Do's and Don'ts & Facts About Recycling

 So it has become a habit of mine that every Monday morning I load my recycling bins and drop off in the larger recycling bins that are in the parking lot of my local grocery store. This past Monday I was pretty annoyed with what I saw. There is one bin that is just for paper and a second bin that is for paper, plastic and metals. In multiple places on the bins it says "No glass" and "No cardboard". Yet overflowing from the bins were large cardboard boxes and strew on the ground around the bins were large amounts of broken glass. And both bins were overflowing with non-recyclable items like clothing and garbage. I realize that I'm ranting a little and I  also realize that the people who most need to hear this are probably not the ones who read my blog, but I'm going to say it anyway.*Warning, this is where I get on my soap box.*

Do's

• Cardboard, glass, metals, plastic and paper are all recyclable items. You just have to take them to the right places.
• Here are the locations if you happen to live in St George. If you live elsewhere you can type in your zip code and what you want to recycle to Earth911.com and it will tell you where to take it.

1. Cardboard- the recycling bin in front of the new Bosch kitchen store
2. Glass- the yellow binnies found in the parking lots of Smith's, across the street from the old hospital, Harmon's parking lot, as well as a few others
3. Paper, plastic and metal- all of the above plus the parking lot of Lin's
4. You can recycle old clothing by leaving it in the Big Brother, Big Sister bins that are at the Bosch kitchen store and Lin's,  or by taking to Deseret Industries, the Salvation Army or the Catholic Church Community Center

• Do encourage your children, friends and family to recycle. Big changes won't happen unless lots of ordinary people start doing little things.
• Think about things before you throw them in the garbage. Some lawn furniture, siding, gutters, car components and window frames contain aluminum which can be turned into soda cans just as well as old soda cans can. Foil candy wrappers works as well.

Don'ts

• Don't recycle cardboard or paper that has food or grease on it (i.e. your standard pizza box). The grease can contaminate and ruin huge batches of recycled paper, making the process very inefficient. Either throw it away or shred it and use it as compost. (This is one that I just recently learned myself.)
• Don't recycle used paper towels, napkins, plates, etc. This is for the same reasons. The paper pulp and oil stick together and once the contaminants are squeezed out you have a product with holes.
• Don't bother to thoroughly clean plastic, glass and metal containers. These items are recycled through a different process than paper and food residue is burned off. (I usually give these items a quick rinse before tossing them in the recycle bin, just to cut down on smell and keep my bin cleaner.)
• Don't pour motor oil down the drain. Motor oil is recyclable and never wears out, it just gets dirty and needs to be processed and refined. One quart, if given the chance can contaminate 2 million gallons of water.

 I highly encourage people to recycle. It turns what is otherwise garbage into something useful. It conserves resources and helps keep the places we live in cleaner and greener. And I think that a lot of people are thinking that if they throw something into a recycling bin, that they're helping out. However, if you are not going to do it right, don't bother.  Irresponsible recycling costs recycling companies more than $700 million each year. It's not rocket science people, my three year old knows how to sort the recycling. I'm assuming that these people making messes are adults, and guess what their mothers aren't here to pick up after them, and in being careless they are making life more difficult for someone else.

A few interesting facts about recycling:

• Recycling one aluminum can saves enough energy to run a TV for three hours -- or the equivalent of a half a gallon of gasoline.
• There is no limit to the amount of times an aluminum can be recycled.
• Recycling a single run of the Sunday New York Times would save 75,000 trees.
• If all our newspaper was recycled, we could save about 250,000,000 trees each year!
• Each ton (2000 pounds) of recycled paper can save 17 trees, 380 gallons of oil, three cubic yards of landfill space, 4000 kilowatts of energy, and 7000 gallons of water. This represents a 64% energy savings, a 58% water savings, and 60 pounds less of air pollution!
• The construction costs of a paper mill designed to use waste paper is 50 to 80% less than the cost of a mill using new pulp.
• Recycling plastic saves twice as much energy as burning it in an incinerator.
• The energy saved from recycling one glass bottle can run a 100-watt light bulb for four hours or a compact fluorescent bulb for 20 hours. It also causes 20% less air pollution and 50% less water pollution than when a new bottle is made from raw materials.
• On average, it costs $30 per ton to recycle trash, $50 to send it to the landfill, and $65 to $75 to incinerate it.
• Glass takes 4000 years or more to decompose.
• Plastic is made out of oil, the same oil that can be turned into gasoline. Recycling plastic helps to cut down the demand for this resource which in turn helps to lower the cost of gas. :)

In conclusion, I believe that it is important to carefully use the resources that we have. Part of that is recycling (although an even bigger part is just using less). However, for your recycling to help you need to be careful and make sure that you're putting your stuff in the right place, otherwise you may be undoing the efforts that someone else has made. I'm not perfect when it comes to recycling everything, but the reading that I did to write this article makes me want to do better.

Book Review: Back to Basics-Tips for Gardening

After the love of my life discovered that I would remotely even consider a "self-sufficient" lifestyle, he picked up Back to Basics: A Complete Guide to Traditional Skills. This book is not 'light reading', but it is a great reference. It has articles on every skill I can imagine that would be useful if you were to live off land or 'go off the grid'. Some of the topics it covers include: making your house energy efficient, gardening, planning and building your own home, preserving food, quilting, fishing and camping. I will readily admit that I did not read this entire book, but I did read the large section on raising your own produce. Here are some things that I learned from my reading.

• Companion Planting: Some plants grow better in the company of others and do poorly with others. For example pumpkins grow well with corn, but not potatoes.
• Tall vegetables (corn, tomatoes) should be planted at the north end of the garden or the side near a house, wall or other light barrier.
• When selecting what to plant, avoid market or cropper varieties. These will provide your entire harvest all at once.
• The most important soil-improvement task is to add organic matter to the soil.  Compost and other organic matter should be mixed into the top 12 inches of soil. Ideal soil is loose, soft and crumbly.
• Most plants grow best in soil with a pH of 6.1-6.8.
• A greenhouse should face south to maximize winter sunlight.
• Almost any waterproof container can be used to start seedlings. Used, clean milk jugs and yogurt cups work well.
• Seed sprouts are easy to grow and rich in vitamins and proteins, however tomato and potato sprouts are poisonous.
• To supply enough produce for 2 adults and 2 school age children for a year, you need approximately 2,500 square feet of gardening space.
• To avoid diseases and pests you should not plant members of the same plant family in the same spot two years in a row.
• Hardy (easy to grow) vegetables include: carrots, beets, collards, kale, mustard, onions, radishes, rhubarb, horseradish
• Difficult to grow vegetables include: cauliflower, celery, asparagus, artichokes, celeriac
• Cucumber vines grow only from the tip.
• Peas taste best if cooked within a few hours of harvesting them from the plant.
• Potatoes sold in food stores are not recommended for seed pieces. They often are treated with chemicals to keep them from sprouting and contaminated with disease.
• Sweet potatoes are actually part of the morning glory family.
• Tomatoes are closely related to potatoes, eggplant, peppers and tobacco.
• Tomatoes yield more fruit if you pinch off the shoots that grow in the joints where the leaf stems meet the main stems.
• Organic mulch can smother weeds, conserve moisture and add organic matter. Cheap options include sawdust, leaves, newspaper, compost, pine needles and lawn clippings.
• It is better to water heavily once a week than lightly every day.
• The best time to water is in the late afternoon.

Firestarters and Other Camping Tips

Here's a riddle: What do old candles, empty egg cartons, used popsicle sticks and dryer lint have in common? Hint, the answer is not that they're garbage.

The answer: they're ingredients to make great fire starters!

I learned how to make these several months ago at an emergency preparedness class, and was reminded of them by a few people who suggested bringing lint for a fire starter as a camping tip under the August giveaway. (Because dryer lint is the cheapest, quickest fire starter.) Whether you use just the lint or make my weird little craft, you're finding a purpose for something that would just be thrown away otherwise.

Instructions: 1 Cut lid and latch flap off egg carton 2. Fill egg cups with dryer lint. 3. Break Popsicle sticks into little pieces. (I used a pair of pliers, some leverage and my concrete steps for this. The ones that they showed in the class were made with wood pellets, which they said you can get a large bag of for $3, but then what would I do with the rest of the bag of wood pellets?) 4. Pack broken Popsicle sticks into dryer lint. (I used about 2 dozen sticks.) 5. Pour enough hot wax over the whole thing to hold it together. (I melted my candles with a candle warmer.) 6. Cut into individual egg cups once wax has hardened. Each fire starter will burn for approximately 12 minutes. (Every one will vary depending on how much wax, lint, etc was used.)

Pretty much the weirdest, ugliest craft ever.

We tested them over Labor Day weekend. They worked pretty effectively.

Here are some other great tips that were mentioned.

1. Bring your dutch oven
2. When it rains do not push on the tent as you are laying inside because it will leak even if it is water resistant!
3. Bring tweezers. The ticks will always find you!
4. Have a really great Swiss Army Knife on hand.
5. Always have WAY more matches and kindling than you think you're going to need. 
6. Bring a clothesline to hang wet towels.
7. Cook your first meal at home and bring with when camping.
8. Always pack toilet paper and bug spray.
9. Pack everything in individual bags or lidded containers and then pack those in a large lidded bin. No more rummaging, plus everything stays clean and dry. 
10. A Frisbee will add support to paper plates when the plate is placed inside the Frisbee.
11. Take along some of your old extracts and use as a fire starter-sprinkle some on the firewood and it will help get it started and smells great too.
12. Save all the sample shampoos that you get from the mail and use those while camping.
13. You can never have too many socks. a couple extra pair can be a lifesaver.
14. Try out the bug repellent candles, they work amazing!
15. Bring extra trash or grocery bags with you that you can carry when you go hiking or to the lake. You might end up saving an animal or to by removing trash. 
16. Check the weather before you go so you can pack the appropriate clothing.
17. Make sure that you bring appropriate shoes.
18. An old rolled-up memory foam mattress topper makes a great sleeping pad. Just cut to size.
19. Always take lots of paper towels. You never know when you are going to need them!
20. Pack a bottle of dish soap in a zipper bag- you'll always find a use for the soap, but will not be happy if it explodes on all your camping stuff & it's not contained in a bag.
21. Take baby wipes. They work great to clean up any thing or any one!
22. Use an old towel as a door mat for wiping off feet before entering the tent.
23. Put up a tent back away from the wooded area and lake beds if possible be cause when night falls--in come the bugs and mosquitos--learned that the hard way :) 
24. One from a friend- wrap your tin-foil dinners in cabbage leaves before wrapping in foil, this will prevent the potatoes from burning to the foil.
25. And I'll add, make sure you have an EXTRA flash light. It may come in handy when you need to run to the loo in the middle of the night. 

Thanks to everyone who contributed tips.

Quest to Save the Planet: Backyard Composting

So here I am in my little corner of the world, trying to make it a better place, and I have started composting. Here are reasons I think that the average person should compost.

1. Composting reduces waste.  It's good for the planet. Food waste and yard trimmings currently make up 23% of waste in the US. Wouldn't that be great if we could easily reduced the number of landfills by 1/4?
2. Composting returns micro-nutrients from food waste to the soil to help plants grow.
3. Composting can reduce diseases and pests.
4. Composting reduces the needs for chemical fertilizers.
5. Composting saves money when it comes to gardening. It can eliminate the need to purchase soil and fertilizer.

Here are a few more reasons why I compost.

1. I live in St George, where I like most of my neighbors have mostly red clay in my yard instead of your typical garden-variety dirt. It's not exactly conducive to growing a garden. And I have been advised by life-long St. Geezy residents that this is the most effective way to make your garden grow.
2. Between composting and recycling, we actually make very little garbage. This means that I don't have to drag our outside garbage can to the street very often (and when I say I, I mean ask my husband to do it), or when I do, it's not as heavy and awkward to drag through gravel to the street. If it weren't for the fact that diapers get really smelly in the sun, I could go a couple months between taking my cans to the street. One good chore saves another. (When you actually start recycling, you'll be amazed at how much is reusable in some way or another.)
3. Composting justifies my deep seeded personality flaw of being a hoarder. I try to get rid of things, but I can always think of a reason why it could be useful someday. If I bury it in my backyard, even my garbage can be of use to me.

Now that you're motivated to compost, here are a list of things that you can and can't compost:
CAN:

• Animal manure
• Cardboard rolls
• Clean paper
• Coffee grounds and filters
• Cotton rags
• Dryer and vacuum cleaner lint
• Eggshells
• Fireplace ashes
• Fruits and vegetables
• Grass clippings
• Hair and fur
• Hay and straw
• Houseplants
• Leaves
• Nut shells
• Sawdust
• Shredded newspaper
• Tea bags
• Wood chips
• Wool rags
• Yard trimmings

 CAN'T and why:

• Black walnut tree leaves or twigs
• Releases substances that might be harmful to plants
• Coal or charcoal ash
• Might contain substances harmful to plants
• Dairy products (e.g., butter, milk, sour cream, yogurt) and eggs
• Create odor problems and attract pests such as rodents and flies
• Diseased or insect-ridden plants
• Diseases or insects might survive and be transferred back to other plants
• Fats, grease, lard, or oils
• Create odor problems and attract pests such as rodents and flies
• Meat or fish bones and scraps
• Create odor problems and attract pests such as rodents and flies
• Pet wastes (e.g., dog or cat feces, soiled cat litter)
• Might contain parasites, bacteria, germs, pathogens, and viruses harmful to humans
• Yard trimmings treated with chemical pesticides
• Might kill beneficial composting organisms

There are many products and methods out there for composting (most of them overpriced.)  Good compost should be a mix of three elements  1. brown matter (shredded newspaper, cardboard, hay, leaves, saw dust, some kitchen scrap, etc.) and 2. green matter (weeds, lawn clippings and some kitchen scraps) and 3. water. Here's what I do:

1. I have an old laundry detergent bucket in my garage where I throw my kitchen scraps. When it gets more than half full I throw in a bunch of sawdust and some crab grass. (There's always some to be found.)
2. Then I dig a hole big enough to hide the mix and cover it with dirt (clay in my case) and then pour water over it.

This morning I got up early to dig a hole before the day got too hot. My son decided to come out and watch me. As I was digging a hole and pulling crab grass my son wanted to help and I realized this is something that I should be involving my kids in. This is simple enough that they can help me do and I can teach them responsibility for the world around them and how we can help plants grow. Apparently even my two-year-old can effectively pull weeds. As I was digging, I dug up a previously buried compost pile. It was  nice to see some proof that my methods are working. What was previously a bunch of garbage was now some rich dirt when a few decaying orange peels mixed in.

Here's the area that hopefully next year will provide me with fresh veggies (and my husband in his pj's.)

For more ways to save money and help the environment at the same time look here, here and here.

More Ways to Save Money that are Good For the Environment

My last list on this topic was fairly popular, so I decided to dig up a few more ideas. Many of these require a little more effort, but most not really that much more. And isn't doing your part worth a little effort?

1. Refill your printer ink cartridges- I only started doing this in the few months and I feel like a sucker that I was paying so much for ink all of those years.
2. Compost- Why not make good use of your kitchen scraps and pulled weeds instead of taking up space in a landfill? You can use those things to improve your soil and grow a better garden. Composting is much cheaper than buying soil and additives and is often of better quality.
3. Eat more fresh vegetables- Switching to a vegan diet does more to decrease global warming than buying a hybrid car. Am I suggesting you do this? No. But decreasing the meat in your diet and increasing the vegetables and whole grains will improve your health, save you money and help the planet a little too.
4. Learn to make things yourself- Recently my husband came home from work and said that he needed a hobby to take out his frustrations that didn't involve torturing his high school students. His plan- make a few pieces of wood furniture. Boy, am I excited. Even if he only makes the first two items on the list it will more than cover the cost of the tools, plus no packaging and I can use the sawdust for the compost pile. So far he has made a shelf which has made a small dent in the clutter in my home. :) Now this is not the answer every time, but if you can makes things for yourself there is a lot of potential money savings and it can be good for the environment as well.
5. Pay your bills online- Save paper, clutter and postage.
6. Use less heat/air conditioning- Turn it off when you're out of town. Turn it down at night or when you're away. Consider a programmable thermostat or installing a few ceiling fans.
7. Potty train your toddler- Easier said than done. But think about how much money you'll save when you don't have to buy diapers. Disposable diapers are not recyclable and they're a huge contributor to landfills. Forcing a child before they're ready is not really effective, but you can still strongly encourage. (Almost every day my son tells me he wants to sit on the potty. He sits there long enough to eat his gummy bear and then we're done. Perhaps someday we'll get more results.)
8. Use the cruise control button- This can give you up to 15% better gas mileage.
9. Plan errands to avoid driving back and forth across town. Group them together.
10. Fix things that aren't preforming at their best. A few months ago I got a new dishwasher, and while I was excited to have a dishwasher again, it's performance was somewhat lacking. Everything had to be pre-rinsed and put on the soak cycle, plus I usually had to wash things a few times. Finally I called a repairman. He was amazed that it worked at all. He fixed a valve and we are in business. It was under warranty so I didn't have to pay for the visit, but I was annoyed with myself that I didn't do it earlier. I could have saved a lot of time, energy and detergent if I had called him months ago. This principle applies to more than dishwashers.
    

Ways to save money that are good for the environment too.

1. Cook from scratch- There's a great deal of potential savings here when compared to eating out, buying packaged foods and mixes. And cooking from scratch is often healthier. Plus less packaging, less waste.
2. Start a garden- My husband and I were debating on whether are garden is actually cost efficient. Thus far we've spent $50 and gotten two miniature strawberries. But then there were a lot of up-front costs that we won't have to do again like garden tools. Perhaps this will save us money as we get better at it. I did make the argument that growing your own herbs is definitely cost effective and I have managed to successfully do that one.
3. Unplug your appliances- I've heard several times that you can decrease your power bill by 10-15% by unplugging your appliances when not in use. I am not about to unplug my major kitchen and laundry appliances when they're not in use. That is too much work. But unplugging computers and the TV at night is reasonable.
4. Check out home improvement rebates- A few months ago we had our attic insulation redone. Upfront cost- $860. Rebate total- $823. So it cost $37 out of pocket and is estimated to save us $290 each year on power and heating. We also got rebates for buying new energy efficient appliances (which we had to purchase anyway.) These are just a few examples. There are many other opportunities out there. See what you have in your area.
5. Plant a tree- If you plant it on the south or west side of your home and it provides any amount of shade it can decrease your air-conditioning bill, plus it increases the value of your home.
6. Make use of your library- I'm certain that I would save thousands of dollars if I went to the library as often as I go to Barnes and Noble. It's a weakness of mine, but I'm getting better.
7. Reuse plastic containers- I reuse Cool Whip containers to freeze vegetable purees. There are hundreds of other possibilities.
8. Get your kids to play outside- Turn off the tv and computer once in awhile. The exercise is good for them too.
9. Cook with a crockpot- These appliances are actually pretty energy efficient. And in the summer time they don't heat up the kitchen like your stove and oven, thus saving $ on your power bill.
10. Take care of your car- Making sure your tires are inflated can save money on gas. And maintenance is cheaper than replacement.
11. Have your kids color on both sides of the page. The little things add up.
12. Buy in bulk-This only applies to some things. I buy fruit, cheese, laundry detergent and baby wipes in bulk because I know that whatever I buy we'll use. This isn't a good idea if what you buy will go bad before you get to using it. Figure out the price per ounce and comparison shop.
13. Find alternative methods of cooking- Recently I went to a preparedness fair where they taught us how to cook using solar ovens and wonderboxes. I'm excited to give them a try.
14. Walk or bike when its feasible- Another thing that's good for your health too.
15. Reduce what you have to wash- I only wash jeans after they have been worn twice. (Unless they've been smegged.) It makes them last longer and it reduces what you spend on detergent, water and power. Plus it's that much less time folding and washing laundry.
16. Get organized!- Being organized can decrease what you spend on things that you don't need. Plus it can save you time and just make your life easier.

Happy Earth Day! Does anyone have any other great ideas that belong on this list?

What To Do With Your Expired Coupons

So I had heard before that expired coupons can be used by military families stationed overseas for 6 months after their expiration date. However, I could never find out how to get them to them. I did a little searching on-line, but no where could I find a place to mail my growing mountain of expired coupons. This past weekend I finally stumbled upon the answer:

You can send your expired coupons to U.S. military bases around the world. The coupons are placed in various common areas throughout each base and families can use them for up to 6 months after they expire! We have family friends currently stationed in England who have confirmed to us that the coupons really do make it into the hands of the military families and are valued and appreciated.
For over 17 years, the Overseas Coupon Program has facilitated the transfer of coupons to U.S. military bases. To sign up to send coupons, just visit the website, and click on Base List to browse the list of bases that you can mail your coupons to. After you choose a base, send an email to adoptions@ocpnet.org to let them know you will be participating. You can find more details and information here. And since the packages ship to APO/AFO addresses, the cost to mail the coupons is the same as sending a card to Grandma in Texas. You can drop your coupons in the mail for the cost of a stamp or two and you will help our wonderful service men and women (and their families) at the same time!

Thanks Mama Cheaps for the great tip!

 How it works is you "adopt" an military base and you mail them coupons. That's it. They do ask that the coupons that you send are expired by no more than two months because it does take time for the organization to process, organize and distribute them. So instead of just throwing away those old coupons, why not help someone else out? And really I feel like it is the very least I can do for the families of those in military service. I am grateful for all that they sacrifice.

My new favorite local business- Southern Utah Recycling

This week at toddler time, my neighbor told me about a new business that is really going to make my life easier. (And sorry for those who live outside of St. George, but I am willing to research the recycling options in the area of anyone who requests it.) It was one of my resolutions this year to be a little greener (and no I am not a tree-hugging, Gore-following hippie, but I hate to waste and I want the place I live to stay beautiful.) and when my neighbor mentioned this I was so excited I want to share.
 Southern Utah Recycling sells you a blue plastic Rubbermaid bin for $25. Then they pick up your recyclable items (glass, metals, cardboard, plastic and paper) in said blue bin weekly- free for the first year. After that if you want to continue the service it is $4 each month. (You can keep your bin if you move or discontinue the service.) Frankly with the hassle that recyling is now, it is worth it to me pay someone $4 to pick up and sort my recycle garbage. Some of the local grocery stores have recycling bins, but they have tiny openings and they don't take cardboard. Half the time I'm chasing paper that the wind is blowing around as I'm trying to stuff it in the bin. And I'm all about supporting local family-run businesses when I can.