We all have our 2012, “I wills” right?  I’m not one much for New Year’s resolutions, but even without realizing it, I somehow always have things in the back of my mind that I want to strive for in a new year. It just helps to have a starting point to launch from somehow. So, regardless of whether or not you want to call them “resolutions,” per say, in 2012, I do plan to do more of something, and that something is composting.

In my mind, it’s always been one of those really “greenie” green things that involved getting your hands dirty and some form of earthworm and wasn’t even relevant since I’m an apartment dweller without an inch of garden to my name.  I also generally didn’t even know what I would compost, if indeed I suddenly decided to compost.

Turns out, composting is really easy, even clean if you’d like it to be, and there are some surprising things that you can be and should be composting. If you feel a bit lost like I did, here are some basics on how to compost.

What do You Compost In Exactly?

While most of us envision piles of compost out in the back yard, you don't need a back yard to get in on the composting action!

For containing small amounts of compost at a time to save yourself running outside so frequently, you can easily find inexpensive countertop composters.  You can also use a DIY version, using an empty covered container in the freezer.

For the larger compost pile, if you don’t have access to backyard, you can purchase an indoor compost kit.  For outdoors, you can build your own wood compost box or purchase a tumbler.  Basically, you simply need something that’s covered, will keep out any stray critters, and will allow you to stir it up or tumble it as necessary.

What Are the Benefits of Compost?

Outside of creating fantastic garden fertilizer (it does!), which is what most of us think of when we think of composting, there are many reasons why you should consider composting if you haven’t jumped on the compost train yet.  You ready for a few of my top reasons? Here goes!

• Reduce your home waste drastically (generally by 25%)
• Save money on garbage bills
• Save money on garbage dump-runs
• Lessen your contribution to landfills
• Improves your soil and its ability to hold water (decreases water consumption), improve soil pH (suppresses plant pathogens) and even destroy a variety of pollutants

By far, the two biggest reasons are related to waste and soil improvement: you reduce your own waste and you create a fertilizer that improves soil and helps grow healthier, heartier plants.  If you’re an apartment-dweller without a lawn, let alone a garden, don’t let that deter you.  There are always ample community gardens (even University gardens) who would be more than happy to take that nutritious compost off of your hands.

Where can I compost? Home, office you name it!

Of course you can compost your own food waste in your kitchen, but why stop there? Even outside of the home, you could consider getting your office on board with composting.  In fact, 12% of all municipal waste comes from food scraps and thrown out leftovers. Tossing your shredded paper and leftover apple peelings into a classy countertop composter could go a long way toward greening up your office.

Bring the neighborhood together by organizing a block-wide composting initiative.  You can help provide the information, even organize a “Build-A-Compost-Maker” get together/backyard barbecue weekend.  You’ll all go home with a backyard composter and a new support group in your green endeavors.  Plus, you’ll have the greenest, and probably healthiest, gardens in your area!

What Can You Compost?

Finally, there are some really surprising things that you can compost. Whether you’ve got something from the kitchen, the office, or your last party and you’re wondering if it might be okay, check with this list {adapted from Planet Green}:

Kitchen

• Coffee grounds and filters
• Tea bags
• Used paper napkins
• Pizza boxes, ripped into smaller pieces
• Paper bags, either ripped or balled up
• Crumbs
• Plain cooked pasta
• Plain cooked rice
• Stale bread
• Paper towel rolls
• Stale saltine crackers
• Stale cereal
• Used paper plates (the ones without the wax coating)
• Cellophane bags (be sure it's really Cellophane and not just clear plastic)
• Nut shells (except for walnut shells, which can be toxic to plants)
• Old herbs and spices
• Stale pretzels
• Pizza crusts
• Cereal boxes (torn into small pieces)
• Wine corks
• Moldy cheese
• Melted ice cream
• Old jelly, jam, or preserves
• Stale beer and wine
• Paper egg cartons
• Toothpicks
• Bamboo skewers
• Paper cupcake or muffin cups

Bathroom

• Used facial tissues
• Hair from your hairbrush
• Toilet paper rolls
• Nail clippings
• 100% cotton cotton balls
• Cotton swabs made from 100% cotton and cardboard (not plastic) sticks

Office

• Bills and other shredded documents
• Envelopes (remove the plastic window)
• Pencil shavings
• Sticky notes
• Business cards (not glossy)

Home

• Contents of your vacuum cleaner bag or canister (unless it contains something hazardous, like broken glass)
• Newspapers (shredded or torn into smaller pieces)
• Subscription cards from magazines
• Leaves trimmed from houseplants
• Dead houseplants and their soil
• Flowers from floral arrangements
• Natural potpourri (not the kind with "fragrance")
• Used matches
• Ashes from the fireplace, barbecue grill, or outdoor fire pit

Party and Holiday Supplies

• Wrapping paper rolls
• Paper table cloths
• Crepe paper streamers
• Latex balloons
• Raffia
• Natural holiday wreaths
• Christmas tree (chop it up with some pruners first)
• Evergreen garlands

Do any of you compost? Was there anything on this list that you didn't know you could toss into your compost pile or something I missed? Share away in the comments!

As the days of November tick by and Thanksgiving draws ever closer, it's impossible not to enter a grocery store and now be instantly greeted/accosted with amped up sales and the mass overhauls to utiilize every last inch of floor space with even more food than a grocery store already deems "normal."

While I realize that the majority of us do actually eat more than usual on Thanksgiving (statistically, the average American consumes as much as 3,500 calories at Thanksgiving dinner), I also find it exceptionally hard to imagine that we’re really actually using up all this extra food that's being carted in for our purchase.

So, as much as I love the holiday and as wondrous as I find it to be, the sad fact remains that in general, this day of gratefulness and the biggest "food day" of the year also happens to be one of greatest when it comes to waste.

In reading up on Thanksgiving day food waste, I found many articles related to American food waste in general. The numbers are pretty staggering, and in light of this day coming up, I think they're useful to reflect on.   Some of the more telling statistics come from a recent study at the University of Arizona Bureau of Applied Research.  According to them, average food waste in the U.S. looks something like this:

• Just 5% of our leftovers could feed 4 million people around the entire world for a day
• American retailers (restaurants included) throw out approximately 35 million tons of food every year
• Those 35 million tons of wasted food equates to approximately $30 billion dollars lost
• American households toss out approximately 14% of what they buy
• That 14%  equates to approximately $43 billion dollars of food waste
• And, 15% of that waste was food tossed that was never even opened and not even expired

Now, I don't know about you, but to me, those numbers sound dismal, really dismal.  But, just as dismal as what's happening now, think about what could happen with some change.  In fact, according to the very same study:

If we reduced our food waste by just half, we could reduce negative impacts on the environment by up to 25%.

Now, in my mind, a 25% change in negative impacts seems pretty spectacular, and all that would come simply by cutting down food waste and in turn reduce countless side effects of growing food like soil depletion, landfill use and the amount of fertilizer, herbicides and pesticides that we would go through.

It’s the encouraging numbers like that one that inspire me to eliminate food waste wherever and whenever I can in my daily life.  After all, it’s the small decisions that really add up.

For example, let’s take just the turkey on Thanksgiving.  According to a study by the University of Manchester, a turkey dinner for a group of 8 will produce around 44 pounds of carbon dioxide emissions.  Over half of those emissions come just from the life cycle of the turkey, and according to the Center for Food Safety, it’s going to take nearly 915,000 barrels of oil to produce and ship the turkeys we will consume this Thanksgiving.  Just think of the difference we could make if half of us ate just half the amount of turkey at Thanksgiving that we normally do.  What if half of us gave up turkey altogether?

Here’s my idea: Why don’t we all, as a green conscious, collective group vow to start today with less food waste on the biggest food day of the year?  Do we really need 3,000 calories for just dinner?

Now, don’t get me wrong.  I love Thanksgiving dinner something fierce and I’m all for leftovers, but the point is that there’s no need to do either in excess.  Thanksgiving dinner is just as delicious with normal servings as it is with over 4 times the amount we would normally eat in one sitting (it’s probably more delicious this way actually).

Leftovers are great, if we eat them; in fact, making extra all at one time and then re-serving for extra meals is a very green, energy saving idea.  It’s the leftovers tossed in the garbage that are not so green.  Maybe we only make 3 sides instead of 6.  Maybe we potluck style it so that each family only has to bring one dish. Maybe we plan the leftovers in such a way as to guarantee their incorporation into next week's menu. Maybe we take whatever is leftover to the food shelter or to a neighbor family who could use a little extra.

No matter how much or how little we make, let's end the day having wisely used our resources.  And, in that, we can be thankful.

Image Credit: Creative Commons photo by Tyler Love

One of aspects crucial to living a greener life is purchasing our foods as locally and seasonally as possible.

I have a feeling this is why I love the summer and fall seasons more than any others. I tend to live on fruits and vegetables during the summer months, and when it comes to fall my every other thought becomes apple-centric.  I am also confident there is no smell more wonderful than that of baking apples.  Except, perhaps, that of an apple baking in brown sugar and butter… But, more of that coming later… (stick with me!)  For starters, let’s delve into the very basics: what apples are seasonal now and how to go about picking them.

October-November Apples

Even when it comes to late October and early November, your fall apple choices are still abundant and varied.  Whether you’re headed out to your nearby orchard or you plan on perusing the local farmer's market, try to look for these particular varieties first:

• Red Delicious (September – October)
• Empire (late September – October)
• Rome (late September – October)
• Golden Delicious (early October)
• Stayman (mid October)
• Braeburn (mid October)
• Cameo (mid October)
• Fuji (late October)
• Jonagold (late October)
• Crispps Pink (late October – early November)
• Granny Smith (early November)

Picking Well

If you plan on picking quantities of apples large enough to justify driving to a local apple orchard, pick-your-own options are by far the greenest, most sustainable way to go.  Not only are you supporting local and cutting down all the cost and pollution racked up with hauling the produce, you will be able to more legitimately pick the ripest apples.

A good farmer can actually calculate when the apples are at their optimum ripeness based upon when the tree first flowered.  Since the apples ripen from the outside of the tree in, you can even more specifically narrow in on which apples you should pick and which you should leave on the tree.  As an extra bonus: if you plan on canning or preserving the apples, you can take advantage of using the bruised or fallen apples that might otherwise not be able to be sold (and maybe even get a discounted price on these).

After Picking Your Apples

When the apples are in your baskets and ready for home, do not wash them.  In fact, you should even fully resist the temptation to get them cleaned up before you store them for the winter; this will only make them spoil faster.  Unwashed apples can stay crisp for up to 90 days in a refrigerator.  Minus refrigeration, your next best option is a cool, dark, mildly damp location.  Humidity will protect your apples from withering or shriveling, but beware of taking this too far, as direct contact with water will spoil them.

One last word of caution on storing: if you have a common storage area for fruits and vegetables (like a root cellar), do not keep the apples near potatoes. As they age, potatoes release ethylene gas and this will ultimately make your apples spoil even faster.

Preserving Apples

While it’s nearly impossible to beat a crisp apple in the fall, there’s also little in my mind that tops pulling out a jar of canned apple pie  filling mid-winter or taking a wintry hike through  snow covered mountains with a bag of dried apple chips for some sustenance.  If you are able to take advantage of picking large quantities of apples, I highly recommend you preserve them in some fashion (or fashions).  This will give you that tantalizing taste of sweetness in those bleak winter months when the option for locally grown fruit likely becomes non-existent.  If you’re in need, here are just a few ideas for what you can do with apples:

• Make apple cider
• Whip up some applesauce (frozen or canned)
• Dry apple slices
• Freeze apple slices
• Make canned apple pie filling
• Make apple jams or apple butter

Enjoy!

Finally: as promised: for the easiest, best fall treat ever, try the following, and enjoy!

Baked Apples

• Apples (1 per person -- or 2!)
• Brown Sugar
• Butter or vegan margarine
• Optional: walnuts, raisins, pecans

Directions:

Core out the apple centers to remove seeds.  Place in a baking pan with approximately 1/4 inch of water in the bottom of the pan.  Stuff the apple centers with brown sugar, butter and any additional "extras" you like.  Place in oven and bake at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for approximately 45 minutes or until apples are completely soft all the way through.  For optimum results,  serve with a splash of cream or a dollop of ice cream!

Photo by Becky Striepe