As I’ve begun my own personal journey into making our world survive a little longer, I’ve learned a few things… things that should have been obvious to me… But at least I’m learning them now so I can do something to change them.

*Eating locally doesn’t just help our local organic farmers… we’re also helping out Mother Earth.

Rich Pirog of the Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture reports that the average fresh food item on our dinner table travels 1,500 miles to get there. Buying locally produced food eliminates the need for all that fuel-guzzling transportation. [from about.com]

*Plastic Bags are piling up… and they aren’t going anywhere any time soon. Bring Your Own Bag!!

…Americans throw away almost 100 billion plastic bags each year and only 1% to 3% are recycled. Environmentalists warn paper is not much better than plastic because trees have to be cut down and energy expended to make them. They also say cutting back a little could make a big difference. The Sierra Club estimated that if every person in New York City used one less grocery bag per year, it would reduce waste by 5 million pounds and save $250,000 on disposal. [from usatoday.com]

* Cleaning products should be environmentally friendly… not just for your own health, but for the health of our groundwater.

After bubbly cleaning liquids disappear down our drains, they are treated along with sewage and other waste water at municipal treatment plants, then discharged into nearby waterways. Most ingredients in chemical cleaners break down into harmless substances during treatment or soon afterward. Others, however, do not… [from thegreenguide.com]

Slowly, but surely, I am learning what I need to know to keep my earth beautiful. What about you??

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A little quiz: How many worlds will you need if you keep living the exact same way you are now? Play the Consumer Consequences Game…

Photo from Photoshopsupport.com.

People have started confessing their compost failures to me. Not sure why. I’m no genius of rot and I like to think I don’t proselytize. Maybe my grubby garden jeans confer the appearance of moral authority.

I’m surprised by how many people quit composting after one bad experience. That’s no way to get anything done. If you don’t want to compost I won’t judge, but if you want to start or try again, here’s my unsolicited composting advice based on ten years’ experience. All you need is some dead stuff and a willingness to forgive yourself as you learn.

What to Expect When You’re Composting

Begin with realistic expectations. A compost pile is a bunch of rotting dead things: grass clippings, salad greens, whatever. It’s going to look funky sometimes and if things go badly it may stink for a while, but the same can be said of any of us. Be at least as forgiving of your compost pile as you are of your loved ones.

The second inescapable issue is that animals seek food and shelter, and your compost pile will offer both. Don’t expect a pest-free experience. Remind yourself, as garden blogger George Weigel observes, that the critters are out there anyway. The difference with a compost pile is that you’re more likely to see them because you’ll be out there every day dumping in scraps. Over the years I’ve found everything in my bins from spiders and pill bugs to the occasional rat, snake and squirrel. So far they haven’t injured or killed me.

The third issue is that compost rots down pretty small and can take a while to do so. It’s unlikely that you’ll make enough homegrown compost to take care of your whole garden or lawn. But it’s a start.

The Perfect Spot to Rot

What you need varies depending on your climate, available space and pest issues, but the basics are a pile of dead stuff, fresh air, and enough water to keep the pile damp. If you live in a rainy area, keep the pile from getting soaked. In dry country, water it. As for a bin, start with something inexpensive and readily available. If it doesn’t work you can move on to more expensive containers. You can even skip the container and pile stuff on the ground or bury it. You’ll have to experiment. I did.

True Confessions: Stench and Critters

My first bin was a plastic trash can with holes drilled in the sides and lid. At the time I lived by a hayfield and didn’t want field rats in the pile. There everything sat, cooped up in a hot, dark container until one summer day when Hombre and I decided to spread it on our sorry backyard soil.

The first sign of error was the coffee-brown liquid that poured from the can when we tipped it over. Suddenly our little plot smelled like the worst zoo in the world on the hottest day of the year. The solid matter that slid out next wasn’t crumbly but slimy, and it smelled worse than the foul water. I spent about an hour hosing everything down, hoping to dissipate the stench, but the yard stank like a dirty barn well into the next day. We kept the windows closed and stayed indoors to avoid any richly deserved stinkeye from our neighbors.

Lesson learned: Inadequate ventilation makes nasty compost. Even though we weren’t watering the pile, the residual water in fruits and veggies pooled in the can and couldn’t evaporate because of the lid and because I hadn’t made enough air holes. Eventually I gave up on the trash-can method.

When I moved to half an acre near a creek, I went uptown and bought a plastic bin with lots of vents and a hinged lid. This would be ideal: no oozing zoo smell and no rats. I was right except for the rats. My plumber once told me that rats can chew through hard plastic, and after a few weeks I saw exactly what he meant. Rats, presumably from the creek, tore their way in by enlarging the vents with their teeth. Sheltered from the elements by the lid, one mama rat birthed a litter inside.

Lesson learned: An enclosed bin makes a nice den for nesting animals. I still have that bin, although it’s not my favorite, and the rats (and flies) have moved on since I started keeping the lid and sliding vents open. I have to water the pile more often, but I can live with that.

If you live in a place with lots of rats (the middle of a city, say) or keep your bin very near your house, you might try a metal bin with lots of small vents and a good lid. Rats, it seems, can chew through metal, but a heavy-gauge bin might slow them down.

My best compost holder is a rusty old wire rabbit crate. Junk goes in the little door, and I flip the bin from one side to the other every few days to ensure even air circulation and expose the bugs under the bin to the scavenging beaks of my two chickens. Finished compost falls out through the mesh and I shovel it onto my garden beds. Easy. Yes, I water the bin every day or two and yes, squirrels steal the odd apple core. Better that than stealing my ripe strawberries.

Compost Care and Feeding

Here’s what I put in my bins: rabbit, chicken and parakeet droppings; feathers; shredded newspaper; coffee grounds and filters; leftover coffee, tea and fruit juice; nutshells; cut hair and molted fur; crud vacuumed from our natural-fiber rugs; cotton dryer lint; banana peels and any food without meat, dairy or grease in it.

Some people toss in fish heads and other animal parts. It seems to work well, but I won’t do it here because of our large and aggressive turkey-vulture population. I also leave out eggshells because my hens get in the bins and I don’t them want eating their own moldy shells. I avoid white paper, dog waste, and anything synthetic.

I don’t turn the pile in my plastic bin because it’s too much work, but you’ll have fewer spiders and snakes if you stir things up from time to time. I do let my chickens pick through and eat little critters. Some people never turn their compost and get perfectly good results. Do what works for you.

That’s it. Stuff, air, water and whatever pest protection you need, along with the willingness to keep trying. If you have any compost tips or advice, please share. And if you get the urge to confess something, please make it racier than slimy compost.

Cross-posted at Redneck Mother.

In a recent issue of Vegetarian Times, the authors of Wake Up and Smell the Planet: The Non-Pompous, Non-Preachy Grist Guide to Greening Your Day gave a few suggestions for easy ways to start small:

1. If your car is idling for longer than a minute, in traffic or waiting for that chronically late carpool member, turn the engine off and restart. Karma points: Over nine minutes, an idling car will emit double the pollutants of a car that’s turned off and restarted.
2. Kick off your shoes and shop online. Karma points: Shipping a 10-pound package by overnight air - the most energy-intensive delivery mode - uses 40 percent less fuel than the average round-trip drive to the mall.
3. Wash in cold water. Karma points: Up to 90 percent of the energy used by washers goes toward heating.
4. Attach aerators to all your faucets. (These widely available wire-mesh faucet ends are easy to install, but may need occasional rinsing when clogged.) Karma points: Aerators can cut gallons-per-minute water usage by up to 40 percent.

Photo: Biberta/MorgueFile

Therein lies the dilemma: Is it better to make fresh baby food with grocery store produce, since the growing season in the northeast U.S. isn’t yet in full swing? Or is it better to buy organic, GMO-free baby food from the store? If this was the Fall, there would be no question: I would make her food with produce that we picked ourselves at local pick-your-own farms.

Premade baby food has the convenience factor on its side. And before you think “but it’s so expensive to buy organic,” it’s not. Target sells Earth’s Best, and it’s comparably priced to the regular Gerber line.

Organic produce at the grocery store, on the other hand, is premium priced. And who knows where it comes from? That’s a problem, I think.

But then I also feel like I could be cheating my daughter by not making her food like I did my son’s food.

What would you do? Organic premade? Or homemade organic with grocery store produce?

Photo courtesy of Earth’s Best.

Fair Shares in St. Louis, Missouri, and Growing Washington’s programs (Local Choice Food Box in Whatcom County and Growing Whatcom CSA Project, and All King County CSA Project) have put the CSA on steroids. Instead of investing in a single farm, these programs unite subscribers with a variety of local farmers and food producers.

During its inaugural week in April 2008, Fair Shares provided their subscribers with a pound and a half of hormone-free, grass-fed pork, a pound of organic black beans, two dozen locally-made tortillas, a pound of locally-roasted fair trade organic coffee beans, three heads of lettuce, one-half pound of shittake mushrooms, half a pound of local cheddar, a pound of fresh pasta, and a pint of salsa. Based on the annual subscription rate, this breaks down to about $50 a week with most of the money going directly to the producers.

While Growing Washingon’s CSA projects in Whatcom and King Counties operate similarly to Fair Shares, their Local Choice Food Box program in Whatcom County eliminates the surprise of CSAs. Subscribers choose 11 produce items from the varieties available, which is all organically-grown. A weekly share costs less than $40 a week.

All of these programs aim to make healthful, local food available to everyone by providing their goods and services to their communities. Fair Shares offers programs to provide discounted memberships to those in need, and encourages subscribers to donate any of their unwanted items back to the organization for food bank distribution. Growing Washington helps citizens create non-profit organizations to make Washington a better state.

Not only do these programs support the sustainable agriculture in their regions, they’re working to improve their communities on the whole. They provide business for small food producers, healthful and affordable food to subscribers, programs for the community, and less abuse on the environment. While combined CSAs are just catching on, most regions have individual farms that offer traditional CSAs. Find one in your state or province.

Michael Recycle is an adventure about a superhero (clad with a colander hat!) who teaches people about how recycling can help make their town more beautiful and their bodies healthier. The book is fresh and entertaining for both adults and children. It not only includes information about recycling, but also contains humorous Go Green Tips that are sure to catch your child’s attention. “Most towns offer curbside pickup for newspapers, cans, glass and certain kinds of plastic… Who knows, maybe they’ll even take your little brother or sister!” Another favorite was to take shorter showers, “unless you’re really, really smelly!”

In our home, we especially enjoy books that inspire our imagination and include a call to action. Michael Recycle included lots of ideas that could encourage all readers, young and old, to become environmental superheroes.

The owner’s mission is to reduce the coffee shop’s carbon footprint, and to educate customers about green and environmental issues.

Besides the solar power, the coffee shop also:

• sells local and organic food
• features a recycling center so customers can sort their garbage
• sells a wide selection of fair trade coffee and teas
• uses compostable containers for the coffee shop trash
• encourages customers to reuse mugs instead of getting throw-away mugs

Best of all, they serve up a killer mocha!

Now Whole Foods is back in the news, as this week they are unveiling the newest FEED bag designed by Presidential niece and former model Lauren Bush.  Similar to its $59.95 counterpart, this one is $29.99 and is made from 100% organic cotton and sustainable burlap.  For every FEED bag purchased, you are providing school meals to 100 children in Rwanda.  Go to www.wholefoods.com to find the nearest retail location.  Go get ‘em!

Photo from Amazon.

Enter Fresh Picks! I don’t know if this concept is in play in other cities (please share in the comments if you know of any similar companies), but it’s a fabulous option for those living in Chicago. Fresh Picks partners with organic and local farms to bring fresh produce, meats and dairy products to its customers.

There are a few options for ordering. You can set up a standing order, or you can place a new order each week. You can get a “Fresh Picks Box,” which includes the very best items each week, or you can create your own order.

I will never stop frequenting the Farmers’ Market - it’s one of my favorite activities! However, when life gets in the way, and I need great food delivered to my doorstop, it’s nice to know that I have options.