MOM’s Organic Market’s ER Blog

As you prepare your dinner in the evening or crack those eggs to make your favorite cake, what do you do with your egg shells, vegetable clippings or even your leftovers? If you are a person that throws them directly in the trash, you are essentially throwing away gold. Your food scraps can be collected and composted in your yard to create a beautiful nutrient rich additive for your garden. Once composted, it is essentially the same thing that you are buying for $8 a bag from your local gardening shop.

So, what is composting? Good question. You are essentially taking all of your food scraps and putting them in either a) a pile in the corner of your yard or b) in a closed container with ventilation. The key to both of these is that the food waste is getting plenty of air as well as the heat from the sun. You mix the food clippings around once every couple of days and before you know it everything starts working together to break it down into what looks like soil. If done right, it should be unrecognizable and soil-like in about 40 days. The compost is not meant to replace soil, but meant as an additive, as it containers millions of the good nutrients that soil needs to be healthy and that plants need to grow well.

Sometimes the biggest difference you can have in your home all starts with a push of a few buttons. What I’m talking about here is the change in your thermostat settings. In finding the right thermostat and settings for your home, you can save money on your heating bill and reduce your carbon footprint.

Here is a small list of things to get you started:

1) Find a thermostat for your home that you can program for the week. You can program them to shut off when you leave for work, come on 20 minutes before returning home and change temperatures and certain points during the day. This will help save you time and can save as much as $150 a year on utility bills.

2) Adjust your thermostat down 2 degrees in the winter and up 2 degrees in the summer. For every 1 degree you turn your thermostat down in the winter and up in the summer, you save 2% on your heating and cooling bill.

3) Instead of adjusting your thermostat when you’re cold, put on a sweatshirt and grab a blanket. In the summer when it’s too warm, turn on a ceiling fan to keep the air circulating.

Instead of packaging your left over food or packing your lunch in plastic baggies, aluminum foil or even a paper bag, get creative and use the containers floating around your drawers and refrigerator. Old washed out butter tubs, yogurt containers or even spaghetti sauce jars can serve as a great and cheap alternative way to store your food. If you’re not fond of this idea, invest in a set of Tupperware containers. Not only are you ultimately saving on waste, time and money, but you are also giving a helping hand to the environment.

Paper! What can I say about paper? We have come to depend on paper products as a day to day staple. Whether writing a shopping list, reading the newspaper or purchasing a box of cereal at the grocery store, we are consuming paper products at a rapid rate. In fact, each year, the average American consumes 580 pounds of paper products annually.

Here are some tips on reducing your paper consumption and giving the environment a helping hand:

1) Reduce, reuse and recycle your paper products.

2) Request that your name be taken off mailing lists for what we call “junk mail”

3) Make double sided copies when printing something out

4) Make scratch paper from loose paper you have lying around

5) When purchasing paper, look for a high recycled content label on the packaging

6) Think about the products you purchase and invest in products with minimal packaging or buy in bulk.

7) Instead of using a paper towel or napkin at meals, invest in or make your own cloth napkins

If you have a computer, switch over to online banking and bill paying.

9) Take a reusable bag shopping with you. This will help cut down on your dependence on natural resources like paper bags and, if you are a MOMs shopper, you get $.10 back. Win / win situation.

10) Did I mention the 3 R’s?

If you talk to most waste removal companies or landfill stations, you’ll find them telling you that you can go ahead and throw your batteries right in the trash. In fact, recent figures suggest that less than 1% of batteries in the U.S. are recycled once used.

Not too long ago batteries contained the element Mercury, which made batteries a hazardous waste product. Now days, Mercury has been mostly eliminated from batteries and now are seen as “safe” or “ok” to throw away. Think again! Batteries contain sulfuric acid and lead which, if not disposed of in a responsible manner, can cause damage to the environment. (Not to mention all of the metals and plastics that can be salvaged from the battery to be recycled and kept out of a landfill!)

So, what are your options here?

1) Before going out to buy new batteries for all of your battery needs, consider purchasing rechargeable ones in their place. Rechargeable batteries are designed to last a long while and can be recharged up to 1000 times. The initial cost of the rechargeable batteries with charger will run you a few extra dollars, but, they will ultimately save you money from buying new batteries and the cost of gas to get there.

2) At the very least, if you choose to opt out of rechargeable batteries, save your used batteries in a container and drop off at a location that will recycle them for you, like MOMs. MOMs collects batteries and ships them off to a company that strips the batteries of all the metals and plastics that can be recycled and then disposes of the remaining waste in a responsible manner.

Conserving our natural resources is vital as the world’s population grows and pollution and contamination becomes more and more prevalent. There are simple changes that each of us can do in our day to day routine to help lower our water consumption and help save you money on water and heating bills.

1) Turning your water faucet off while brushing your teeth can save you as much as 5 gallons of water per brush.

2) Taking a bath in a full tub of water can consume as much as 70 gallons of water, whereas a quick 5 minute shower will only consume 10-25 gallons of water.

3) When doing a load of laundry or running your dishwasher, be sure to run them on a full load. The average washing machine consumes as much as 40 gallons of water. Better yet, if you’re in the market for a new appliance, look for the Energy Star label. The Energy Star label means that it is more energy and water efficient, and approved by the EPA.

4) While running your water, waiting for it to get that nice toasty temperature, you are essentially wasting as much as 5 gallons of water. Consider catching that water in a bucket and using it to water house plants, wash your floors or even fill up a bird bath in your yard.

5) Get a home water audit. Conducting a home water audit can help identify how you use your water, how to minimize your use, and ultimately help to save you money. For a quick guide to a self conducted water audit, click here.

This April 22nd marks the 37th anniversary of the Earth Day Celebration. Earth Day, started back in 1970, is meant to remind us why it’s important to stop and look at our everyday actions and consider the affects that we are having on the environment. It’s only fitting that Mother Nature gets a holiday of her own. For the entire month of April I will post a new tip everyday on the small changes that you can make in your day to day lives to make that positive environmental impact.

Tip #1 - Energy efficient equipment can save an average household almost a third on their home energy bills with similar savings of greenhouse gases. Consider installing CFLs in place of the old fashioned light bulb, or if you’re in the market for a new appliance, look for the Energy Star label. The Energy Star label means that the product consumes less energy, and if you live in the District, you may be eligible for a rebate.

When you turn on your water faucet and that endless stream of water shoots out, do you ever wonder where that water is coming from? When you are cleaning your kitchen floors and rinse your mop out in the sink, do you ever wonder where that will go once it goes down the drain? When you are out in your driveway washing your car, do you ever wonder where the run off will go? Chances are that this all becomes part and has come from your watershed.

What many of us don’t think about and take for granted is the “endless” supply of clean water. All we have to do is turn on a faucet and, boom, there it is. But what do you think happens to that water supply when you factor in different stresses on the resource: population growth, pollution, human ignorance, a changing climate, etc? Think about it. Chances are pretty good that in our lifetime, maybe sooner than later, you’ll see a shortage on this natural resource. Face it, we’re already there, we’re in crisis, but it hasn’t reached that point of no return yet.

Here is a small list of things that you can do to help protect your watershed…

* In order to help protect your watershed, you must first understand it. Take a walk down a local waterway or find a map of your region displaying all the tributaries into your watershed. If you live in the Maryland, DC, Virginia area, you are all part of the Chesapeake Bay or Potomac Watershed in one form or another. To learn more about Potomac Watershed visit the AFI here or for the Chesapeake Watershed visit the Chesapeake Bay Program here.

* Look into area watershed clean-up projects. Help to pull the garbage and illegally dumped products, such as tires, old cars and couches, out of the water and help restore the fragile ecosystems.

* Practice water conservation. Turning off the water while you brush your teeth can save up to 5 gallons of water per brush. If you have a car, wash it on the lawn with a biodegradable earth friendly cleaner. This takes care of your car and waters your lawn from the runoff. Only run your dishwasher or clothes washer when full. Try to cut your shower time in half, or shower every other day.

* Change starts in your home. Raise awareness among your household members and extend it out to your community about your watershed and how we can all help to contribute to a cleaner environment.

* The cleaners that we use in our homes and places of work don’t just disappear when they wash down the sink; they get into our watershed. Use earth friendly cleaning products around your home and out in your yard. This will help minimize your impact on the things entering into your watershed and ultimately back through your pipes. (There is a large selection of earth friendly cleaners available at MOMs.)

Do you remember the days when you were a kid and how magical and exciting falling snow was? Do you remember running out into the yard, holding out your arms, turning your head up and opening up your mouth so that you could catch a few of the falling flakes? Last night when I saw the snow falling in my DC home, I did just that. I ran outside and stuck out my tongue to catch some flakes. It was then that I stopped and really thought about what I was doing. Could I be ingesting pollution in form of a snow flake?

There is scientific evidence that suggests that the pollution in the atmosphere is just floating around up there and will bind to water droplets. When the conditions are right, the water will drop in form of rain or snow, which then re-deposits pollution whereever it may fall. Imagine that. Imagine all the different chemicals and compounds from different sources of pollution that could be floating around up there, causing that tan haze in the afternoon hours, the red sunsets and ultimately the things that are floating around up there that is causing the topic that are on the lips of so many; global warming.

A prime example is a study site on Mt. Rainier in Washington state. There have been scientists studying the snow fall and snow packs up high on the mountain, and they have found traces of pesticides and other compounds that are so dangerous that they are illegal in the United States. When we release chemicals and compounds into the environment, we aren’t only hurting ourselves, we are hurting the rest of the nation and the rest of the world. Something to think about.

This blog isn’t meant to stop you from appreciating rain or snow. It is meant to inform you of potential dangers and the effects that we have on the environment.

Recently there has been a lot of talk on my blog about unwanted pests, so why not continue along the same lines with fruit flies, as I’m sure they plague more than just my kitchen.

Do you ever go into your kitchen, perhaps walk near your trash can, maybe throw something in your recycling bin or put a dish in your sink only to have a swarm of small flies dart away? If so, you’ve got a fruit fly problem. Fruit flies are a problem year round, and don’t favor one season over another. Fruit flies are particularly attracted to fermenting fruits and vegetables, and will also eat the sugars and vinegar produced by natural yeasts on bread, beer, cider, wine, etc. They will swarm fruits and vegetables that are ripened or damaged, lay their eggs and continue about their business.

So, what can you do to help ensure these little guys don’t get out of control? First off, make sure that you take your trash and recycling out often. Trash sitting too long starts to ripen up and send out a dinner bell to the fruit flies. Make sure that the inside of the bins are cleaned out from time to time, to help eliminate build up and the odors that attract them. Install a drain catcher for your sink. This will help catch any food particles before they head down the drain. Fruit flies are particularly drawn to kitchen sink drains, as there is a lot of decaying matter and great places to hide down there.

If these simple actions don’t work in your favor, consider making some fruit fly traps. They are super simple to make, and can be made from items right in your recycling bin. Take an old container, can be a jar or dairy type container, fill half way with vinegar or cider and a slice of apple. Next, stretch some plastic wrap over the top and affix with a rubberband. Poke some holes in the top with a knife or fork. For some reason the flies are attracted and can get in, but aren’t smart enough to get out. You can also take an old 12 oz pop bottle, fill half way with vinegar and a small slice of apple, and create a paper funnel to fit in the hole and tape shut. Again, the flies will get in, but they won’t get out.