How to Decrease Your Trash Output

Reducing the amount of trash you have to lug to the curb each week is not only environmentally sound, but easier on your back. One simple way to accomplish this is to set up a compost bin in your yard. Put in all non-animal sources of food scraps, mix with yard waste, and you will have some beautiful material for your food or flower garden. If you live in an apartment or condo, use a small-scale composting unit right on your counter top. Check your local library for books on kitchen composting, which takes a bit more effort than the backyard style. Either way, you'll be amazed at the lighter weight of your trash barrel at week's end.

Living Green in 2010

Here we are, 10 years into the new millennium and everything is "green": Green cars, green houses, green clothing etc. Sure, it's a bit of a catchy term, and maybe it will fade away eventually. Hopefully, though, the idea behind it will not.

I recently read an article (somewhere) in which the author contended that only what governments and industry do, as far as trying to help the environment is concerned, matters. According to him, what each of us do as individuals doesn't add up to much at all. I couldn't disagree more. Who, after all, makes up these governments and corporations? If each of us here, just in the United States, made just one small change in our lives per month, just imagine the impact it would have! People who live "green" will take that mindset to the workplace, too.

We live in a wealthy country that uses far more than its fair share of resources. It's not too late to change, though. Also--it can be fun! Join me here a few times a week to see how easy it is to come up with alternatives to toxic cleaners, high energy bills and, sometimes, expensive medications. A nip here, a tuck there--before you know it, you'll be living green and lean, too.