by Wonder Worman | Oct 28, 2010 | Less in the Landfill
For the past 3 months in the Wonder Worman household, we have been been using cloth napkins and rags instead of paper towels and paper napkins. I wanted to think of another way to cut back on the amount of trash we were contributing to the landfill. Composting the food waste with the Red Wigglers is going well. I have occasionally thrown in some napkins from dinner but never those with cleaning residue so I decided to use the cloth solution.
We already had a stash of cloth napkins given to us as gifts for the holidays, house warming, and Cinco de Mayo (My favorite time of the year!!). We also had a variety of rags from old towels and t-shirts. I thought I was set and didn’t need to purchase any more. Well, that changed this week. I started thinking about how I had increased the amount of laundry loads. Now, I was worried about the water and energy being used to keep these clean! I was determined to find a solution to increase our supply of napkins therefore decreasing the amount of times the napkins and rags needed to be washed. So, I decided to make my own napkins. We have a beautiful sewing machine that was given to Little a for Christmas. She uses it often to create pillows and “fun stuff”. Now, it was my turn to make some napkins. For those of you that know me, I AM NOT a person that sews, but I was determined to give it a try for the sake of the planet! I did some on line searching and found a cool site! Link is below.
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| I picked this fallish fabric! |
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| Set the template on the backside of the fabric and traced with a pencil. I don’t own fabric chalk?! what is that any way?? |
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| Fabric cut in squares. I would’ve called it done but knew the sides would fray. |
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| Finished! I used Little a’s orange thread! Thought the contrast was cool. Plus, it was already set up on the machine, and I have trouble rethreading the bobbin and then threading the needle and all of that sewing stuff that you have to do on the machine! |
Here’s the link (click here) to the site where I found the set of instructions. Really quick and easy! Next set of napkins will be made from Max’s too small oxford shirts! Recycling our clothes will be fun and will give us something to talk about when friends and family come over. Don’t worry, I won’t use our underwear!
by Wonder Worman | Oct 10, 2010 | Less in the Landfill, Red Wiggler World
My neighborhood is cool, especially my block. I live about a mile from downtown which is an easy walk to restaurants, shops and the beautiful Deschutes River. We are on a busy street, but looking at this picture you really couldn’t tell. That’s because this is the back alley. A place where the kids ride their bikes, scooters and skateboards, and the parents can let them without worrying about traffic. This alley has hosted many parties and gatherings in the warmer months and sled and snowboard races during the winter months.
I also have some really sweet neighbors. Yeah, they are sugar and spice and everything nice, well some of them (just being honest here), but what I mean is… they are sweet…. as in “cool”. Most of them know I am the Wonder Worman and have hoards of Red Wigglers on the side of the house. They tell me they don’t mind! Some actually think it’s pretty cool and some, well…. are a little “grossed out.”
Some have their own compost piles and others bring their food scraps to this blue bin located by the alley. They are helping to keep my sidekicks happy and healthy. I am thankful for their waste and am happy to see them do what is right for our planet!
I think this type of Neighborhood Drop Off Waste Collection Bin (I just made that up as I am typing this. LOL!) could work in many neighborhoods. If you have a worm bin and have neighbors who are not into composting, you could start a collection bin. Give it a try! Then after a year of feeding the wigglers, you could share the castings and beautify your flower beds in the neighborhood.
Just a thought!
Happy Wormin’
by Wonder Worman | Sep 28, 2010 | Less in the Landfill, Red Wiggler World
I really loved writing yesterday’s post about my Jenn and Jack! Not often do I stray from my more technical wormin’ posts, but when I do, I have fun, especially when I have such a vibrant topic, Jenn and Jack!
Yes, the purpose of my visit to the HA Ranch was to hang, party and have fun, but I am always looking for new things to do with the Red Wigglers…new things for the wigglers to munch on. Since these are manure worms, and they do eat llama and alpaca poop there would be no reason why they wouldn’t feast on bunny poop. As long as the conditions are ideal, they would do fine.
I’ll get to the more worm related part of the post in a few seconds. I wanted to show you the pictures of the fluffy bunnies first! This is a Californian Bunny. They are so cute and have awesome markings! I prefer these guys over these……
….The New Zealand!
Bunnies are soft, hoppy and bouncy, but these are just plain freaky! Sorry Jenn. I don’t like their red, devil eyes and the fact that they stomp their babies when they are freaked out! Why do they do that again? Logic tells me because they are startled?? but I think there’s another reason…some technical, bunny reason.
If I had just given birth to 8 or so bald, mice looking creatures, I think I would be a bit freaked out every time I looked at them. Wondering to myself… “How on earth is this possible?”
“How on earth are they going to morph into a cute, fluffy bunny?”
It’s a sight to see if you haven’t….kind of like a train wreck…You just have to take a peek. Sorry, I didn’t take a picture. I think I would’ve barfed.
On to more exciting, rather interesting pictures! Poop!
This is a 22 gallon bin filled with Coco-Puffs! It could actually pass if there weren’t straw pieces hanging out on top.
Jack was so kind to fetch this for me before I left for the little over 3 hour drive back to Bend. I thought he was going to fill a 5 gallon paint bucket for me, but I found this basking in the sun by the back of my SUV. I was a little frightened.
Crap…(ha, ha, ha….couldn’t resist) How was I going to lift it? and Was it going to stink up the car on the ride back? but Jack was a proper cowboy and packed it in next to my bag of clothes!
Well yes, of course a 22 gallon plastic bin of poop was going to stink in 80 degree weather on a dusty road that forced me to close the windows and put on the A/C. ‘Little a’ was patient during the 3 mile drive off their property back to “civilization”. Once we reached the paved road, I cranked those windows down and took a deep breath of chopped onions! That’s because I needed to drive 30 more miles through various crop and livestock farms. So we basked in the various scents, laughing and reminiscing about our always eventful times with Jenn, Jack and the “childrens”.
Well, I made it back to Bend by dinner time. I unloaded the poop and settled in for the night, knowing that I’d tackle my new red wiggler munching adventure in the morning.
So after the kids were in school, I headed out to do my wormin’. I took about 2 pounds of poop and got it sopping wet and then added about a half a pound of worms. Actually, the bunny poop didn’t smell too bad, and the worms didn’t mind. They actually made themselves at home, doing what they do best, burrowing down for a feast.
I put this container outside and put on the lid, making sure it wasn’t sealed shut. I checked on them this morning, and they are wigglin’ around. I am psyched. I have to do some more research on this method of composting!
I know composting with cow and chicken manure is considered hot composting and composting with worms is cold composting. So, I would assume that I am converting hot composting to cold composting??!!! Anyone out there want to comment!
Off to do some research and visit the wigglers……
Happy Wormin’
by Wonder Worman | Sep 23, 2010 | Less in the Landfill
I am excited to share a product introduced to me a week ago. Linda, CEO and Co-Founder of Elements Naturals and Shannon, her PR sidekick met with me at a local, fantastic coffee house in Bend. Linda’s compostable baby wipes are 100% Natural and are chemical and fragrant free. These wipes will break down into usable compost in a home compost pile and soon to be tested in my Wonder Worman Super composting Worm Bin!
Now that my kids are way past the diaper stage…Nice for me!…, I have started using these wipes for our hands rather than their bottoms. (I am happy they are no longer pooping in their pants, but I do miss their baby smell.) These wipes are super soft and hold up to the wear and tear of removing dirt from grimy hands.
I have also used them for cleaning my key board. They have just the right amount of moisture and are not sopping wet. I think I’ve used 4 so far and will be tossing them into a worm bin over the weekend.
Here’s to a cool compostable product!! More later! Happy Wormin’
by Wonder Worman | Sep 20, 2010 | Less in the Landfill, Red Wiggler World
I try to clean out the veggie drawer weekly (lately it’s more monthly) and remove the yucky fruits and veggies that are beginning to look like a science project! This week wasn’t so bad. I suppose we have been eating a lot of fruits and veggies or maybe I didn’t buy enough!
Rotting iceberg and red leaf lettuce and mushy grapes are now being eaten by my red wigglers. No matter how bad they look to us, the worms don’t mind one bit. The nastier the better as long as there isn’t a rotting smell because it will continue to smell in the bin.
by Wonder Worman | Sep 19, 2010 | Less in the Landfill, Red Wiggler World, Worman Cooks
Tonight, as a request from the family, I made a favorite dish.
Sausage, peppers, onions and garlic on a loaf of fresh bread with melted cheddar cheese is a very filling, non diet type meal, but oh man is it tasty!
While I was washing the peppers, I thought about writing this blog to show the scraps that would be fed to the worms.
As I am typing this, I have to avoid looking at the picture because I am so full and the sight of the sausage is making my stomach turn. I am not much of a sausage eater and decided a few recipes ago to change from pork to turkey. In this dish, you really can’t taste the difference. I think the veggies mask the flavor.
So after all of the slicing and dicing, this is what is left for the red wigglers. There is the onion’s top and bottom and a bit of its outer layer. Although many vermicomposters say to avoid onions, I have found that maybe one onion a week is not so bad.
There is also the center and top stem of the peppers. When it’s time for me to dump them into the worm bin, I will make sure to get rid of the seeds. Not that the seeds will harm the worms, they won’t eat them and will be left behind in the compost.
I thought it would be cool to share the final, yummy dish. The picture looks odd to me!! Not too appealing, maybe because I ate so much of it and I am full!!
On a side note, not worm related, I grew up eating this awesome sandwich at Italian Feasts on Long Island many, many years ago. So many memories come rushing back each time I start cooking!
Till next time, Happy Wormin’
