Ruler of the Elves

In honor of Earth Day, I decided that I wanted to do a series of GREEN posts, several which will continue. Over the past couple of years, we have become conscientious of our family’s use of many things and have gradually tried to be more green and Earth friendly. There are so many approaches that everyone can take to reduce the amount of waste they contribute to landfills and these are some of our favorite little ways to try to make the world a smidgen better.

Reduce

1. Water is one of the earth’s most vital resources, yet it is something that so many people take for granted. A great way to reduce the amount of water you use is to turn it off while brushing your teeth, take shorter showers, and consider buying a low-flow shower head. Or try filling a ½ gallon milk or juice container with water and putting it in your toilet tank to minimize the amount of water used during flushing. One less item in the recycling and it’s going towards a greener purpose! We currently practice all of these water saving techniques and have noticed our water bill to be significantly lower than it would be usually.

Photo fromThe Daily Green

2. Composting is a great way to get rid of those yucky left over kitchen and yard wastes, all while reducing the amount of garbage going into landfills. Plus, it produces nutrient rich compost which is the perfect fertilizer for gardens and plants. A small compost container can be tucked away in a cabinet and emptied into a larger bin when full. If you have a yard, an area can be set aside for composting. There are also now great alternatives for apartment dwellers or those of us who just don’t want to look at a pile of garbage out in the open. This composter would work great in almost anyone’s dwelling, but its hefty price tag would may make some people think twice. A more economical idea is to make your own out of an old trash can or plastic tub. (See how I worked that earth friendly option in there!) If you are really adventurous, you could try vermi-composting, which is what we’ve been considering. Imagine all of those red wiggler worms taking care of your waste, all while you sit back and feel good about your positive, earth friendly decisions. Ahhhh.

Photo from looseends

You can find out more about com vermi-composting here, here and here.

To be continued…

This entry was posted on Thursday, April 23rd, 2009 at 2:42 am and is filed under Green. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.