10 Ways to Reuse and Reduce

The Three R's: REDUCE, REUSE, RECYCLE

I've written many times before about recycling (you can see my many posts here), but I think not enough attention is paid to the topics of reduce and reuse.  So expect more posts from me on these two topics.

To kick things off, let me give you some ideas on ways you can reuse and reduce:

REUSE

1. If you've got things you don't need or want, you can pass them along to other people who might be able to use them instead.  Do not underestimate others' abilities to reuse things you think are worthless.  You can sell things through eBay, craigslist or yard sales (see my tutorial on yard sales here).  Or you can give them away through Freecycle, Goodwill or any number of other local programs.  Subscribing to your local freecycle email list can also be a great source of entertainment.  It's pretty funny to see what some people list.  For example, one request was recently posted to my local group for a male peacock to join a female peacock someone had living wild in their backyard.
2. Source or buy items used via the vehicles I mentioned above, or via pawn shops, antique shops, second hand stores or flea markets (what an awful name for something so fun).    For instance, my husband mentioned to me the other day that he saw a whole lot of great garden tools at a second hand store near us.  Why buy brand new tools when you can buy gently used ones cheaper?  They're going to get dirty and dinged up by you anyway!

REDUCE

1. Use cloth instead of paper towels.  In my house, we use cheap bar towels I picked up in bulk at Costco.  I have one bunch of them dedicated to cleaning my house.  I have another bunch dedicated to my kitchen.  I also cut up old bath towels and use them for cleaning.
2. Choose cast iron.  Did your Teflon pans get scratched and you need to buy new ones?  Cast iron cookware is healthier, cheaper and far more durable, and it's easier to care for than you imagine.
3. Make your own household cleaners.  The end product is cheaper and reduces the world's production of plastic in the process.  See my recipes and tips here.
4. Cook.  This seems like a simple idea but it's one people forget about.  If you enjoy store bought hummus, lemonade, muffins, pizza, ice cream, steak marinade, you can make your own, often healthier, versions, and save the world some plastic, paper or glass.  You can save time by preparing more than you need and freezing some for another day.  See my recipes here.
5. Make your own makeup and reuse those old containers.  It's really not hard. As an added benefit, you know exactly what you're putting on your skin.  See my recipes here.  Check back, as I plan to write about a few more very soon.
6. Save water in your garden. You can reduce the amount of water you need to effectively hydrate your lawn and flower beds by a) watering at night and b) scheduling your sprinkler heads to run through several five-minute cycles instead of just one long one (helps the water sink in better so you have less running down the street).
7. Compost.  This qualifies as both Reuse and Reduce.  Reuse kitchen and garden scraps and reduce the amount of fertilizer you need to buy for your garden.  See my postings on composting here.
8. Use your freezer and learn how to properly store things in it to save leftovers and reduce spoilage - it also enables you to take advantage of good prices on your favorite organic foods.  See my tutorial here.

Square Foot Garden Update - Mad Dogs, Englishmen and EcoMeg

It's 103 degrees F here in north Texas and it is humid.  Five minutes standing still outside and I'm sweating through my clothes.  Of course, that did not stop me from transferring the finished contents of my composter into my veggie patch.  My garden needed a pick me up.

I was delighted to find that my compost is lovely, dark and sweet-smelling, just as I had hoped.  After picking out some items that needed to cook some more, such as these onions that had actually grown rather than broken down,

I churned it up with my shovel, wet it down into a sort of a slurry and spread it over my veggie garden, tucking it in close to the stalks of all of my plants.  I could almost hear them sigh with appreciation.

Next, I inspected my plants, plucking off dead leaves and keeping an eye out for insects.  Things looked good.  I looked up and saw this:

My first cucumber!  A sight for sore eyes.

I finished my few moments in the heat by deliberately zipping this bee into my enclosure.  I need some pollination and don't feel like getting out my paint brush and playing bee myself.

Stay cool!

Daily Photo: Yesterday's Future Compost

 

My five and a half year old son had a good time tossing this into the composter this afternoon.  We also added some shredded cardboard, then sprinkled everything with water, screwed the top back on and turned it once.  He thinks it's pretty cool that instead of throwing this over-the-hill produce, etc, into the garbage, we're turning it into something really good for our garden.

The Basics of Composting

As you know, I'm starting a Square Foot Garden.  You can read about my experiences with that here.  Compost is an integral part of this. 

Why Compost?
It's great for the garden, a cheaper and healthier alternative to chemical fertilizers, and it's environmentally responsible (you're recycling organic matter that you might otherwise put in a landfill).  Win-win-win.  You can read more about the benefits of compost here. 

Compost is just decomposed organic matter, and a garden thrives on it.  All you do is add the key ingredients (water, air and organic matter), turn it frequently, watch the mix heat up, and within a few weeks or months you have lovely, free compost to spread across your lawn and garden.  

What Can You Do with Compost?
A shorter list might include what you can't do with compost - but here are some ideas on what to do with it: 

• Put compost on top of your garden soil before the ground freezes in late autumn - it'll work to enrich the soil all winter.  It's not necessary to do it, but if you can work it into the soil at the same time, it'll do even more good.  
• Add it to your garden a month before spring planting.  
• Add it throughout the driest part of summer and as you harvest vegetables.  
• Combine it with potting soil when you start seedlings and when you transplant them into your garden.  
• Spread it across your lawn whenever you might ordinarily add fertilizer (e.g., before grass emerges from hibernation in the spring and during the heat of the summer - make sure you water it in so it gets where it needs to go).
• Put down a layer of compost before any routine mulching around shrubs and trees (for trees, add it out to the drip line).

What Kind of Composter Is Right for You?
There are lots of different kinds of composters.  You can build your own or buy one.  Click here to read more about the different types (I use this one.) 

Where Should You Place Your Composter?
You should position your composter or compost pile conveniently near your garden and near a source of water (e.g., garden hose).  If you're in a warm climate, you might want to put it in the shade so it doesn't dry out.  If you're in a cold climate, you might want to put it in the sunlight to help heat it up.

What Can You Compost?
The best compost mix is one part green stuff (materials that are high in nitrogen) to three parts brown stuff (the "fiber" for your compost - materials that are high in carbon).  You can also add other things in moderation. 

Green Stuff:

• grass clippings
• fruit and vegetables from your kitchen that are "past their prime"
• fruit/veg scraps such as banana peels, onion skins, potato/zucchini/carrot/apple peels, apple cores, tomato stems, cantaloupe or watermelon rinds, orange peels, corn cobs
• plain paper bags
• coffee grounds (no more than 10% of your total mix)
• tea leaves (you can leave the bag on but take the staple out)
• vegetable plant remains
• non-diseased plants that you've pulled out of your garden
• herbivorous animal droppings (i.e., not pet or human excrement)

Brown Stuff:

• autumn leaves
• dead plants
• cardboard & cardboard tubes
• old floral arrangements
• old straw

Other Stuff:

• egg shells (not the yolk or egg white)
• animal and human hair
• paper towels
• paper napkins

Do NOT compost: 

• meat or meat scraps
• large seeds or pits such as avocado pits or mango seeds (don't fret overly about small seeds like you might find in an orange or apple - the heat during the composting process tends to take care of them)
• dairy products
• fish or fish bones
• bread
• plastic
• fats/grease/lard/oils
• pet or human excrement
• synthetic fibers
• pasta
• nuts
• cooked food
• weeds that have gone to seed
• diapers
• diseased or insect-ridden plants
• glossy paper or magazines
• anything treated with chemicals
• cat litter

Tips

• Many people find it most convenient to keep a covered can on their kitchen countertop and add scraps there until it's full, then transfer the scraps to a larger composter outside.
• The processing time is "reset" each time you add new ingredients, so some gardeners find it helpful to have two composters so they continue to have a place to put compost ingredients while they wait for the first batch to process.
• Just as human digestion is aided by proper chewing, you should chop up your compost materials before adding them in order to speed the process.  
• The more frequently you turn the pile, the faster the composting process (up to a point - you probably shouldn't turn your pile more often than every 3 or 4 days so the microorganisms have a chance to work on it).  
• The compost pile should be kept moist, like a wrung-out sponge, so add water as necessary.  The best practice is probably to add water as you add materials - that way you're sure to get everything wet.   
• You know your compost is done when it becomes a uniform, dark brown, crumbly product with a sweet, earthy aroma (it should not smell rotten).

Trouble Shooting

• If your compost pile smells bad it either needs more air (so turn it) or is too wet (add dry materials).
• If your pile won't heat up, it's either too small, needs water or more green matter, or the pieces need to be chopped up.
• If your compost is killing your garden, check the pH.  Just as the human body gets out of whack whenever it gets too acidic or too alkaline, so does your garden if your compost isn't pH neutral.  Maybe it's just a matter of letting it sit for longer.  Most compost goes through a pH cycle where it is acidic early on, then becomes more neutral over time.  This trick can also help you solve the problem of garden soil that is too alkaline - put some compost on it when it's more acidic, then turn the soil.  The combination will yield a more neutral pH.
• If your pile attracts flies, rodents or pets, chances are you've put something in there that does not belong (e.g., meat or meat scraps, fatty/starchy foods, carnivorous animal droppings).

An excellent reference book is Let It Rot by Stu Campbell- I highly recommend it.  The EPA also has a helpful website on composting.


Happy composting!