Fresh AIRE

Make the Most of Your Compost

Composting is becoming increasingly popular for both households and businesses, and the environmental benefits are numerous.  Not only does compost enrich soil, but it also helps clean contaminated soils.  Compost can serve as a low-to-no-cost natural fertilizer, reducing the need for chemical-based formulas.  Lastly, diverting what would be landfill-bound trash to your compost bin (and eventually your garden) ultimately avoids the production of methane emissions – shrinking your carbon footprint.

Despite appreciating the many benefits of composting, our apartment was a bit tight for a complex composting system.  (“Honey, should this go in the living room or bedroom?”)  Fortunately, there are many composting options for urban dwellers.  By using a Bokashi bin - just one of many options - we’ve been able to address the issue of having a cozy space with this small “effective microorganism” (EM) system. 

All it takes is an airtight five-gallon bin (stored under the kitchen sink) and a substance called Bokashi, which is a mixture of water, wheat bran, molasses, and microbes.  All we have to do is place alternating layers of our food scraps and Bokashi, and then the microbes work their magic.  These little guys are natural lactic acid bacteria, yeast, and phototrophic bacteria that ferment and accelerate the breakdown of organic matter.  Yes, they will happily feast on your garbage – like these goats, but more manageable.

  The bin can handle everything from veggie scraps to leftover meat.  When we open the bin to add in new layers, the contents have a surprisingly sweet scent akin to fresh soil (read: pleasant).  A spout at the bottom of the bin allows us to drain the ‘tea juice’ which we dilute and feed to our hungry houseplants.  It’s also a very high-speed system.  Scraps break down into a ‘compost product’ that can be dumped outside in just 10 days.  (We take ours to a friend with a yard and a garden.  We are fed brunch in exchange for our garbage.  Win-win.)  It has been a useful solution for us, and it has been downright fun to see our food scraps transformed in the matter of days. 

Is anyone else out there using an EM system?  Does anyone else have any other composting systems that have worked well for their households? 

It's Christmas Tree Collection & Recycling Time

Christmas Tree Collection will be from January 3-14, 2011 on your regular refuse day. 

 

Since trees will be ground into wood mulch, please:

• remove the tree stand
• remove lights and decorations
• Do not place the tree in a plastic bag.

 

During the first two full weeks in January, Christmas trees are collected curbside for residents with curbside refuse and recycling service. Residents are reminded to place the tree on the curb no later than 6 a.m. on your regular trash collection day and to remove all decorations, nails, stands, and plastic bags. After the trees are collected, they will be ground into wood mulch for garden use. Special unbundled brush or metal pickups will be suspended during this time.

After Jan. 14, holiday trees will not be recycled, but will be collected as trash on your regular trash collection day.  After Jan. 14, residents may also resume making requests for special curbside pickup of unbundled brush and metal by telephoning the Department of Environmental Services at 703-228-6570 (703-228-4611 TTY) the day before regular collection from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., weekdays.

Number of the day – 17 BILLION

 17 Billion is the number of toilet paper rolls produced in the U.S. each year.

 

One thing we hear from Arlingtonians is that they don’t always feel that one person, apartment, condo, or home can make a difference.  Today we bring you an example of how one small change is making a BIG impact.

Believe it or not the toilet paper roll is about to undergo its biggest change in 100 years: GOING TUBE-FREE.

You may ask, what’s noteworthy about tube-free toilet paper rolls?  Removing the center tube from a roll of TP will keep 160 million pounds of cardboard out of the waste stream. Companies are thinking creatively about saving money and reducing environmental impacts of their operations.

Scott Naturals didn’t disclose how much money they will save from reduced cardboard use, glue to stick the last sheets to the cardboard roll, or reduced weight in shipping.  However I’m sure this small decision is going to add up to significant financial savings. The tube-free product will be priced the same as their other products.

Keep an eye out for Scott Naturals Tube-Free toilet paper at Walmart and Sam’s Club stores throughout the Northeast. If sales take off, they may introduce the line nationally and globally — and even consider adapting the technology into its paper towel brands.

This is a good example that reminds us that a small change, like removing the cardboard core from a toilet paper roll can have massive impacts.

So remember, when you flip the lights out, install a programmable thermostat, or twist in a new energy-efficient compact fluorescent bulb your actions add up. No matter if it is buying tube-free TP or turning your thermostat down a few degrees this winter, you are making a difference!

More information:

• Under 1 Roof - Arlington Housing Blog
• ARTICLE LINK
• Press Release – First Coreless Bath Tissue for the Home

No Impact Man Opens Friday in DC

No Impact Man opens at the E Street Cinema in Washington this Friday, September 25.

------------------------ Steve Offutt, Arlington

Be a “Green” Jammer!

Think “green” thoughts this summer...especially if you’re taking part in the Dave Matthews Band (DMB) 2008 tour.  When singing along to the tunes, especially the infamous DMB song Tripping Billies, “Eat drink and be merry, for tomorrow we’ll die,” hang on to your bottles and cans!  DMB wants you to take this one seriously and is challenging you to recycle at the remaining shows of their 2008 tour by seeking out the specially marks bins – in exchange for some cool stuff, like front row seats!  It's called 'So Much to Save.'  DMB is going beyond recycling though.  The band’s efforts are known as “The Bama Green Green Project.”  Other cool efforts, like ‘Eco-Rideshare’ - launched to promote carpooling to shows, are taking off.  How cool is that?  And so easy too!!  As if DMB isn’t already one of the sweetest bands around, they’ve just earned extra points in my book.  Keep on jammin’!

Another “Green” Friend?

I can’t take credit for turning another friend “green,” but I would certainly like to boast a bit about her efforts!  A very dear friend came to me recently and shared the details of an interview she saw on TV with Julia Louis-Dreyfus.  In this interview, Julia listed off a host of tips anyone can employ to save energy and live more sustainably.  My friend was astonished by the amount of energy saved in one CFL (80%), and even more so by the impacts of using those pesty plastic bags at the grocery store:  those bags aren’t biodegradable, contribute to litter, harm animals, and require tremendous amounts of energy in camparison to reusable shopping bags. 

This simple interview really pushed my friend into action.  She’s trying CFLs now, considers reusable shopping bags, and, most notably, she’s looking at other ways to reduce her consumption.  She asked me recently, “are those plastic red party cups bad?”  She uses two of these cups a day, only once, and then discards them.  My answer, “YES!”  If you have to use them, reuse them.  But, better yet, get a reusable travel mug – stainless steel are best! 

Having worked in the environmental field for nearly 10 years now, you would think that my environmental habits would extend to all my family, friends and neighbors.  I do have my environmental peeps for sure, but I just don’t like to be pushy to those that aren’t.  My preferred approach is to brag about my “lighter shade of green” friends when they do truly wonderful things for our environment. 

Thanks Friend!

134 tons of fun

I saw the traffic jam Saturday morning of folks trying to get to T.J. for the County's environmental recycling event, E-CARE. More than 1,800 people delivered a staggering 80-plus tons of electronics, enough to fill five tractor trailer trucks; 47 tons of household hazardous materials and more than seven tons of small metal items such as pots, pans, lawn mowers and vacuum cleaners.

If my math is right, each person brought, on average, almost 150 pounds of stuff to recycle! OMG, that is awesome!

Saturday's haul is nearly 20 tons more than has been collected in any previous recycling event. If you missed E-CARE and you have stuff you need to get rid of, no worries! You can visit the County's Household Hazardous Materials disposal facility or Electronic Collection and Recycling Center.

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Diana Sun is Director of Communications for Arlington County, a walking commuter, a new bicylist, and a happy resident of the urban village of Clarendon.

I'm So Proud!

Although my family has always been supportive of my career choice, they have never really understood my interest and motivation in working to “protect the environment.”  But, after more than 14 years of studying and working in the field, I think they’re starting to come around and I’m just so proud! 

I’ve long been deemed the “tree-hugger” in my family and quite frankly, very proud of that.  I wear it like a badge of honor.  Wearing this badge means that I often have to remind my mom to “turn off the faucet” when she cleans up the kitchen counters, tell my dad to “turn off the light” when he leaves a room, or urge my brother to “recycle that bottle” when he’s about to throw one in the trash can.  I try not to nag, but I do look for these instances where an opportunity presents itself and I jump right on in with my two cents.  The best part of wearing this badge is that it has actually rubbed off in some way. 

The best example of this is the decision my parents made in 2003 to buy a Honda Civic Hybrid.  Now, we can’t forget one of the major factors in this decision – the allowance to use the HOV lanes!  Nor can we forget the bottom line benefit of money saved at the pump (the car averages about 40 mpg).  But, we should focus on the fact that by owning this car, my parents are continuing to prevent an enormous amount of harmful emissions that would have otherwise gone into our air.  The decision, as my parents like to say, was a “no brainer.” 

Another example is the fact that my mom now not only looks for CFLs instead of traditional incandescent bulbs, which is a huge leap in itself, she even knows to look for the ENERGY STAR label on the package.  For those not familiar, ENERGY STAR is a joint program of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Department of Energy helping us all save money and protect the environment through energy efficient products and practices.  You can now find the ENERGY STAR label on over 50 product categories as well as buildings (commercial, institutional, and industrial) and homes.  Now, my mom may not know the details of ENERGY STAR, but she recognizes that the cyan blue label means something important.  She understands that it means it will save her money and allow her to one way to “do her part.” 

The greening of my condo building

The AIRE team's "Greening Your Condo Association" seminars and outreach are bearing fruit! Some enterprising folks from my condo building in Clarendon organized a Green Fair, held last night.

What fun! They proved that learning how to go green can be educational and fun, too! When I walked into the building last night after work, the lobby was abuzz. The booths and displays included several of my Arlington County colleagues, who brought CFL demos (and gave away free bulbs) and useful info on recycling, how to buy green power, etc.

Other booths included green-grown wine and coffee (free samples - yum!), a green cleaning service,  Arlington's new "Car-Free Diet," and more. Our building engineer even had a little display! The festive atmosphere made for lively conversation and a fun, communal spirit.

Folks seemed to be very interested in learning how to recycle more and got all sorts of good, practical advice from Jan Guastaferro of our County recycling team. We do recycle in our building, so we're off to a good start, and we can do more. What are other condo buildings doing?

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Diana Sun is Director of Communications for Arlington County, a walking commuter, a new bicylist, and a happy resident of the urban village of Clarendon.

It Happened at the Giant -- No Plastic, Please

This past Saturday, I did it. Oh, I'd been thinking about it for weeks. Then during my weekly grocery shopping trek, it happened. I walked by the end of an aisle at the Giant on Washington Blvd. and I saw the reusable bags for sale. Suddenly, I grabbed four of them and decided on the spot, "It's now or never."

When I went home, ALL our groceries were in the four reusable bags I had just purchased. No plastic bags. (And yes, my husband once again called me "Moonbeam," but he also seemed glad to have an alternative to a drawer full of plastic bags.) I felt a bit sorry for the check-out person; it seemed to take a bit longer for her to organize and place my items in the reusable bags. But that won't stop me from using my reusable bags...and next time I'll help more with that myself.

I was also pleased because more groceries seem to fit in those reusable bags as compared with the plastic bags. Four bags held $135 of groceries vs. the 15+ plastic bags I probably would have had to use. As for cost: they were just 99 cents each -- so it seems worth it.

I may also experiment with getting a few bags from some other stores. For example, I've heard folks say good things about the Whole Foods bags. (You can also find MANY sources for ordering bags online -- just go to Google and search on "Reusable Shopping Bag.") And we need to keep a few bags in the car AND the house -- for those unplanned trip to the CVS, Rite-Aid, Safeway, Westover Market, etc.

Next, I decided to evangelize a bit (with people I knew would forgive me for bugging them!). So, when I got home I called my mom and two sisters and urged them to start using reusable bags when shopping. They actually were a bit more enthusiastic than I thought they might be. And my sister Cindy called a few days later to say she was getting some reusable bags herself. Not only that, she was going to get some bags to give to her card-playing buddies.

Wow, maybe one person -- or a few people -- CAN start making a difference?! Be sure to leave a comment if you have something to share. (And if you're just "lurking" on the blog...be sure to at least read some of interesting comments from other folks.)

P.S. -- Check out these interesting plastic bag facts:

• Some 100 billion shopping bags end up in American landfills each year, according to Worldwatch Institute, an environmental research agency.
• IKEA recently last month began charging U.S. customers 5 cents a bag. As an alternative, the store sells large reusable plastic bags for 59 cents.
• Plastic bags made of polyethylene, which dominate the market, are non-biodegradable and are made from crude oil and natural gas, both nonrenewable resources.
• EPA estimates only 5.2% of the plastic bags and sacks in the municipal waste stream in 2005 were recycled.

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Jennifer K. Smith, 18-year resident of Arlington, AIRE blog manager