The Green Side

Some of you know that I have been trying to be more "GREEN" in the last couple years. I rarely forget to take my reusable bags when shopping (I've even carried several items to the car with no bag...much to the checkers surprise!). I made cloth napkins (which I need to replace fairly soon). Have taught the kids to recycle everything we can. Am using more earth friendly cleaning products. And don't ever buy paper napkins/plates (the only reason why we have paper towels is to clean up puppy accidents 'cause I can't bring myself to wash towels then reuse them for other things).

I had been wanting to start a compost, to reduce our trash even more, but had never researched it enough or figured out what to do. When Grandma Nan visited, she gave me a few tips, encouraged me to buy a trash bin, and now I have a compost!

We keep it by the back door so we can easily access it after cooking/eating.

MMMmmmm About two weeks worth of banana peels, bread heels, lettuce, and other biodegradable items on top of leaves and older items.

Every now and then (I've only done it twice so far) I will lay the trash bin on its side and roll it to mix up the contents.

After rolling it and adding a few more leaves.

I have absolutely no idea if I'm doing this "right" or if the food will actually break down in the cold (our high this week is 33 degrees with the possibility of snow). After "mixing" it I noticed several pieces of apple with ice crystals on them. When the weather warms up, we'll try to find some worms to add in...but other than that I don't know what else I could be doing...at least I'm trying I guess!!!

The four of us are only producing about ONE bag of real garbage a week now!