Low impact living sounds like a passive aggressive ideal or just being apathetic at best. In reality, there is a website called Low Impact Living that allows you to see what kind of carbon footprint you and your haushold are leaving.
Our LILI is 58, what’s yours?
When I look at our stats, it makes me want to do more, so that we leave less.
The next two things I would like to implement/ purchase are a composter & a rain barrel. Funny that in order to reduce, I have to buy.
Hi. I just recently started blogging on green living after living green for ten years. You don’t need to buy a composter at all. I’ve composted for years without one. All you need is a corner in your backyard, and to pile in some leaves, dirt to start with and then your kitchen scraps. 1/2 browns and 1/2 greens is the rule for the nitrogen/carbon ratio. Browns are the twigs, leaves, dirt starter, hay, and greens are the fresh kitchen scraps. Put a container in your freezer so you can throw your kitchen scraps there without the fruit flies headache. Then when it’s full, throw it on your pile, and dig it in. You’ll have to turn it every once in a while. And it’s better if you chop the bigger veggies. But I don’t really do that too much myself because really, nature does most of the work. There is no worry about animals, because you’re not throwing meat in your compost pile, nor cheese, nor oil, nor anything animal related, except egg shells, which add calcium and is good for compost for gardening, especially for tomatoes. As long as you cover the veggie scraps with the browns when you throw it in your pile, you should be fine. And so what if some animals get into it, like deer? Good for them. Share the wealth. But really, I’ve never seen animals in any of my open free natural compost piles. Yes, nothing irks me more than eco-consumption – the illusion that you have to buy something to be greener. That’s just chicanery. It’s simple to compost. You could start today. Throw some kitchen scraps in a pile, cover it with leaves and dirt, and you’re good to go. Why put it off with the notion of having to buy something? You’re right to question it.
Oh, and thanks for the site. My Lili is 29. Could stand for some improvement…
Wow, thanks for the heads up! It’s always good to hear from fellow greenies! We can always do more can’t we
. Do you have any other green sites you would recommend? I’m always open to learning.
My dream is to live where I can grow most of my own food nearly year round, or have a winter greenhouse. With so much trouble with commercial food, it’s lack of serious nutrients and poisonings, and mounting prices, I would really like to do something green plus pioneer. When was growing up we had large gardens, but our soil will barely grow weeds, and even where I’ve built up the soil, the plants do poorly.
I have many magazines and a pioneer heart, but what to do with them??
My mother recycled before it was in fashion, and I do now.
Green alert: sometimes we get eggs in paper cartons, that’s a brown.
Valerialexandra is good!! Worth listening to! Be sure to follow her advice about proteins or you will have rats!!
There is no need to buy in order to save – whether it’s money or the planet.
I would add a couple suggestions to the “pile” compost method:
“Trench” or “pit” composting consists of digging a trench or pit in the ground – as deep as you want to go, and simply piling the kitchen scraps in the pit until it’s near full. When it’s full put some soil back in on top. Anything planted over the area will grow wonderfully, and the soil just gets better over time. This is great for hot, sandy areas like Florida, because teh trench holds moisture and nutrients.
“Sheet” composting is even easier- just put the materials in layers (sheets) over the surface of the area to be improved, and keep piling them until you’re happy with the height (ofetn 6 to 12 inches.) When it’s high enough, start planting. It usually takes about 6 months in a temperate climate for things to break down completely. This is sometimes called “lasagna” composting. Layers of brown between layers of green break down faster. This is great for wet areas with heavy soils -it improves drainage.
Bins are sold just to make them look like socially acceptable. A bin made out of anything from scrap wood to chicken wire, to anything else you can find, works just as well.
These are great tips, thanks so much! I really like the trench/pit idea, especially when we move back down to FL. What is your preferred method for composting?