Huckleberry NurseryEarth Day 2012
by Philip M. Anderson
We at Hucklerberry Nursery strive to live greener lives that consist of less waste. With Earth Day 2012 just two days away I wanted to share what my own household is like. But first, what exactly IS Earth Day?
From the Earth Day website, “the first Earth Day on April 22, 1970, activated 20 million Americans from all walks of life and is widely credited with launching the modern environmental movement. The passage of the landmark Clean Air Act, Clean Water Act, Endangered Species Act and many other groundbreaking environmental laws soon followed. Growing out of the first Earth Day, Earth Day Network (EDN) works with over 22,000 partners in 192 countries to broaden, diversify and mobilize the environmental movement. More than 1 billion people now participate in Earth Day activities each year, making it the largest civic observance in the world.” Greening Schools and Promoting Environmental Education, Accelerating the Global Green Economy and A Billion Acts of Green® are just a few of their programs.
As a society, I think we still throw away too many things. I joke that, although we try and live greener lives, we still have turned into a throw away society. For example, a toaster that doesn’t work as well, we throw away and get a new one. Products are made to last the duration of the warranty period, but not past that. We throw it away and buy a newer, better product. Great for giving manufacturers more business, not so great for our landfills.
Our 3-bin compost system. There is a lack of dirt in bins 2 & 3 because we just switched it from another location last year. Disregard the Aspen starts in #2. They'll be moved soon.
We still have a long ways to go but we’re certainly getting better. At my home, I’m still amazed on how little actual garbage we throw away. What leftover food doesn’t go to our chickens (ok, or dogs) goes to our compost bin. What can’t go there has gone down the garbage disposal. If it’s a paper product it goes into the burn box to be burned. What’s left goes into the actual garbage (chicken bones, soiled foil, wine bottles, etc…). Don’t get me started on the lack of recycling that is around here or the wine bottles would go there. Our area only JUST started back up with recycling cans, so THAT’S good.
Our garbage needs to be picked up just once a month because of all these things we do. And we don’t even THINK about doing it, it just has become a natural habit. Our house is just one house, one family, but we can still improve, as well. If EVERYone created new habits that lead to greener living our world would be so much healthier. The new normal, right?
At Huckleberry Nursery we endorse green fertilizing and natural weed killing. There are nasty, NASTY pesticides that ruin our soils. There ARE alternatives. We’ll write about that, and more, in an upcoming blog post.
What are YOU doing for Earth Day 2012? Leave a comment below or come visit us on our Facebook Page. You can always Tweet your garden questions or statements, if that’s what you’d prefer to do.
Thanks for reading and we’ll see you at the nursery!