Recycling and gardening

A blog post? What???? I know I haven't blogged in so long but since I have no classes and (much) less hours at work than I want this summer, I decided to try to get back into this. I'm also trying to add some Amazon Affiliate links but only to things I have used or read that I mention in my posts.

I love fresh vegetables. Nothing is better than a fresh tomato straight from the garden. In the past I lived in an apartment with a great patio. Though I was on the bottom floor the patio ledge made a perfect place for container gardening. I used the EarthBox® Green Container Gardening System which worked GREAT. I bought the staking system for my tomatoes and have also grown peppers, chard, and herbs in the system. I recommend it to anyone who doesn't have a yard or who can't do a full garden. Last year I moved into my boyfriend's house and he has two acres of land. I still used the Earthboxes because I was taking summer classes and just couldn't get to a full garden. Unfortunately my tomatoes got blight. Worried that emptying the dirt out (far from anything else in the yard) and washing the boxes out wouldn't get rid of it all, I am trying the square foot gardening method this year.

Square foot gardening is all over Pinterest and blogs. The book by Mel Bartholomew, All New Square Foot Gardening, Second Edition: The Revolutionary Way to Grow More In Less Space,seems to be the bible for this method. Initially I had planned to make two 3' x 3' boxes out of cedar. I was at the store to buy the materials for the boxes and the ingredients for the box fill when my boyfriend called and asked if I could use the kiddie pool the previous owners of his house had left behind. Uh, yeah. Saving the time and cost of building the boxes, helping him clear out the area next to the garage, and putting a plastic pool to use instead of it ending up in a landfill? Win-win-win situation. To that end...my kiddie pool garden.

I used a cordless drill and a large bit to put some drainage holes in the bottom of the pool and filled it with Mel's Mix. Filling it to the level of the seats on the left side put the depth right around 6". Since the middle row was a bit bigger than the edges, that row is divided into 5 square foot sections while the near and far edges in the picture are divided into 4. I've got a variety of tomatoes and peppers from County Line Greenhouse in Hobart, IN, some iceberg lettuce since that's the only lettuce my boyfriend will eat, cucumber and zucchini plants, and I seeded one square foot with some mesclun mix. I will keep posting on how this garden turns out. Maybe your kids have outgrown a pool or you can pick one up cheaply and put it to use in your garden.

Easy tips for making work more eco-friendly

I've been trying to make the place I work a little more eco-concious. It's slow going and some things I just can't control, but there are a few things I've done that you can do too.

Tips the average worker can apply

1. Ask yourself if I need to print this. - Think about how much paper offices use each day for stuff that is printed, then discarded. We could all try to do better in this by asking, "Do I really need to print this document?" If so, try printing it on fewer pages or by printing on both sides of the paper. If it's an internet document, you can use the tool GreenPrint World to preview your document and remoce those pesky last pages with just one line on them or to remove unnecessary images.



2. Bring your own utensils, plates, cups, etc. - If your office provides plastic utensils and styrofoam cups, you can cut down on their use and subsequent disposal by bringing your own, reusuable utensils from home. I drink coffee every morning and bring it with me in a stainless steel travel mug. I then use this mug to refill the coffee at work, plus the travel mug keeps it warm.

Tips a business can use, cheaply

1. Recycle - Most waste haulers have a recycling program. You can contact them, sign up for it, and then put recycling containers in prominant places such as the lunchroom. Just recycling the aluminum cans and plastic bottles from machines can help. Even better, recycle the paper from the offices and the junk mail.
   

   Remember to always recycle your e-waste so the toxic chemicals in printers, computers, etc. do not enter the landfill. Many places will remove it for you and recycle it for a reasonable fee. Have a collection day a few times a year for broken or non-working electronic items to be brought to a central location for pick-up.
   

   Another easy, free, tip is recycling printer cartridges. Most laser toner cartridges have a mailing or UPS label in the new cartridge so that you can ship the old one back. If not, check the company's website for information on printing a label. HP is very good about doing this and they also have a box you can order to fill with spent ink-jet cartridges and then ship back, all for free



2. Buy recycled paper - Most office supply stores sell recycled paper products. Purchasing products made from post-consumer recycled paper helps to prevent new trees from being cut down. The higher the recycled content, the less energy and water used to make the paper and the less waste produced.
   
3. Purchase compostable or biodegradable breakroom supplies - If you aren't able to switch everyone to using their own, reusable utensils, there are more options available each day for purchasing compostable or biodegradable supplies. Sugar-cane plates and hot cups, disposable cutlery made from cornstarch, the list goes on. Just start searching your office supplier's site or catalog for the words "compostable", "biodegradable", or "recycled" to see what they offer and find what works best for your workplace.

These are just a few things I've done where I work, what have you done where you work?

Resources

http://www.ciwmb.ca.gov/Paper/Recycled/ - facts about recycled paper

http://www.recycled-papers.net/ - recycled paper info

http://www.conservatree.org/ - tips on choosing paper

http://earth911.com/paper/paper-recycling-at-work/ - recycling paper in the workplace

http://www.recyclespot.org/business_tips.asp - starting a recycling program at work

http://planetgreen.discovery.com/work-connect/office-ewaste-recycling.html - e-waste recycling

http://www.hp.com/hpinfo/globalcitizenship/environment/recycling/product-recycling.html - HP recycling information

http://www.b3.net/customer/home.php - Baumgartens, a supplier of compostable utensils and other supplies

Greening the workplace, Pt. 1

A few months ago someone at work approached me about recycling. I would love to recycle here. I get so many junk catalogs and mail that could be recycled, not to mention all the cans and bottles from our vending machines. Unfortunately, recycling is not my decision to make. I've gone to our Purchasing Manager about contacting our waste disposal company. I know they have single-stream recycling so we wouldn't even have to rely on people to seperate their items. I think I need to write up a plan and actually go to him with it, along with the others who support recycling.

At least we recycle our e-waste. My boss wanted to just throw it away, but we have a standing PO with a company to take our old computers and such for recycling.

So far, the only "greening" I've been able to do is replace our plastic cutlery with compostable ones and try out a compostable coffee cup to try to replace the styrofoam ones. I found the coffee cups and cutlery from Baumgarten's in the Conserve line. I was having a hard time finding a greener option for disposable coffee cups that wouldn't burn people's hands. These work really well! Having everyone bring their own, washable dishes would be best but most of our employees work in the plant and there isn't space to store and wash all those dishes.