Sunday, September 7, 2008

EcoMOMs: September 2008




Doing our part for a healthier planet in Janesville, Wisconsin

Did you know?

Twenty-three percent of the garbage in U.S. landfills is yard waste and food waste. Instead of throwing these wastes away, they can easily be composted and used to enrich our gardens and landscapes. Compost improves soil structure and provides needed nutrients to plants.

What moms can do:

IDEA #1: Compost it! Make a homemade compost bin out of chicken wire, snow fencing, or old garbage cans with holes punched in the sides and bottom. Or, if you prefer, buy a manufactured bin. To compost effectively, four vital ingredients are required: nitrogen, carbon, water, and air. The easiest recipe for compost is to combine equal parts of nitrogen-rich and carbon-rich materials. Green materials, like grass clippings and fruit and vegetable scraps, will provide the needed nitrogen. Brown materials, such as dry leaves, twigs, or hay, will contribute the necessary carbon. To build your pile, you can alternate layers of green and brown materials with a thickness of 2 to 4 inches per layer. Or, you can mix the layers together. Add a few shovels full of soil to get the composting party started; soil adds microorganisms. Once your pile is established, you will need to water it occasionally to keep it moist. Turning it with a shovel or pitchfork will yield faster results. In one to three months, you will have finished compost, dark and sweet-smelling, to add to your garden or yard. Do not add dairy products, oils and fats, meat or fish scraps or bones, pet wastes, or yard trimmings treated with chemical pesticides to your compost pile.

IDEA #2: Practice grasscycling. Grasscycling is the practice of leaving grass clippings behind on the lawn when mowing. This returns nutrients to the soil, encouraging a healthier lawn. It saves time and effort when compared to collecting and disposing of clippings. By recycling the clippings right back into the grass, you’re keeping waste out of our landfills. Begin with proper mowing, using a sharp blade on dry grass, and follow the “1/3 Rule.” No greater than 1/3 of the length of the grass should be cut in any one mowing. It is not necessary to own a “mulching” mower to grasscycle, but they are very effective, as they cut blades of grass into small pieces and force them into the soil for optimum recycling. It is a myth that grasscycling spreads lawn disease. In fact, when done properly, it creates a healthy, great-looking lawn.

IDEA #3: Get wormy! While not for everyone, if you have a child in the house that loves creepy crawlies, he or she will be thrilled with this project. Vermicomposting, or composting with worms, is a great way to recycle kitchen scraps and it takes up very little space. Using a 14 to 20-gallon capacity plastic box with a lid, drill ¼ inch air holes on the side and top. Add a few holes in the bottom for drainage. Add four to six handfuls of topsoil to the empty box, then add redworms (available via mail-order). Fruit and vegetable scraps can then be added on top of the worms. The final layer in the box is a layer of shredded newspaper four inches thick and moistened. Place the box in a dark cool place and wait for your worms to turn the scraps into beautiful healthy compost! This will take a few months.


Why it’s important:

• Compost is amazingly beneficial! It suppresses plant diseases and pests, reduces or eliminates the need for chemical fertilizers, and can improve agricultural crop yields.

• Compost prevents pollution by absorbing contaminated stormwater runoff before it reaches surface water resources. It even improves air quality via its ability to capture 99.6% of industrial Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs) in contaminated air.

• A mere 2.6% of food waste was composted in 2000. That leaves a startling 97.4% of waste food that ended up taking up landfill space.

This EcoMOMs tip was brought to you by Dana Petersen Murphy, mom to Sabriel. You can contact me at dpmurphy@photokiva.com.