Don't have the space to compost but love healthy plants? Instead of adding those coffee grounds or used tea leaves to the landfill, just spread them around your acid-loving plants (roses, azaleas, blueberries etc.). Not only do the plants thrive on this nitrogen-rich stuff, it can help deter slugs and snails. (Many coffee shops have bins where they offer free coffee grounds to patrons.) Especially here in California, where the soils are typically highly alkaline, coffee grounds can improve both the quality and texture of the soil. If you DO have an area where you can create compost, all the better! I simply picked an out-of-the way spot, dug three holes, and started throwing all my kitchen waste (no animal products other than smashed eggshells), coffee/tea grounds, grass clippings, and garden waste into the first hole (occasionally supplemented with horse manure from a friend), turning it occasionally with a pitchfork and sprinkling it with the hose during the dry season. When that hole got full, I rotated the compost to the next hole and started a fresh batch in the first hole. But the time the first batch got rotated to the third hole and ripened there for a while, it was ready to use: rich, dark, and crumbly. My plants (including houseplants) LOVE the stuff! And I feel better about reducing the amount of household/yard waste going to the landfill. Try it; you and your plants will like it! (Check out the ChicoLaura web site: www.ChicoLaura.com )
Showing posts with label recycling. Show all posts
Showing posts with label recycling. Show all posts
Thursday, April 10, 2008
"Grounding" your plants
Don't have the space to compost but love healthy plants? Instead of adding those coffee grounds or used tea leaves to the landfill, just spread them around your acid-loving plants (roses, azaleas, blueberries etc.). Not only do the plants thrive on this nitrogen-rich stuff, it can help deter slugs and snails. (Many coffee shops have bins where they offer free coffee grounds to patrons.) Especially here in California, where the soils are typically highly alkaline, coffee grounds can improve both the quality and texture of the soil. If you DO have an area where you can create compost, all the better! I simply picked an out-of-the way spot, dug three holes, and started throwing all my kitchen waste (no animal products other than smashed eggshells), coffee/tea grounds, grass clippings, and garden waste into the first hole (occasionally supplemented with horse manure from a friend), turning it occasionally with a pitchfork and sprinkling it with the hose during the dry season. When that hole got full, I rotated the compost to the next hole and started a fresh batch in the first hole. But the time the first batch got rotated to the third hole and ripened there for a while, it was ready to use: rich, dark, and crumbly. My plants (including houseplants) LOVE the stuff! And I feel better about reducing the amount of household/yard waste going to the landfill. Try it; you and your plants will like it! (Check out the ChicoLaura web site: www.ChicoLaura.com )
Thursday, February 21, 2008
ChicoBag
What's strong enough to hold 20 pounds, small enough to fit in your purse (or on your belt) and can help save the planet? It's the affordable, handy, chic ChicoBag!
I keep a ChicoBag in my purse and another one in my car for those quick stops at the grocery store.
Developed by one of our own local Chico citizens Andy Keller, ChicoBag has been featured in Real Simple, Entrepreneur, PARADE, Natural Health, Money, and Vision magazines.
Talk about "green"--ChicoBag even has a recycling program for expired ChicoBags! Expired ChicoBags are "repurposed" into door mats, dog beds and prayer flags. (And no, I don't own stock in the ChicoBag--I'm just a fan!)
Don't let Plastic Bag Monster get you!
Wednesday, February 13, 2008
Mosaic Tile Birdbath
How about THIS for recycling? A birdbath I purchased several years ago was becoming corroded and unsightly. Rather than "toss" it, I decided to give it a new life. Using cracked & broken dishes, shards of a broken car mirror, glue and grout, the rusty old eyesore was transformed into garden art! Since then, friends and family members have learned never to trash their cracked or broken dishes. ; )
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