PLEASE SAY NO TO THAT PLASTIC BAG! Did you know that it takes 1,000 years for that bag to break down?
Coming soon... You can buy produce bags directly from us! They are cool, stylish, and ECO!

Buy canvas bags and take them to the market with you, so you can say no to PAPER BAGS, too. Save the trees, save the planet!

Please say no to the PLASTIC water bottle you carry around with you! It takes forever to break those down and makes us dependent on oil! Instead try carrying around a glass water bottle. Eden water company makes a glass water bottle you can buy at Wholefoods Market.

All the reasons why we must recycle!

Every year, Americans throw away 50 billion food and drink cans, 27 billion glass bottles and jars, and 65 million plastic and metal jar and can covers. More than 30% of our waste is packaging materials. Where does it all go? Some 85% of our garbage is sent to a dump, or landfill, where it can take from 100 to 400 years for things like cloth and aluminum to decompose. Glass has been found in perfect condition after 4,000 years in the earth!

Some Recycling Facts

• Recycling 1 ton of paper saves 17 trees and 7,000 gallons of water
• Recycling one aluminum can saves enough electricity to run a TV for 3 hours
• Recycling one glass bottle or jar saves enough electricity to light a 100-watt bulb for four hours
• Recycling one ton of plastic saves the equivalent of 1,000-2,000 gallons of gasoline
• More than 30 million trees are cut down to produce a year's supply of newspapers

Sources: http://www.blm.gov/education/lnt/background/packing.htm

Read what a researcher discovered:

William Rathje is a "garbologist". He is the founder and Director of the Garbage Project, which conducts archaeological studies of modern trash. This University of Arizona professor and his students have been collecting data about solid waste since 1973.

Rathje and his team found newspapers from the late 1970s that were still readable. Rathje's research also shows that for some kinds of organic garbage biodegradation (the rotting process) works for a while and then slows down or stops. For other kinds, it never starts to break down at all.

Rathje and his team of garbologists plan to conduct more digs to find out why paper and other organic waste degrade slowly in landfills. "It's not a pleasant task," Rathje says, "but someone has to do it."

Sources: http://www.eia.doe.gov/kids/energyfacts/saving/recycling/solidwaste/landfiller.html

I recently found out that it takes 500 years for a DIAPER to break down in a landfill.

There are earth friendly options out there! Here are two, that I know of:

you can find organic cloth diapers by visiting: www.environgentle.com

and flushable diapers here: www.gdiapers.com

Here's a little blurb from their site...

500 years is a long time...

It takes up to 500 years for a disposable to biodegrade in a landfill. Just in time for your great, great, great, great, grandchild's birth. Not a very nice baby gift.

Loaded down with JUNK MAIL? Here's the solution: Send a letter to the following address:

Direct Marketing Association Mail Preference Service
P.O. Box 9008
Farmingdale, NY 11735-9008

Composting ~

How to compost

Whether you live in a country cottage with a strawberry patch the size of an Olympic pool or a high-rise city apartment with flower pots for a garden, the time to start composting is now. Yes, composting will make your garden happy, but it has a double environmental payoff: Composting keeps waste out of landfills, and it fertilizes without chemicals. In other words, it isn't just for you- it's for all of us.

But what the heck is it? “Composting is simply the process of breaking down plant materials to form humus, a cakelike soil that’s so rich it’s basically the world’s best fertilizer,” says Gayla Trail, author of You Grow Girl: The Groundbreaking Guide to Gardening and creator of www.yougrowgirl.com.

Just think of it as recycling, only instead of plastic bottles and aluminum cans, you’re recycling dead leaves and carrot peels. (Just like regular recycling, there are things that can and should be composted and those that shouldn’t. Stay tuned for more on that.)

Don’t think you have a lot of appropriate trash to compost? Take a look at the state of our landfills today and think again.

WHAT GOES INTO OUR LANDFILLS

• Yard waste (leaves and grass) makes up approximately 20 percent of the waste stream or about 230 pounds per person per year.
• Food waste makes up about 9 percent of the waste stream or about 100 pounds per person per year. Much of our so-called trash is “green waste"-grounds, leftover salad and the scary stuff found in the back of the refrigerator.

BENEFITS OF COMPOSTING

• Keeps yard waste out of the landfil- reducing methane emissions, which are a factor in global warming.
• Reduces ground water contamination, which helps conserve natural resources.
• Reduces erosion when used along roadside embankments.
• Helps plants grow larger and stronger, making them better able to resist pest attacks.
• Helps the soil hold water.
• Feeds the soil, replenishing valuable nutrients. Getting started...

There are several basic tenets to consider before you start your own green-waste recycling system including size, water and air.

SIZE

Even apartment dwellers can compost. If you don’t have a yard, you can try vermicomposting—that is, composting with worms (not icky ones, and no, they won’t take over your apartment!). Worm composting can be done in just the space under your sink; 3x3x3-feet is the minimum space recommended for a full-size compost pile. With vermicomposting, “benefi Cial bacteria break down kitchen waste into little packages for the next guys in the food chain—the worms—to eat,” explains Alane O’Rielly Weber, creator of wormlady.com and an instructor for the Master Composter Program of San Mateo County, CA. Th e worms in turn give you rich, moist, odorless compost. For this job, you need a particular type of worm called red wigglers, sold at garden centers, bait shops or online.

WATER

Water your pile until it feels like a wrung-out sponge, no more, no less. If it’s too dry the organisms will simply die from dehydration. If it’s too wet, they’ll drown. Glistening is just right.

AIR

The organisms in your compost pile will suff Ocate without air. Stir the pile once every week or two to let air circulate. Now you just need to decide which system of composting is right for you.

Which method?

COMPOSITION

If you choose hot composting, here are the basics: Put your bin in a level, shady spot, then add a few inches of brown material (see “Items You Can Compost,” right), then a thin layer of green material and fi Nish with a thin layer of brown. Next, sprinkle the compost with water (again, so it’s just damp). A blend of carbon-rich (brown) items and nitrogenrich (green) goodies makes for happy microbes. Stick to the “two parts brown to one part green” ratio when you add to your pile, and always fi Nish with brown on top. Finally, you’ll need to turn your bin. You can do this as often as every few days or as little as once a month, but the more you do it, the faster it will “cook.” In about six months, you’ll fi ND a brown, earthy mixture at the bottom of your bin—homemade compost!

Troubleshooting

Problems with a compost system usually are solved easily. Here are the three most common concerns:

THE SMELL

The solution? Add more brown materials like leaves to balance nitrogen-rich food (like fruits and vegetables) or cut down on water. A well-balanced pile will smell like a forest floor.

PESTS

The solution? Don’t include:

• Animal products or animal feces
• Fatty and oily food scraps

HARD WORK

The solution: Try a time and back-saving compost tumbler.

WORM TROUBLE

If you choose vermicomposting and your worms are getting sick, avoid garlic, lots of onion and anything spicy or salty, as they can poison worms. Keep in mind that every few months the worms will have cute worm babies. Worms restrict their breeding to match the food available and the size of their bin, so overcrowding is unlikely. If you do feel like you have extra worms, don’t liberate them to the outdoors (they can’t tolerate cold temperatures); donate them to an elementary school or greenhouse.

Local programs: another option

Fortunately most cities today have programs to help you save space in your trash bins, including annual leaf drops, holiday tree recycling and branch collection from pruning or post-storm cleanup. Most of these services manage the waste and make it available as useable compost or mulch completing the natural cycle—growth, death, decay and reclamation.

The bottom line

We can do our part to replenish nature by becoming home composters and supporting local reclamation programs. So take up a new hobby, change a couple of habits and help the planet upon which we live not only survive, but thrive. You’ll fi nd that all of these methods are fairly low maintenance once you get going. And the best bit is, once you’ve fed your garden with this free, fabulous humus, your plants will thrive like never before.

Items you can compost...

• Dead leaves
• Sticks
• Dead (but not diseased) plants
• Wood chips
• Corncobs
• Dryer link
• Crushed nutshells
• Shredded unbleached cardboard, like egg cartons
• Fireplace ashes
• Shredded newspaper
• Coffee grounds and filters
• Dead flowers
• Fresh cuttings and grass clippings
• Human hair
• Tea bags
• Vegetable and fruit scraps
• Fresh grass cuttings
• Pet Hair

Items you can't compost...

• Meat
• Dairy products
• Bones
• Seafood
• Cooking oils
• Peanut butter
• Mayonnaise
• Office paper and junk mail
• Colored paper from magazines or newspaper inserts
• Pet waste or used cat litter
• Weeds
• Ashes from your grill