Eco Mania
Composting Makes Us Happy
I know it sounds geeky, but you know that feeling you get when you find someone the perfect gift or mail off that check to charity? That’s kind of the feeling I get when I stick a banana peel in my compost container under the sink. It’s one little thing we can do each and every day to keep unnecessary items from filling up our garbage can and living on as landfill. And in return we get rich, fabulous soil for bigger plants and that super sweet feeling that says “one more karma point” every time we add an eggshell or a coffee filter.
And since most people think composting is smelly and gross, we thought it might be wise to visually demonstrate how un-scary and un-nasty compost can be. We had to take a picture of this particular batch of veggies and eggshells because it almost looked like a rainbow:
We should also mention that the compost container that we keep under the sink (shown above) is air-tight and 100% odorless (we snagged it at Target for around 8 bucks). All we have to do is walk it outside to add the latest collection of peels, pits, and tea bags to our super simple exterior compost bin (picked up at Lowe’s for 7 clams) a few times a week. Easy peasy.
So if you’re in the market for a bit of quick karma and some free organic soil, check out our step-by-step tutorial for making a sweet little compost bin of your own. Everyone thinks it’s this huge commitment that takes hours to do (even I thought it was a big step when John suggested it) but composting has honestly made our lives easier, not harder. We take out the kitchen garbage half as much, we don’t have to drag the garbage can to the curb nearly as often, and we never have to haul home garden or potting soil anymore. Life is good. Happy composting everyone!
Eat Your Heart Out Jackson Pollock
Just in time for John’s 27th birthday, Burger whipped up an original paw painting for his doting dad. He’s a regular Jackson Pawlock, I tell ya.
It was actually a cute little project that Burger and I took on together, and he had an inordinate amount of fun throughout the process (even afterwards at bathtime). I grabbed an 8.5×11 piece of white cardstock to serve as the canvas and some water based craft paint (which I squirted onto a plate). Then I just carefully dipped his front right paw into the paint puddle and let him dance it out on the cardstock.
The only important point to mention is to be sure you snatch up your pooch after his stompfest and thoroughly wash that paw before he scampers off onto the rug or the couch (we did the whole thing in the kitchen on the wood floor) and if you have a bigger pup you can always close doors or otherwise block off doorways to rooms that are less wipe-able in case puppy makes a break for it.
Slipped into a crisp white frame with a generously sized white mat (Target, $12) it actually looks like real art:
And although John adored his artful little puppy painted prezzie, I also got him a few practical and borderline professional (by our standards anyway) gifts for fun in the kitchen. The first being a 12″ Cuisinart Green Gourmet skillet coated with Ceramica, a new eco-friendly nonstick coating (similar to glass or ceramic) which keeps food sliding right off without any harmful off gassing or food leeching like Teflon. It certainly wasn’t cheap but as John’s mom so eloquently pointed out as I pondered whether I should spring for it, we’ll have it for years. And we love it. We’ve never had quality cookware before, so consider us smitten.
And along the same “quality cookware” theme I also bought two super sharp J. A Henckels knives and a nice little bamboo box for storing them (as opposed to those plastic knife sleeves- we’re on a BPA/plastic-free kick even when it comes to our knives). Contrary to popular belief, John’s actually the chef of our family and since unwrapping his new toys he’s been even more excited to slice, dice and saute. Which of course is fabulous news for me and Burger the begger.
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Live Well, Laugh Often, Love Mulch
It was time to mulch all our happy little bushes (all five million of ‘em) in hopes of helping them retain water and stay warm through the winter (even though it’s still around 65 degrees here).
It’s not only a nice thing to do for your plants, it’s also a nice thing to do for your back since it’ll save you about a million tedious hours of weeding thanks to mulch’s magical (and pesticide free) weed-fighting ability.
And not only does mulch repel weeds, it seems to attract adorable little pooches with big ears:
So we’re never really surprised to find a sleeping chihuahua in our freshly mulched garden.
Yard work can really tucker you out…
Something’s Missing
Usually this scene panics me – I’m leaving for work on a Wednesday morning and notice my neighbors’ empty, blue garbage cans sitting at the end of their driveways, while ours sits full and forgotten in the garage. I then spend the next week kicking myself every time I have to stuff another bag into the now overflowing can.
But this was no ordinary trash day. This time I intentionally left our garbage can in the garage. Why? Because it was only half full. Instead, it was our recycling and compost bins that were overflowing (so much so that we’re actually starting a second compost container).
I know, not earth-shattering news or anything, but it made me realize that our efforts to be more earth-friendly are paying off in some form. Apparently we’ve been able to divert about half of our household waste away from the landfill. We’re a long way from living off the grid, but at least it’s a step in the right direction.
Have any of you guys experienced a noticable reduction in your household waste? Any other great tips for cutting down even more? Obviously buying things less often and buying in bulk when ya can really help (two things we’re definitely into) but we’re wondering if there are any less obvious trash reducing tips out there. Spill the beans.
