It's Easy Being Green

A sunflower left for the birds

If you live in a cold climate, you’re garden has probably seen the effects of the first major frost or snow by now.  The dead foliage and flower stalks might look terrible but you should think about leaving them just the way they are until early spring.  That’s because birds that overwinter in your areas could enjoy the dead flowers and plants throughout the harsh winter.  They’ll pick at the flower seeds and maybe even disperse them throughout the garden only to surpise you when things begin to sprout again.  When it starts to warm up and you begin to prepare your garden for the spring and summer months, chop back the dead and throw it onto your compost pile!  The birds will thank you.

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It’s that special time of year where mad shoppers flood retail stores for the best deals and deck the house from top to bottom in holiday cheer.  The envionmental impacts of the holiday season can be astronomical though.  Over the course of the month I will post several tips and ideas on how to reduce your environmental impact and please share your ideas too.  Where it’s a recipe, homemade gift idea or some other way you work to “green” up your Christmas or Hanukkah please share it with me and I’ll post it right here on the blog!

Meanwhile, this weekend we decided to start decking out the house for Christmas.  We put all the fall decorations away and drug out the Christmas decorations and ushered in our seasonal tree.  Most years we do our part to keep our local forests healthy by getting a tree permit and head out into the wilderness to find the perfect one.  Since we’ve moved from Arizona, that tradition is going to have to go by the wayside for awhile so we choose to go with a farm raised Christmas tree.  Some sources say a fake Christmas tree is a much more environmentally friendly way to go but I tend to disagree.

A fresh tree has provided oxygen for our atmosphere and habitat for animals over the several years it has grown.  It’s providing income to a nearby farmer and it’s keeping our landfill from filling up with old fake trees that are simply tossed into the garbage when people are done with them.  A fake tree won’t decompose and break down since it’s made with metal and oil based plastics.  On top of that, there is a lot you can do with your real tree when you’re done with it.  If you need some ideas, just read my blog post from last year on Tree-cycling.

If you happen to live in a climate where you can plant a tree during Winter, you could also consider a living Christmas tree.  These were another popular option in the low deserts of Arizona and just about every home improvement center or hardware store carried them.  After the holiday you take the living tree outside and plant it in your yard or donate it to a park or school for their use.  The only drawback with living trees is that they can usually only survive indoors for a few days because they require a lot of light.

What kind of tree do you like and how do you make sure it’s a sustainable choice for you and your family?

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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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Here in Evansville, Indiana, recycling seems to be somewhat antiquated.  Compared to the system we had in Flagstaff, Arizona, there are even fewer things the recycling program here will accept.  To make matters worse, they only provide you with one small bin to put all your stuff into.  I quickly made friends with the man who runs our curbside pickup (which by the way, only happens every two weeks and is a huge drawback for big time recyclers like us) because I watched him have to sort out every category of item and place them in specific bins at the curb.  I thought that just seemed a terrible waste of time for him and decided we would sort our own items into separate containers.  Using old plastic storage bins, we now have four containers we place curbside.

My Crude Recycling Setup

Yesterday, I completed a week’s worth of sorting duties on the back porch and was amazed at how much we actually recycle.  Each week, we generally only produce one or two bags of garbage thanks to composting the organics and sorting out the recyclables.  My  neighbors aren’t so diligent though and that’s when I ran across something they should watch.

A Canadian filmmaker has released a new project that is all about our waste: the trash you put in that container to be picked up and hauled away.  Andrew Nisker shot his documentary using the McDonald family.  The family of five were asked to collect every piece of trash they generated over three months and keep it in their garage.  What was generated three months later is said to be an eye-opener.

Garbage: The Revolution Starts at Home runs 76 minutes and explores the waste generated by the family as well as where the materials came from to generate the waste and where they will go in the end.  The film shows how we act with our garbage has a profound impact on our surrounding environment.  To learn more about the film or to order a copy, head over to their website by clicking the link above.  I think it’s worth a look-see and can’t wait to watch the film.

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While both sides of the presidential election begin to unleash their war of words, they’re also dragging environmental and energy stances into their statements. The Democratic National Committee will unveil a new anti-McCain campaign today called “Exxon McCain ‘08″. The campaign will include a special gas pump logo, bright red buttons, bumper stickers and yard signs sure to be seen in a city near you sometime soon! The campaign is aimed at rebuking the Republicans tire pressure gauges they handed out to political reporters earlier this week that were labeled “Obama’s Energy Plan”.

Do you think one candidate has a better energy policy than the other? Let us know who you think has the best eye for the environment and energy issues daunting our nation!

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