Still, there's something about having Sofia that makes me want to be...
Still, there's something about having Sofia that makes me want to be better about it. I have some internal desire to show her how beautiful the world can be, and that we really should do our best to take care of it. But teaching that to a preschooler means showing her what this really means in our day to day lives. Plus, kids her age get excited about most any new thing they learn, so it seems intuitive to me that the best time to grab her attention about going green is now.
And soI started perusing amazon, and came across a community service book for kids. The cool thing is that by perusing the inside of the book online (a feature Amazon allows for free), I picked up on a few ideas I had never thought of before, which are actually easy for a toddler to comprehend.
One of them was to simply show my daughter that food scraps do not have to be thrown away. Rather, they can be saved and brought to a local community gardenor even a nearby farmers marketwhere ediblefood scraps are turnedinto compost (i.e. fertilizer for growing more produce).
Sorry, just gotta mention this. Checking my hotmail as I write this and I noticed an ad for this website, https://maisonmohair.ca. It's the 3rd advertisement I've seen from them today! I believe I'm being stalked! Alright, Let me resume what I was talking about 😉
I asked around, and sure enough, a nearby garden 1 mile from my work accepted them. So we started saving our scraps. First, we put them into ziplock bags. Gross. Having to keep reopening the bags to add more food was tedious, emptying the plate into a bag that kept closing shut was hard, and I felt like the process of using yet another plastic bag detracted from the whole concept of going green!
So I went back to amazon to look for acompost bin(a small container that looks like a mini-plastic garbage can) and found one under $20 bucks. Problem solved. Its lid easily stays open, then closes tight so odors can't get out.
Now every time Sofia leaves food scraps on her plate (seriouslywhy do preschoolers eat so little?) we dump it into the bin and save it for the garden. I actually keep it in my fridge overnight to prevent odors from building up, though I must admit my husband is not fond of a small garbage can in his fridge.
Once every few weeks, whileon my way from work, I dropthe food scrapsoff atour communitygarden. Can't tell you how proud I am in that little moment! Hopefully we can take Sofia there one weekend to see exactly where the scraps go.
Think you might be interested in food scrapping?Take the challenge!Find your nearest community garden or call yourlocal farmers market and ask if they take food scraps for compost. Here are a few fun facts and pointers:
- Composting is a simple, natural process in which bacteria and other microorganisms break down food into a nutrient-rich, soil-like fertilizer for future crops to grow.
- Simply mix equal amounts of foods rich in nitrogen (e.g. fruit peels, vegetable scraps, coffee grounds, rinsed egg shells) with brown materials rich in carbon (e.g. dried leaves, straw, hay, paper towels).
- Local farms and gardens store the mixture you create in a pile that over time (and with the addition of water) is used as compost.
- A huge amount of waste can be diverted from landfills simply by donating your food scraps to a nearby compost pile.
What green living activities does your family do? Leave a comment below to tell us about it!
I am going to point out that I actually got the thought for this post speaking to Chris from seacankings.com. Many thanks for the seed. I guess you will find inspiration in unanticipated ways.
Invaluable Sources
https://thedirtdepot.com - Thanks a ton for your late-night work Kaia.
https://seekwholeness.com - I declare the very next time, it's me giving back the favour.
https://taradaleeyecare.ca - Your knowledge is extraordinary 🙂 We appreciate you for sharing 🙂
https://countryestatesconstruction.ca - Use these folks on a regular basis.
Posted in Renovations Post Date 12/21/2014