Mother's going GREEN Day 58 - Some Updates

I thought I would let you know what has been happening with our changes that we have made so far.

Our garbage is now a bag a week. Not a big bag, but 20" by 21" bag - so in a month we fill one garbage can for pick up. Which is great. I made the challenge of 1 can a month.

Our worms are eating a lot of our produce waste and already we are seeing the compost develop. They are so low maintenance it is unbelievable. No smell and very few fruit flies which is great.

Also, since our dryer broke awhile back we have been hanging our clothes out to dry. The drier has been fixed, hopefully it is working as I have not yet used it again. It still amazes me how the stains come out of the cloth diapers. I get all excited now when I have a badly stained diaper as I want to see if this stain is too tough for the sun. Haven't had one yet.

I am also very happy with our switch in body wash. With the old stuff (the chemical stuff) I would always break out in little blisters on my arms after being in the sun. This would happen every summer when I ventured out into the sun. Initially the doctor said it was an allergic reaction and to change soaps. I did but the same old thing. Then she said just wear sunscreen and you will be fine. Whatever.... that was about 3 years ago. Now having switched to the natural chemical free body wash - I have no side affects from the sun. Coincidence, I think not.

Our walking everyday is great I have lost about 5 pounds of my post pregnancy weight in the last week and probably saved that in gas too.

Our vegetable garden is great - we are already eating lettuce and Swiss chard from it. I can hardly wait for the tomatoes to come. It looks like we will also have an amazingly large pumpkin for our jack-o-lantern come Halloween. The strawberries and blueberries get eaten by the children as soon as they are ripe. So nice for them to pick a fresh snack in the garden while they play.

Going green is not difficult - in fact rather simple - you should try it too

Mother's Going GREEN - Day 17 - Involving the Children

Going green for our family was partly inspired by my children. What kind of world are we going to leave them? Whatever world it is I want my children to look back and know that I tried to do something for the world and for them. I also want to teach them the value of the earth and how important it is to our lively hood.

Our family's journey of going green most certainly involves them. The small ways that they help out is:

• cutting newspaper for the worms (our worm compost) each time we feed them we give them a little fresh newspaper.
  
• feeding the worms.


• taking care of the vegetable garden.


• ensuring lights are turned off in the rooms and are not turned on during the day. (my son noticed one deary grey evening, that I turned on the light for dinner and he questioned it as it was not quite dark enough for lights. Way to go son!)


• helping out with the recycling (sorting out the glass from the plastic and the corrugated cardboard from the paper)

I am seeing after only 17 days that my behaviour toward reducing, reusing and recycling is rubbing off on them. "Monkey see, monkey do."

Thank goodness for little children, thank goodness we have the opportunity to do right for the world for them.

Mother's going GREEN Day 13 - Lawn Care the Organic Way

Lawn care, while it is better for the environment to have little or no lawn (should be plants and trees instead) there is very little chance in the near future of my husband giving up our lawn. It is also nice for the kids to play on. Since we do have lawn, not much of it, but lawn anyway we have decided to take care of it the environmentally friendly way.

• Using a push mower for starters, no carbon emissions, no use of a natural resource - gas. Just plain old man power.


• The grass clippings are then just left on the lawn, acting a a natural mulch - no need to rake them up and throw them away, besides your manpower is all spent mowing the lawn.


• The mulch will also help retain water which your grass needs, but not too much. It only requires 1 inch of water a week that includes rainwater.


• Don't cut your grass too short, this causes it too look yellow and will also dry out quicker requiring more water.


• If you need to water your grass it is best to water it in the early morning or early evening, that way it will not evaporate too quickly.


• It is best not to use a sprinkler to water your grass but to stand there and water it with the hose and a nozzle. Remember it does not need a lot of water.


• If a fertilizer is required it is best to use an organic one or better yet the compost fertilizer that your worms are busy creating or the fertilizer from a traditional compost.

Mother's going GREEN Day 3 - Composting the Worm Way (Vermiposting)

So today we set up the worm compost. Quite simple really..... In our household we are calling it the "Worm Farm".

You need a container - I chose a two Rubbermaid containers, we drill holes in the bottom of one container for aeration and place it in the container with no holes, this allows the bottom container to collect any liquid that leaks out. All very neat and tidy. The we drilled holes in the lid so the worms can breath (picture shows my husband drilling holes). As you can see we choose a larger container as I believe we have a lot of food waste that our worms will love, but they can be much smaller than that.

Then you add the bedding - shredded damp newspaper ( I read somewhere on the Internet that you should not use colour print - but not all the instructions say that. We have stuck with black and white print only which meant leafing through the paper to exclude the colour.) The dampness of the newspaper is important as if it is too damp it will cause your "worm farm" to smell ( and we don't want that). The wetness of the paper should be that of a wrung out sponge. (again some sites say add a couple of handfuls of dirt to the bedding - it helps the worms eat the food). We decided on adding the dirt.

Lastly you add the worms. Red wigglers are suggested. Allow them to settle into their new home for a couple of days and then let the 'feast' begin.

You can feed your worms the following: Fruit and vegetable peels, finely crushed egg shells (rinse out the eggshells first); coffee grinds and the filter, teabags, wood ash, sawdust, plant trimmings, dryer lint, grass. It is advisable to bury the food under the paper and in a different location within the bin each time. Also, make your waste into 'bite' size pieces for easier composting.
DO NOT feed your worms the following: Butter, bone, meat, fish, poultry, dairy or vegetable oil.

After a few months you will be rewarded with a dark rich earthy substance which makes a great natural fertilizer for your garden and plants. Also, the liquid that runs out the bottom can be used as a liquid fertilizer for you plants.

I have included some websites for you to get more information on Vermiposting.

• http://www.city.vaughan.on.ca/vaughan/departments/public_works/vermicompost.cfm
• http://http//www.bearsmart.com/bearSmartCommunities/Attractants&WasteManagement/TheDirtOnIndoorComposting.pdf
• http://cityfarmer.org/wormcomp61.html#wormcompost

Happy Composting and I will keep you updated on how ours is progressing.