Reduce, Reuse, Recycle

     I've always been a big advocate for recycling. Ever since I was little I have always tried to do my part by "cleaning the world". (Melissa, remember walking around the neighborhood picking up trash and sweeping the streets and ditches? We even went as far as cutting the grass with scissors and we called it cleaning the world). So maybe doing this wasn't exactly helpful but after being married to a crazy agriculture freak I have really become more aware of what an individual can do to make a difference for our environment. Although there are hundreds of ways we can reduce, reuse and recycle I decided to break it down into three ways that Krista likes to reduce, reuse, and recycle. First,

Reduce:

Matt has studied a lot about waste management and alternative ways to agriculture, and while doing so came across some great info on vermicomposting. For those of you that are not familiar with the nerdy terminology, that means worm composting. Matt and I are the proud parents of thousands of worms in a bin in our kitchen closet. I know it sounds disgusting but surprisingly they don't stink and they poop out gold when it comes to compost! So what we do is feed a portion of all of our green waste to the worms and for free we get some great all natural fertilizer for our garden! You don't have to have worms though to be a good composter. First just become aware. 1/3 of all of the methane in our atmosphere is from rotting garbage in landfills and manure. In case you don't know, that is what is depleting our atmosphere and contributes largely to our inversion in Salt Lake City and Logan. So what can we do to fix it? Compost! Matt and I have a small compost pile in our back yard made up of three pallets we found. What we put in there was some dirt or compost that we had left over from the dump. Then what you do is collect all kitchen scraps from the day, exclude meat, cooked food, perennial weeds, diseased plants, but all green waste, egg shells, grass clippings (free from weed seeds, pesticides and herbicides) and newspaper throw on in! All you have to do is turn it or mix it every month or so. You know when your compost pile is working right when it gets warm inside and starts steaming. A good compost pile will get to be about 160 degrees inside! Then in early spring and late fall put that shiz on your garden and watch it grow! Free compost that is environmentally friendly and count it as doing your part for "cleaning the world".

Reuse:

Now from a less hippie point of view, I love to sew! I have been following some great sewing blogs where these ladies make things that are amazing! I have a love for old fashioned things and vintage. These ladies have some great ideas! An idea that I love is buying old clothes like suit coats, old skirts and pants, etc and making new things out of them like purses, baby clothes, and skirts for you! I am kind of in the process of some projects right now. Not only can you save money by buying second hand clothing, but everything you make out of it will be so original! I will post pictures of my creations soon.

Recycle:

Lastly, recycling. My favorite thing is taking out the garbage cans Sunday night and seeing that my recycling bin is full and my black garbage can is almost empty. It is so fulfilling to know that I am doing my part! So much can be recycled these days! Look on your trash and see what has the recycle sign on it. All paper and most plastics are recyclable! Also, recycle your grocery bags. Nothing is worse that seeing garbage bags blowing away in the wind and getting caught in trees. Matt and I actually have done away with plastic grocery bags all together. We figure that paper comes from a renewable resource: aka wood. Most paper bags are made from up to 90% already recycled paper. And you can compost it! I always think to myself, where is this plastic bag going to go when I am done using it from my car to the house? A landfill? Plastic doesn't biodegrade so will always be around! Think about it. Next time you are at the grocery store ask for paper!