Starting a Worm Farm

Would you like to cut the amount of trash you send to the landfill by 50%? I did by starting a worm farm!

What is a Worm Farm?

Worm farming or vermi-composting uses worms to convert kitchen scraps; newspapers and junk mail into potent fertilizer. Since I started my vermicomposting I have reduced the amount of trash going to the landfill by 50%.

How Do I Get Started?

Starting a worm bin is easy. You can purchase a bin system or build your own. I ordered my worm bin and worms from WormCrusader.com where you will find many resources to help get you started. They even have videos that walk you through all aspects of worm farming.

Through research I discovered there are many different kinds of worms. Red wigglers are recommended widely for vermicomposting because of their voracious appetite. I placed my order for a Worm Factory 360 and 1 pound of worms. The Worm Factory 360 is a square shaped set of 5 stacking tray bins.

The bottoms of the trays are mesh so that the worms can move from bin to bin. The tray bins stack on a pedestal with a built in collection tray for the wonderful byproduct worm tea.

I set up the bin per the very detailed instructions using moistened shredded newspaper and coir brick, coffee grounds, crushed eggshells and veggie scraps.

Worms work best when the temperature is between 60-80 degrees Fahrenheit so I keep mine in the garage during the coldest and hottest months and in an attached enclosure the rest of the year.

Once my worms arrived in the mail all I had to do was add them to the prepared bin. Within days I began to notice them turning the contents of the bin into fertilizer! I keep several bins going at once and feed the worms once or twice a week.

What Do They Eat?

Worms like all kinds of paper products including magazines, cardboard, dryer lint, vacuum dust, coffee filters, cardboard egg cartons and junk mail. They also like fruit and baker’s yeast and veggies and limited amounts of breads or cereals. Worms do not like garlic, onion and citrus. These foods can harm your worms so it is important to keep these foods out of your kitchen scraps. Aim for a 50/50 mix of kitchen scraps and fiber materials.

At first you will have to get used to maintaining the right moisture level. Too wet and you can have smelly bin which is not a good sign. But you also do not want a bin that is too dry. Moisture is introduced with your kitchen scraps so it really depends on the types of foods and how moist they are as to how much extra water you might have to add. You get the hang of it pretty quick.

Here is a nearly finished bin!

Geothermal Energy for the Home

As with many renewable energies for the home, the cost can be a major setback to taking the leap toward green.  Geothermal isn’t really an exception, although some of the additional benefits can make it the easiest first step for your home.

Geothermal heating and cooling systems work by using the earth’s consistent temperature to provide a much more efficient system to keep your home cozy.  Besides the earth being heated from its core, approximately 50% of the sun’s heat is absorbed by the ground.  Making the earth a very sustainable, renewable energy resource.

There are a few different types of installations, but for most American homes, a closed vertical loop is the most common.

A vertical loop is the preferred method for homes with less than an acre of yard space.  It requires 2 (or sometimes more, but usually 2) holes to be drilled, on average 400 feet deep.  Some installations in specific areas can only require 100 feet, but up to 400 feet is common.  As you can imagine, the work and machinery required to coordinate can be a considerable cost component, usually ranging from $4000-$10000.

The way it works is this.  The earth keep a fairly consistent temperature beyond 6 feet under ground, usually around 55 degrees fahrenheit.  So rather than a traditional HVAC unit having to heat the outside, above ground air from 10 degrees on a cold winter night, it only has to heat it from 55 degrees.  Easily you can see how much less work your system would have to work to heat your home to a cozy 72 degrees.

Equally, cooling your home from a steamy 100 degree day, only having to push the cooler air from within your geothermal system into your home and circulate the hotter inside air out, the system can utilize about 1 energy unit that a traditional system would have used 5 to perform the same function.

This ultimately results in less electric or gas usage as well as providing a cleaner air into your home.  Without having to force the outside air through, and only recirculating the already contained air, a more pollutant free environment exists.  A second perk that doesnt allow for a equal comparison to traditional systems.

Also, if you opt for a water heater hook-in, any excess heat generated from the geothermal units will be shofted to your hot water heater so it also has to work much less.  During the summer months, when the system is cooling and has no use for the hot air generated from the system itself, shifting this to the hot water heater has shown to alleviate almost all of the electricity needed to heat the water.  This gives you plenty of hot water for free during these months.  Depending on where you live, it can be a good portion of the entire year.

Keep in mind that there are similar components to the system with one big exception, no outside units spinning fans and weathering the outside rain, snow and heat.  All of the components are either within your home or in the case of the loops, within the ground.  This extends the life of the system considerably, many quoting 20-50 years (20-25 for the inside components and 50 for the ground loops).  Yet another perk for low maintanence and better longevity of your system.

So how much does it cost?

Obviously it can very, and having not yet had one installed in my own home I do not have an exact price.  However, I have recently been given a quote for $40,000-$60,000 for a complete system with all of the bells and whistles for a 3500 sq foot home.  They also stated that it would most likely be at the $40,000 range but when drilling 400 feet into the earth you sometimes don’t know what you are going to bump into.

Considering the low maintanence, no outside units to contend with, less pollutants, energy savings and overall great feeling to have tapped into this renewable energy resource, it is a very strong possibility this homeowner will be making the switch.

Alternative Energy Made Personal

Trains to Nowhere…

Driving across 10 states to visit relatives for Christmas was an eye-opening experience. Two days into the trip, as the land began to flatten out; I noticed power plant smokestacks trailing plumes of smoke into the crisp, blue winter sky. Each smokestack was followed by one or more trainloads of coal moving steadily toward each power plant.

I soon found out that a 1,000 megawatt coal fired electric plant burns a mile-long train of coal every day. That equates to 11,000 tons of carbon fuel. The carbon footprint to harvest, transport and burn all that coal is enormous! Multiply that by 365 days each year for each of the 400 plus power plants in the US and you can appreciate the magnitude of the pollution problem surrounding these coal fired power plants. (By the way this is approximately 1.6 billion tons, per day)

Why would you continue to build new plants?

It seems the US does not take all this pollution and the alternative energy challenge seriously because according to the EPA, 159 new coal fired power plants are in the works. Even worse, across the ocean China builds one new coal fired power plant every week.

Time to Take Control

Until the energy hungry corporations and utilities embrace less polluting and more renewable energy options concerned citizens of the world should take steps to reduce energy demand and reduce the need to build some of those planned new coal fired power plants. Small gestures on a grand scale can make a huge difference.

Use these five easy tips to reduce your energy consumption.

• Turn lights off when you are not in the room.
• Replace traditional light bulbs with more energy efficient alternatives. My local power company even sent two free compact fluorescents right to my mailbox.
• Try turning your thermostat down one or two degrees in the winter and up one or two degrees in the summer.
• Turn your hot water heater temperature down a few degrees: most people won’t even notice a difference.
• Don’t leave your porch lights on all night.

My dream is to drive across the US and see only windmills and solar panels instead of smokestacks and coal loaded trains. Using these five strategies is an important first step for all of us in taking control of our carbon destiny.

Diva 2.0 – My Renewed Quest to Go Green

In 1988 I sat in my kitchen with several neighbors and a representative from the county government discussing ways to get curbside recycling service in our neighborhood. That same day my girlfriend Linda and I started an experiment to see if we could live without paper towels, paper napkins and plastic baggies. I did it successfully for four years. The county moved us up to the front of the list for curbside recycling pick-up and I’ve been recycling ever since. Unfortunately, the ban on kitchen paper products and baggies eventually fell by the wayside.

if everyone in the United States tied their annual consumption of plastic bags together..the chain would reach around the Earth..760 times!

Almost 20 years have passed and I have just completed my first 30 days without disposable shopping bags. And, yes, I have even renewed my pledge to life without all those paper products. I refer to this time in my life as Diva 2.0. The new and improved Diva will not sacrifice the good of the planet for mere convenience.

Recycling and composting are second nature now, but I want to do more to reduce the amount of waste I contribute to the landfills. To keep it simple and make changes that would stick with me I chose five things to start with.

Use Reusable Shopping Bags

First, I would only use reusable shopping bags. According to ReusableBags.com, each year we introduce 1 billion single use plastic bags into our environment. In fact, the average American uses between 300 and 700 plastic bags per year. I was shocked to learn that if everyone in the United States tied their annual consumption of plastic bags together in a giant chain, the chain would reach around the Earth not once, but 760 times! I certainly do not want to continue to be part of that problem.

Americans will buy an estimated 25 billion..water bottles..22 billion will end up in a landfill

Recycle and Replace Disposable Plastic Bottles

Second on my go green hit list was plastic water bottles. This is an important issue because most people do not recycle their water bottles. The Container Recycling Institute says Americans will buy an estimated 25 billion single-serving, plastic water bottles this year. Eight out of 10 (22 billion) will end up in a landfill. Even though I am pretty consistent recycling the bottles I felt I could easily eliminate them altogether if I could find a good alternative. My perfect bottle had to be similar size and be very easy to clean.

Luckily after searching around my local stores for a few weeks I found the perfect bottle at Co-Op America’s Green Festival in Washington, DC. Kleen Kanteen offers several sizes in a slim shape and with a wide mouth. The slim shape fits into a to-go bag and into my car cup holder. The wide mouth makes these very easy to keep clean. I did notice the Klean Kanteens in my local MOM grocery store last week or you can order them online.

Like most of us I already have filtered water available on my fridge. Now that I am used to filling up in the morning and tossing the bottles into my bag before I leave for work I don’t even miss the plastic.

Replace and Compost Paper Products

Based on past successes I decided to make the third item on my list a renewed pledge to stop using paper towels and paper napkins. Then I found out that you can compost these paper products so I am using a combined strategy to compost paper towels and switch to cloth napkins.

Replace Disposable Containers

Fourth, I would stop buying and using disposable containers for leftovers. Once I started mentally keeping track of the number of baggies I used and then threw away I became more motivated to stop. I am a little ashamed of the stockpile of bulk gallon and quart sized bags I have in my basement. I am transitioning to alternative storage for leftovers and will save the storage bags for times when I really need to use them. I did look on the internet and found a special dishwasher insert to clean your baggies so they can be reused. I haven’t tried it yet, but I did mark the site on my favorites and just might give it a try.

Use Energy Efficient Lightbulbs

Switching my light bulbs over to compact fluorescents is the final item for my initial go-green campaign. This is a fairly simple, but not inexpensive exercise. For now I have a small stockpile of bulbs waiting to be swapped in as the old incandescent bulbs burn out. I even convinced my contractor husband to switch to the compact fluorescents. Now he leaves behind few with every job. The prices appear to be coming down on these bulbs and I have to say that with the current cost of energy this item makes good fiscal sense.

my goal is to get out of the store today without any plastics bags

These five changes have been easy to incorporate into my daily life and I am confident I can sustain them well beyond my old record of 4 years. The water bottle goal and the reusable bags were the hardest to implement. These two changes involved changing and adopting new habits.

The plastic shopping bags have the extra dimension of dealing with store clerks who have their routine down pat when ringing up your merchandise. It was frustrating the first few times when they stuffed my items into a plastic bag and I had to really be forceful and say I did not want the bag. Watching them then take my item out and ball up the plastic bag and toss it in the trash was tough. I felt I really did not accomplish anything with that interaction.

I am getting better. Now, I walk right up and place my stylish reusable bags on their counter and say, “my goal is to get out of the store today without any plastics bags.” Then I offer to help bag the stuff. That seems to work pretty well.

Diva 2.0 is off to a great start!