BLULOW (All About Living Green)

I’m not quite sure, but the Bio Bag might be the solution to one of my composting problems.

If you’ve read any of the earlier posts on this blog you’ll know that I’m a proponent of composting, but have a few logistical issues to iron out. One such issue is collecting all of the lovely household waste.

I used to collect the waste in a lidded container. When it got full, I’d cart it out to the compost bin, open the lid and dump it out. The problem was I would get dizzy from holding my breath in an attempt to avoid the less than aromatic odor that opening the lid would release. Even the dog had to back up a tad when I opened the lid (this from the mutt who sleeps with his nose on his derriere).

Reading about the biodegradable bags raised a glimmer of hope. These bags are perfect for holding compostable household and yard waste. The beauty of Bio Bags is that once you fill it up, you don’t have to open it to dump the contents. The bag is biodegradable and will decompose on its own. What a great concept (Download their technical specs).

Bio Bags come in various sizes ranging from 2 gallons, 13 gallons to 33 gallons (with a few additional sizes in between). They even have kitty pan liner bio bags and doggie pick up the poop bio bags (not the technical name, but you understand what each bio bag does).

I’m starting small. I ordered the 3 gallon size bags. If they do well, maybe I’ll get the larger ones. After all living green is about making one small green step at a time. Today is a 3 gallon step…tomorrow who knows…

I managed to save money and trash over the holiday weekend by making my own coleslaw. My laziness almost sucked me into purchasing the bag of pre-cut cabbage and carrot to make coleslaw, but my frugal nerve got very irritated when I saw that it would cost $4 for a bag that wasn’t big enough to serve a half a person in my household. I would have to buy minimum 2 bags but more like 3 or 4.

Incensed about the price of the bagged coleslaw, I walked over to the cabbage display and bought a cabbage. The cabbage was .49 a pound and I bought one that was 2 ½ pounds (cost me all of $1.23). I picked up some banana peppers and an onion and went home to slice my cabbage and make my own coleslaw.

Not only did it cost less, but also tasted better and I didn’t have to worry about how to recycle the plastic bags the pre-cut coleslaw came in. I think that’s a win-win.

As I always say, it’s not easy living green, but it sure is rewarding.

I was in the middle of preparing dinner and realized that I needed more mayo for the meal. I asked my daughter to get me a jar from the pantry. She pulled out three jars of mayonnaise, which were all attached by a three-ringed hard plastic holder that was inserted around the necks of the jars. Similar to the 6 pack holder, but made of a stronger material.

After pulling out the jar of mayo that I needed I put the other two jars back and discarded the plastic three-ring holder. I later came back to find my daughter with a pair of shears attempting to cut the three ringed plastic holder.

A little puzzled I asked her what she was doing? Her reply was, “I’m saving the ducks.”

Being a little dumbfounded and perplexed I didn’t understand where she was coming from so I asked her how was she saving the ducks? Apparently she had just watched the Disney movie Happy Feet. In one of the scenes one of the penguins had a beer container caught around its neck.

That scene, more than any preaching that I could have done, stuck in her mind. As a result, we make it a practice to cut anything that has the plastic harness to protect the ducks (and penguins for that matter).

Out of the mouths of babes.