come in pairs (shoes, gloves, socks) should be kept together (shoe laces can be tied together, gloves and socks can be stuffed inside each other). Pockets should be emptied and any belts should be securely fastened to their appropriate items.
For tax purposes, you should keep a list of the clothing you donate. Donation centers usually give you a tax receipt, but if you mail your clothing or shoe donation to a charity, also send a self-addressed, stamped envelope so it can send you a receipt. Shipping costs are tax deductible as well.
Take all the time you need: whether it be two hours or two weeks. You'll be doing something great and eco-friendly for yourself, your spouse and possibly your local community.
I recently went to my local Half Price Books and sold some of my old books and bought a couple of recent novels for half price. I was new to the store and wasn’t informed on the eco-friendliness of the store. For instance, Half Price Books was named in the EPA’s Top 10 Green Power Retailers. I did a little research and I thought I would share.
Half Price Books began in 1972 and now has many locations in 16 states across the Unites States. For the nearest store near you, go here. If you like to own books, not just borrow from a library, this is the place. They carry best sellers, used books as well as classics. And that is just the books. They also have CDs, LPs, text books, DVDs and more. Most of these sell for half price or less. If there is a location near you, I urge you to visit a store and see for yourself. I will definitely be returning soon.
From the Half Price Books website:
Things we believe no one should waste: paper, knowledge, trees, words, time, and money. Half Price Books is the book recycler. We buy books you've already enjoyed. So if you have more books than shelves, bring yours to us today. We pay the most for recent best sellers and collectibles. But we're also interested in your children's books, mysteries, music, movies and games. We donate all our overstock inventory to nonprofit agencies around the world.
So let's work together and help save our Mother Earth. When you visit Half Price Books, you'll save trees, books, and of course, money. We are committed to the community and preserving our environment. We operate every day based on the convictions of our founders to waste not and read a lot. Every day is earth day at Half Price Books.
Half Price Books has a website called b(eco)me, which details their green effort, has green tips as well as b(eco)ming bagless.
I recently went to the Mega cavern in Louisville, Kentucky. As the sign on the right states, which is just inside the entrance of the cavern, the mega cavern is dubbed as a large and green ‘building’. So what exactly is a cavern? A cavern is simply a man-made cavern.
So what makes this such a green place? From the official Louisville Mega Cavern website:
It was created by a massive limestone quarry—with miners blasting out a mind-boggling amount of rock for over 42 years during the middle of the 20th century. It was acquired in 1989 by private investors who saw the potential to develop a portion of the cavern into an environmentally-conscious high security commercial storage facility. For the past 17 years, a massive amount of recycled concrete, brick, block, rock and dirt were (and continue to be) off-loaded at the cavern to fill in the holes and create floors and internal roads. Construction to carve out offices and storage spaces is ongoing, making just a dent in the more than 4,000,000 square feet of space. Even though it’s underground, the Louisville MEGA Cavern is actually the largest building in the state of Kentucky—and by tonnage is the largest recycling center in the state. Now you can experience all the wonder and adventure of this unique attraction.
In addition to that is the worm recycling which occurs deep inside the cavern. The photo below shows this. On a simple bed of shredded paper, paper towels and other miscellaneous other goodies for a multitude of worms to feast on. The worms loves this stuff. They eat their own weight every day resulting in a lot of waste. Well, their waste makes great organic fertilizer.
There are numerous interesting facts about this cavern. One of the most interesting is the fact that MGM has a storage room. Among its many items in storage is the original film of The Wizard of Oz. One of the other more interesting factoids is it was designed to be a bomb shelter during the Cuban Missile Crisis. The below photo showing the replica that was made showing the many people who could have lived down there until it was safe to get back out. It was kind of creepy to me. Mannequins and dummies bother me. Am I alone in that?
Most of the cavern in directly under the Louisville Zoo. Anyway, it was a pretty cool experience and if you are ever in the Louisville area a visit to the Louisville Mega Cavern should be discussed.
The Louisville Mega Cavern preview
For more information or to visit, go to the Louisville Mega Cavern website
Like most people I've used plastic straws my entire life. However, plastic straws are made from
polypropylene, which is #5 among the
Plastic Identification Codes. This isn't good because most recycling centers will not take them.
Which means after you use them you have to throw them in the trash. I don't like that. My mood about straws improved,
however, after I tried Glass Dharma glass straws from the good people at Buygreen.com.
Glass Dharma hand makes each glass straw with borosilicate tubing and is the strongest glass commercially
available. The glass straws come in three sizes: 7mm Sipper, 9.5mm Ice Tea and 12mm Smoothie. Each
glass straw is handmade in the United States and are microwave and dishwasher safe.
Glass Dharma straws are fully backed by a 100% Satisfaction Guarantee. They are also covered with the
manufacturers Lifetime Guarantee against breakage.
I'm a fan of drinking tea and smoothies so I tried one 9.5mm glass straw and one 12mm glass straw. I got each one
with decorative dots. I find that the dots make it easier to grip the straws. I found that the 9.5mm glass straw is great
for ordinary liquids whether they are hot or cold. I used the wider 12mm glass straw with a smoothie and
a root beer float. The glass straw worked very well for both. Where a normal plastic straw would struggle,
this glass straw is a champ. An added plus is that since the glass straws are rigid you can use
them to stir your drinks,
which is especially helpful for certain beverages. I also used a cleaning brush. The brush made it very easy
to clean each glass straw and making them ready to be used again.
I really can't say enough about these glass straws. Not only do they work well, but they are preventing
me from using inferior plastic straws and then having to throw them away. I recommend these glass straws
for everyone. They would also make great gifts for any occasion. Certainly, a true Green product and definitely
an item I will always use now. For more information or to
buy the Glass Dharma glass straws,
go here.
Over 20 years ago, my Dad planted a few Shasta daisies in our garden. I didn't think too much about them
at that time. However, when they bloomed I was surprised at the impact that they made. I was just as
surprised seeing how they propagate themselves into more and more every year and how they are easy to divide and
replant. I found that out when I took a few of the Shasta daisies he planted and replanted them at my house.
I've had very good success with my Shasta daisies in my garden. The photo above shows my Shasta daisies
blooming this year. They are a major bright spot in my flower garden. They give it that needed 'pop' my
flower garden was lacking. I'm very happy with them.
Shasta daisies (Leucanthemum x superbum) are perennials (they come back every year) and are pretty hardy from zones 4 through 9. They were formerly classified
in the genus Chrysanthemum, these daisies were transferred to their own genus of Leucanthemum because
they lack some traits of true Chrysanthemums. The Shasta Daisy originated as a hybrid produced by the famed
American horticulturist Luther Burbank, who developed more than 800 strains and varieties of plants
over his 55-year career.
My Dad always loved gardening and it was a passion I didn't quite share back when he planted the Shasta
daisies all of those years ago. I have to say that now I sure do. Unfortunately, gardening didn't appeal to
me until after he passed on. That would have been a great thing to share with him.
Shasta daisies are fun and easy to grow. They do like good garden soil; this means a well-drained soil,
not clay soil, but one where moisture is present and organic matter is excellent. They will also thrive
better is you practice deadheading, which means to cut off the flower and stem as it starts to fade and
die but before it has a chance to set seed. One potential problem I see is that after a few
years you need to have plenty of room for them or you'll need to thin them out. One great resolution for
this is to divide them and give a few to friends. They can then enjoy Shasta daisies at their home as I
have enjoyed the ones I received from the ones my Dad planted over 20 years ago. Thanks Dad.
I recently went to the Louisville Zoo and before going I read about something called Zoo Poopy Doo going on at the zoo. So, what
exactly is Zoo Poopy Doo? It is the end result of recycling the animal waste into a fantastic compost mixture. This Zoo Poopy Doo
is used on the grounds of the zoo as well as sold bi-annually to the public. From the Louisville Zoo's Trunkline
magazine: "All proceeds from Zoo Poopy Doo sales go to support the Zoo. By recycling these animal wastes into a useful compost mixture,
the Louisville Zoo prevents 50,000 tons of manure from being dumped into a landfill every year". So even animals can help being Green without realizing the fact.
Elephants can produce up to 200 pounds of waste droppings a day. With that, consider all of the other
large animals in a zoo. The Louisville Zoo's hoof stock animals produce close to 1 million pounds of
waste each year. They realized they could turn this into an opportunity. Zoo Poopy Doo
is used on the zoo's potted plants, exotic vegetation and in the Gorilla Forest. Zoo Poopy Doo "improves the aeration of the soil, reduces compaction and adds important micronutrients that do not
normally come with most fertilizers".
The Louisville Zoo has been doing this since 1990. Hopefully, other zoos can run with the same idea to
help themselves and their community. Check the Louisville Zoo website for news on dates and times for the next Zoo
Poopy Doo sale.
