|
|
|
|
|
by Stacey, Garden Goddess Ok, so how can an individual make a difference in keeping the planet healthy? By recycling, composting, and celebrating Earth Day. Stacey tells all in this informative article. ~Kathy Our planet is not dying. Our planet will survive no matter how much oil we pour into our water systems; no matter how many cigarette butts we toss out the windows of our carbon monoxide chugging automobiles; no matter how many trees we cut down to make way for office buildings, parking lots, and housing developements; no matter how many landfills we bury our consumer based society's trash in. But, life: human, animal, and vegetable, will die. Who is the villian? The factory who creates air pollution? The oil company, who through carelessness, spills a million gallons of crude oil into our oceans? The chemical company who transports toxic wastes on our highways, risking exposure to thousands of people? Or is it the driveway mechanic who disposes of three quarts of oil into the sewer of at the curb, instead of taking it to a oil recycling facility? The home gardener who, in hopes of having a beautiful lawn, dumps ground water polluting pesticides and fertilzers on his little 'piece of Heaven', instead of using organic solutions? The driver of a car that spews black smoke, because his car needs a tune-up? I think it is all of the above, but take a wild guess at which you are more likely to control? Call it a pet peeve, if you will, but it drives me CRAZY to see people throwing in away soda bottles, soup cans, milk jugs, and other items in with their regular kitchen trash can that can be recycled. I am a bit (only slightly so) more forgiving of eggshells, potato peels, coffee grounds, and carrot tops, because they are biodegradable. These items are PERFECT for the compost pile. If only everyone knew what that extra amount of trash adds up to in our landfills. Trash Through Time 
The Greeks opened the first city dump in Athens more than 2,400 years ago. Take a trip into the historic trashpile. 1400 - Garbage piles up so high around the gates of Paris, France, that it interferes with the city's defenses. 1690 - Waste paper and rags are used to make new paper in Philadelphia. 1874 - "The Destructor", the first garbage-burning incinerator, is built in England. 1889 - A health official in Washington, DC, reports that places to dump trash are getting harder to find. 1898 - New York city opens the first trash-sorting plant for recycling in the U.S. 1900 - Small towns open pig pens where pigs are fed raw or cooked trash. 1902 - A survey shows that almost 8 out of every 10 U.S. cities have regular garbage collection. 1916 - Motorized garbage trucks replace horse-drawn wagons in some American cities. 1942-45 - Old rubber, scrap metal, and other trash is used to make supplies for American troops in World War II. 1965 - The U.S. government approves money for research into better ways to get rid of trash. 1970 - The first Earth Day is celebrated on April 22. 1986 - Rhode Island passes the first statewide recycling law. 1987 - A barge carrying trash is rejected by dumps in six states and three countries. 1989 - So many newspapers are recycled that communities cannot see them to all paper companies. 1994 - 13 out of every 100 pounds of trash is recycled in the U.S. is recycled. Recycle What do you throw in your trash can that cannot be burned in the fireplace (such as paper, junk mail), put into the recycle bin , donated to a thrift store and reused, or blended into your compost pile? Yes, there are a few items that cannot be put into the above categories, but there are so many that can. Let's examine what is or may be in your garbage can and what you can do with it, other than toss it into a landfill. Why recycle oil? Recycling used oil conserves future oil supplies and reduces our dependence on imported oil. Approximately 42 gallons of crude oil are needed to refine 2 quarts of lubricating oil. Yet it takes only one gallon of recycled oil - and about half as much energy - to produce the same 2 quarts. Furthermore, improperly disposed used oil is a hazardous waste. Oil poured into the ground or into a storm drain will eventually find its way to the nearest stream or river, ultimately contaminating groundwater and the Chesapeake Bay. It does not take a large quantity of oil to cause serious damage. One quart of oil can contaminate up to two million gallons of drinking water. And the four quarts of oil it takes to fill your cars engine can form an oil slick nearly eight acres in size. Fish can be smothered by oil coating their gills or can be killed indirectly by reduced resistance to infection. Bottom-dwelling organisms such as oysters and clams can be smothered directly by settling of oil suspensions or indirectly by the reduced oxygen levels caused by coating of the water surface. Oil can stunt or kill marsh vegetation or submerged grasses. In addition to initial effects, once the oil begins to dissolve, toxics can be released, exposing marine organisms to potentially carcinogenic matter. Collection centers have been established at local service stations. For a location near you, call or write the information centers in your area listed below. District of Columbia DC Energy Office 613 G. St., NW, Suite 500, Washington, DC 20001 (202)724-2100 <~~I tested the numbers, and this one was not available. Maryland MD Environmental Service 2020 Industrial Drive, Annapolis, MD 21401 800-473-2925 Pennsylvania Used Oil Information Center Box 2063, Harrisburg, PA 17105 717-783-6004 Virginia VA Division of Energy 2201 West Broad Street, Richmond, VA 23220 800-552-3831 Why recycle plastic grocery bags? This one particular campaign is an example of how successful recycling can be. Plastic shopping bags now have many "lives". Most grocery stores offer a small refund to customers who bring their own bags -- you don't need to buy something fancy, just save your plastic shopping bags! When those wear out, return them to the store recycling center. Make sure that they are clean and dry. Those recycled bags are then shipped to a factory, where they are reduced to plastic pellets. Recycled pellets are used to make new plastic bags and other plastic products. Sometimes, the recycled pellets are mixed with new material to produce a slightly stronger product (after several rounds of recycling, materials like paper and light-weight plastics begin to wear out. That's part of the reason that recycling is only a short-term solution). Following are some ideas for reducing the volume of your 'trash':
Re-use I was going to list many ideas for reusing what you may consider to be trash. In my research, I found this site that has more uses for trash than I could ever dream of. Quite a few if the ideas are rather bizarre, but Ill let you decide for yourself. Operation: Landfill Elimination Seven Ways to Reduce Waste
Composting
I have a number of flower gardens, a rose garden, and a good sized vegetable garden. Every year, at winter's end, I have high hopes of raising enough vegetables for my family, so that I am able to forgo the grocery store produce department. I already have a pear tree, two apricot trees, a plum tree, and a crabapple tree (if anyone knows what to DO with crabapples, please let me know. So far, I just mow them up, and use them as a potassium source for my compost) I grow tomatoes, green beans, cucumbers, lettuce, cabbage, peppers, eggplant, zucchini and other squash, canteloupe, potatoes, spinach, kale, carrots, beets, and onions. By mid-summer, I am pretty tired of keeping up with the weeding, mulching, harvesting, etc, so things start to just fall apart: the tomatoes over grow their cages, the green beans and cukes get wilt, the canteloupe, squash and eggplants start to rot on the vine. You get the idea. But, here I am again though, hoping to be good, and do it all right, this time. Dispite my weariness, I have wonderful garden soil. This is due to bin composting, sheet composting, and organic mulching. I have bins, built from 2x4s (not pressure treated). Each one is a box 3'x3'x3', with the three boxes connected. This way, they all benefit from the insulation of each other, and they are in close proximity so turning is easier. I like to make a batch in the fall, to decompose over the winter (this takes a long time since the weather temperatures are generally low) and one batch at the beginning of the spring. In the spring batch, I am able to plant differenty types of squash, which thrive in compost, and make the whole setup look nicer. The bin contents are: chopped leaves, grass clippings, egg shells, coffee grounds (from Starbucks - They are more than willing to give you the used grounds), apple pummice (from the fruit trees - I usually just mow them up with the grass), and any other vegatable matter I may have. Usually, I layer the materials in two of the bins, carbon based, then nitrogen based, like a garden lasagne (The worms and micro-organisms like it, you don't have to join them), sprinkling each layer with a little bit of water, then cover the two piles with clear plastic sheeting. A week later, I turn the full bin into the empty one, then, again for the other one; recovering the piles with the plastic. In a few hours, you should see moisture building up on the underside of the plastic. This is because the pile is heating up inside and steam is escaping. The plastic keeps some of the heat inside, and lets me know that the microbes are doing their jobs in decomposing the ingredients. The temperatures inside the pile can reach 160Ί. If you pull back some of the unfinished compost, you can feel the intense heat. Keep up the turning, and you should have finished compost in about two months. This 'black gold', as many refer to it, is great for fertilizing vegetable gardens, lawn, flowerbeds, and shrubs. I have created raised beds for my vegetable garden, growing the vegetables directly in compost. When I mulch plants, such as tomatoes, peppers, and eggplant, I use a method known as sheet composting. One week, I lightly mulch with chopped leaves, and the next with grass clippings, and so on. By the time I am ready to pull out the spent plants, I can turn the partially decomposed materials into the soil, refortifying the garden bed. At this point, I can immediately plant another type of vegetable, if I feel like it (which usually is not the case, but someday I hopefully will). Compostable items include: leaves, grass clippings, coffee grounds, eggshells, banana peels, fruit rinds, corn husks, pine needles, straw, hay, hair (human and animal), manure, saw dust, and wood ashes. For a more complete list see Compost Ingredients, which includes some NPK values and details Materials to avoid: Animal kitchen scraps, manure from dogs, cats or humans, colored newspapers, books and nagazines, plastic materials, grass clippings containing residual week killers, any refuse from black walnut, eucalyptus and red cedar trees, coal and charcoal ashes (list from ' The Garden Primer by Barbara Damrosch) A great resource for composting information is: The Rodale Book of Composting by Deborah L. Martin Other types of composting methods are listed here: BUILD A COMPOST BIN <~~this site contains methods for building a few different types of bins. Homemade Compost Bin <~~utilizes chicken wire and wooden stakes Compost Bin <~~looks a bit more complicated to build than necessary, but if you are up to the challenge, it looks nicer than many other options. Pallet Compost Bin <~~this style of bin is good if you have a lot of materials (grass clippings and leaves) Plus, you can usually get used pallets just for the asking. More on Conservation - Earth Day Recycling and Related Links |
 |
Recycle | Eve's Story | Etc. Critic's Corner | My $1.59 Worth | Point Of View Past Issues | E-Mail Me All information © 1998-99 by theWebGoddess. No portion of this site may be copied without permission. |
|