BLULOW (All About Living Green)

I don’t know if it’s just me, but I’ve got to warm up to this composting process. Don’t get me wrong, I am 100% for composting, but it’s the logistics that I seem to have some issue with.

Last year I purchased a composting bin. I was very excited about composting (and still am). I put the composting bin together and placed in an area in my yard. I read the little brochure and started composting.

I added yard clippings and household wastes, mixed, stirred and added the appropriate amount of water. I was so thrilled that I was doing my part to help the environment. Everything was going swimmingly until my 8-legged friends started to spend more time at my bin than I did. Additionally, I realized that I placed the bin in an inconvenient area of the yard.

Then there was the issue of accumulating household waste in an indoor container to save for the composting bin (that stuff packs a mean punch when you take the lid off). I guess I had not thought out the process long enough, or maybe I wasn’t a dedicated as I thought I was. Composting is not for the feint of heart. You’ve got to have the right mindset.

Ashamed and upset up with my allowing my 8-legged friends to scare me away from my composting efforts, I decided to find out how could I get around it. Not wanting to give in to my immediate gratification upbringing and toss everything in the trash, I decided to analyze my logistical problems, which included but were not limited to:

1. Educating my family on what is compostable (steak bones are not)
2. Moving the compost bin to a more convenient location (I prefer the kitchen, but hubby nixed that idea).
3. Accumulating household recyclable trash
4. Those darned 8-legged friends.

As of this post, I have not resolved all of my issues. I did, however, move the composting bin a little closer to the house and now that winter is over, I’ve started to accumulate household waste again (I’m still trying to determine which container is best). As far as the spiders go, I put diatomaceous earth all around the bin to kill those that are brave enough to challenge me. I’m having another go at it.

I thought about using a worm-composting bin, but I’m not totally sold on that idea as yet (although the thought of indoor composting is sounding better each day). I’ll keep at this for a while. Who knows, maybe it’s like learning to write with your left hand (if you’re right-handed), the more you do it, the better you get.

Well here’s a new one on me. I came across a site that has
Almost Free Furniture.

Apparently you can buy and/or sell all types of gently used furniture for a fraction of the original cost.

In today’s economy where prices are rising (especially gas) and salaries are not, it makes sense to look for alternative ways to furnish your home, apartment, college dorm, etc. By the same token, instead of throwing away your gently used furniture, why not sell it? Someone else could probably use it.

The process of switching from paper towels to cloth towels is working perfectly. I’m really excited about my tiny little contribution to the environment. There is one thing, however, that I think I need to share with everyone.

Unless you wash clothes fairly often, do not put the soiled cloth towels in the hamper with your regular clothes. You probably want a separate basket for the cloth towels.

My children have converted and are using the cloth towels regularly. They use them for every messy spill and then toss them in the hamper (sometimes sopping wet). If it’s not my normal washday, it may be a day or two before I sort and wash clothes. As a result the sopping wet cloth towels sit and ‘ferment’ in the hamper. You won’t believe how a few simple wet towels can wreak odoriferous havoc in a hamper.

At first I couldn’t pinpoint where the awful smell was coming from. I actually thought the septic had backed up. It wasn’t until I went to sort clothes that I was blindsided by the smell. Whew, even the dog kept his distance from the hamper (this from an animal that sleeps curled up with his nose firmly implanted in his rear end).

I still consider the switch from paper towels to cloth towels experiment a smashing success; it just needs a little tweaking.

I came across an interesting site, www.freecycle.org. Apparently what they do is recycle used items.

Wait a minute, that didn’t come out right…Instead of driving to the local Salvation Army or Good Will, you can post your used items on www.freecycle.org. If someone wants or needs it, they will contact you and you give it to them.

Similarly, if you need something that is posted on the site, you contact the person and to arrange pickup. Everything is free for reuse.

You join a community in your area so that you are not trying to make arrangements to pickup something from across the country.

I haven’t tried it as yet, but I thought it was worth a mention. I’m all for reuse and recycling.

I finally did it! I finally ordered the Dundas Jafine Heat Keeper to recycle the heat from my dryer thats usually funneled outside. I’ve been looking at it for a few weeks now and finally took the plunge.

For those of you who are unfamiliar with the Heat Keeper, check out this article:”Make Clothes Dryer More Efficient by Recycling the Heat“. It will introduce you to the concept and recycling your dryer’s hot air. Be aware, however, this is only recommended for electric dryers. Exhaust from gas dryers may contain small amounts of unwanted pollutants that you do not want recycling through the air in your home.

The Heat Keeper is an inexpensive item. If you can find it at your local home improvement store, buy it there. If not, you can order it from Amazon. If you have to order it through Amazon, order a few of them. Give one to your neighbor, friends, and/or family. The item costs less than $6. The shipping costs will exceed the cost of the Heat Keeper. I foolishly ordered only one and spent around $13 in total. Oh well, I’ll make up the cost in heat recycling.

The installation process is a breeze. The only additional item not included in the packaging that you’ll need is a wire cutter. You will have to cut the exhaust tubing leading from the dryer to insert the Heat keeper. The process took about 5 minutes. It has a little switch so that you can vent the air outside during the summer and inside during the winter.

Expect your windows to fog as the heat also comes with some humidity. The amount of fogging will depend on the outside temperature and the size of the laundry area. I find it a small price to pay for heat recycling.

The Heat Keeper not only warms the area, it serves as an air freshener. The aroma of the fabric softener is dispersed around the room (my daughter loves this feature). All in all, I give thee Heat Keeper a thumbs up!