It's Easy Being Green

Now that it’s getting colder outside, we’ve had an influx of fruit flies inside our house.  We’ve always got fresh product around so the little buggers who hitched a ride home constantly find the nourishment they need to reproduce.  We’ve prevented some of the madness by putting produce away in dark cupboards that the flies don’t have access to instead of keeping things in a fruit basket on the counter.  But there are still a pesky few that can breed into dozens of fruit flies and just drive you nuts.

A quick and eco-friendly way to get rid of the fruit flies is to pour red wine into a small container like a bowl or a cup.  Cover the top of the container with saran wrap and then poke a few small holes into the top.  The idea is that the flies will be attracted to the fruity scent of the wine, crawl through the holes in the middle of the saran wrap and not be able to get back out.  My fiance discovered this trick and put it into play and sure enough it works like a charm.  We keep our fruit fly trap by the kitchen sink. So everytime I go to the sink and see some inside, I give the bowl a good swish.  That knocks the fruit flies into the wine where they eventually drown and don’t reproduce.  Also, pour boiling hot water down your drains.  Apparently fruit flies like to lay their eggs and reproduce in the sludge that can buildup in your sink drains.

Do you have a natural and chemical-free way to get rid of pests in your home or garden?

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During the last post, I talked about my neighbors, furiously dealing with the falling leaves here in Indiana.  Again just the other day, the full force of leaf blowers were out moving around piles of dead leaves.  They move them into the street and into their neighbors yards.  Anything to get them out of their way!  But what if they understood the environmental impact of doing all that yard work?

The Environmental Protection Agency broke it down for us and the results are a tad startling.  They estimate 54 million Americans mow their lawns every weekend.  We use 800 million gallons of gasoline to power all those lawn mowers and garden equipment every year.  The EPA estimates mowers are the cause of about 5% of our pollution, spewing Greenhouse Gasses and other emissions into the atmosphere unchecked.  One lawn mower is said to produce the equivalent emissions of driving 43 brand new cars for 12,000 miles.  Just one hour of mowing will produce the same amount of emissions equivalent to a 350 mile drive in your car.  And as we fuel up all our lawn equipment, Americans spill some 17 million gallons of gas each year.  That’s more fuel spilled than the disastrous Exxon Valdez oil tanker!

Those numbers show why we need to change our thinking, especially when it comes to trimming the lawn and cleaning up all the dead leaves around our house.  Convenience changed a lot of people’s thinking for the worse.  Sure it’s relatively easy to walk out to the garage, fire up the gas lawnmower and be done in 15 minutes.  Instead, everyone should be getting some essential exercise by dragging out a new push-reel lawn mower.  That’s right, a push-reel just like this one:

A new push-reel lawn mower

Technology has helped to make some advances with push-reel mowers believe it or not.  They’re much lighter than what your Grandpa might have had sitting around in his shed.  They only need their blades sharpened once every 7 to 10 years and can now cut most varieties of grass to a variety of differnt heights.  They’re quiet, don’t use any gas and give you the benefit of a little added workout.  If you want to reduce the strain even more, some of them even come in electric versions with rechargeable batteries.  It gives you up to an hour and a half of mowing time before having to recharge!  I think it’s great and plan to put one on my list instead of a gas-powered mower which is just as expensive before you even add in the cost of gas.

And for everyone using leaf blowers, I suggest putting on a pair of gloves and using a good old fashioned rake and broom for your cleanup chores.  It willl get your heart rate up, give you some fresh air and reduce the emissions required just to keep your yard looking pretty.

If you’re interested in some clean garden and lawn equipment, check out these two websites:

People Powered Machines or the Clean Air Gardening Supply

If you have ways to maintain your lawn or garden while keeping an eye on your environmental impact, please share your story!

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This weekend I watched oodles of neighbors wrestling with the falling leaves.  Whole lawns have disappeared beneath carpets of red, orange and gold leaves as they tumble from the trees lining our streets.  I think it’s beautiful and shows the changing seasons but it seems most think of it as an annoyance.  This weekend neighbors up and down the block dug out their noisy leaf blowers and moved all the leaves either into the street or onto the lawn for mowing.  Not only is it noisy but it’s also kicking a lot of emissions into the air and for what?  This morning most of the lawns have disappeared again.

I’m taking the wait until the tree is bare approach to leaf raking.  I’ve gone out a couple of times in the last month and created a couple of big piles to compost.  I like that idea instead of piling them into lawn and garden trash bags to be hauled off to the dump.  Then I can use the compost around the garden beds and in the lawn to add beneficial nutrients into the soil.  If you don’t have the room to compost in your own yard, you might want to think about giving the material to a local yard waste recycler.  Usually your local dump or transfer station will know of someone in the area who can help.

Composting isn’t that difficult though.  Even if you’ve got a little corner of your property you can dedicate the process, you can do a lot.  I’ve simply created a large pile of dead leaves in one corner of my yard by the garage.  It originally was well over 4 feet tall but as they have started breaking down, the pile has shrunk down to about 2 feet tall and half as wide.  Once a week, I head out with my pitchfork and turn the inside of the pile outward.  That mixes the dry, whole leaves into the middle where they can begin to break down.  I also keep the pile moist, like a rung out sponge.  So, if it hasn’t rained during the week spray your pile down with the hose.  Over a few weeks you’ll begin to notice the leaves breaking down and turning into black gold, compost!

For tomorrow:  How you can continue your fall cleanup while reducing the environmental impact

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