Home › Forums › Open Discussion › How “green” are you? How do you do it?
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June 9, 2008 at 11:45 pm #626859
carrisimaMemberI started my own Vanpool when my groups was transferred to downtown Bellevue. The crazy thing is how hard it’s been to find enough riders, even though most businesses PAY for it for their employees! I think that carpooling is a much more immediate way to green your ride than just about any alternative transportation (and I’m including riding the bus as a big carpool :-) )
I also have about 27 canvas/recycled plastic bags that I spread out amongst all of our vehicles so that we remember to use them!
My husband just picked up some wood marked “free” at a construction site and made a beautiful worm bin out of it.
Thanks to everyone on this thread for the great ideas! We have a long way to go but have lots of great ideas.
June 10, 2008 at 1:05 am #626860
ShibaguyzMemberCounter top compost bucket, Met Market… got it…
Gonna try to find links for making our own cleaning products.
We have several canvas bags but I think we’d better get more. That seems to be the key: to get enough canvas bags so that you have them wherever you go! We even forgot again today!! *bangs head against the wall*
Here’s something we didn’t think about until last year: fertilizers that are fossil fuel/petroleum based. I had no idea products like Miracle Grow were that environmentally unsound!! We made sure not to use any on our garden we planted here.
June 10, 2008 at 4:48 am #626861
ShibaguyzMemberYou all got us thinking about this… well… you all and the new Green cable channel. We found a personal emissions calculator from the EPA. Opened our eyes…
http://www.epa.gov/climatechange/emissions/ind_calculator.html
June 10, 2008 at 8:21 am #626862
JanSParticipantShibaguyz…are you familiar with the Environmental Home Center, now called ecohaus? All sorts of great things there…paint, building materials, flooring, carpets/rugs, furniture. On 1st Ave. S., south of Spokane Street..
June 10, 2008 at 8:29 am #626863
ShibaguyzMemberThanks for that link! Bookmarked and already planning our first visit to their showroom. LOL We’re getting ready to paint the upstairs rooms and refloor the patio room. Perfect timing! Thanks!
June 10, 2008 at 8:54 am #626864
JanSParticipantI should say that I used their paint for the first time in 1998…it’s more odor free than other paints…and they’re amazing at matching colors…I had a color swatch from True Value, and the guy called a friend at Madison Park True Value and got the “code” for it…matched perfectly. I like their housewares ..esp. the bamboo…and the recycled copper vases, etc.
Now…there are other paints that I have used,too, the standout being Devine Color paints..they are truly amazing paints…the history of them is interesting…a woman from the Pac. NW decided to venture into it when she couldn’t find what she wanted at regular paint stores. I have painted two different offices using this paint, and it’s absolutely wonderful…you can find it at Miller Paint stores (Burien), and McClendon’s in WC..and I like the fact that you can have them mix the paint with “half” color, for a lighter shade, or however you want it mixed…it’s great stuff…
http://community.seattletimes.nwsource.com/archive/?date=20041031&slug=homecolor31
June 10, 2008 at 4:13 pm #626865
rs261MemberBenjamin moore also has low voc paints(I dont think they have no VOC paint yet…), which cover quite well. My wife, as a past career, was an interior architect/designer, I’m going to try and drag her to BPP on saturday, if we are there, chat with her about enviromental friendly options.
One thing everyone with “biodegradable” doggie pickup bags needs to make sure of is that they do not say “Biodegradable, except by california standards” (the blue rolls say this). California is the only state that actually has a biodegradable definition. Basically, the blue rolls of doggie cleanup bags are just made of plastic, and will biodegrade…just over 100’s of years.
The woman at devine color is very interesting, we’ve talked with her once or twice on art walk days…
June 11, 2008 at 2:23 am #626866
ShibaguyzMemberJune 19, 2008 at 5:47 pm #626867
ShibaguyzMemberOkay… blue bags cleared from the list.
Anyone else with ideas we can steal… um… I mean… LEARN from? LOL
We’re still looking for an option for composting. We’re going to try to clear out enough space in our garage to put a small bin down there. There is NO SPACE in our garden for a larger bin and the other Shibaguy isn’t particularly thrilled with me composting in our garage either. Any solutions??
June 19, 2008 at 6:11 pm #626868
WSMomParticipantMy sister has the 5 tray Worm Factory compost bin and it is very compact and would easily fit in a corner of your garden.
I use the compost bins from the city of Seattle and mine are full of worms. They aren’t very pretty, but I get a lot of good compost out of them every year. Is there room near your garbage can and recycle containers??
June 19, 2008 at 7:44 pm #626869
charlabobParticipantOK, now I’m really going to show my basic ignorance about gardening–what’s the difference (in functionality) between mulch and compost?
I *think* I want mulch but I might want — something else entirely! Or both! I’m pretty sure I don’t want something that requires me to love (or put my hands in) worms. :-)
Tell me soon–the Casa gardeners are coming to mi casa on Saturday!
June 19, 2008 at 8:01 pm #626870
WSMomParticipantThis is my understanding…
mulch is a material (like bark dust) that you put around your plants to keep out weeds – mulch can break down over time and enrich your soil
compost is super rich soil created from broken down leaves, grass, food scraps etc that you work into garden soil to add nutrients for your plants
there’s probably a better explanation out there, this is my attempt
June 19, 2008 at 10:01 pm #626871
charlabobParticipantThanks! I think I’m getting close and I suspect I’m making this more complicated than it is.
I work the compost into the soil; then I plant plants; then I put mulch around the plants. What I was thinking/worried about was that the weeds would react to the compost and thrive. The answer is, yup, they will — hence, the mulch.
There may be a graphic novel in all this someday…a war between the compost and the mulch with worms officiating. Sometime down the road I’ll want to compost before planting but for Saturday I want put mulch around my plants after they finish weeding. :-)
June 19, 2008 at 10:14 pm #626872
ErikParticipant“I work the compost into the soil; then I plant plants; then I put mulch around the plants”
…
Then you do the hokey-pokey and turn yourself around…
…
that’s what it’s all about!
June 19, 2008 at 10:23 pm #626873
charlabobParticipantOh-oh — I may have to wait ’til September, post-surgery, for the hokey-pokeying.
June 20, 2008 at 12:02 am #626874
JanSParticipantwell, hurry up September, then…I need a hokey-pokey partner :) Doc gave me the thumbs up today, said I can now bend more than 90 degrees, do my exercises that they gave me today, and come back in 10 months – YAY….
now…about that garden that we’re dancing around..Erik, you are too funny…thanks for the laugh :o)
June 20, 2008 at 12:45 am #626875
JoBParticipanti love the city composting.. just throw the stuff in the bin and let them put it to good use…
to collect veggie scraps in my kitchen.. i bought a tall ceramic jar with a rubber seal on the lid and i put them there till it is either too stinky or too full and dump it is the bin outside.
since it is ceramic, it cleans easily.. and since it is decorative.. it looks good while it works hard.
mine has a lid that is easy to remove with one hand which also helps.
and.. i got it on sale at a discount store.. so it was cheap.
better would have been goodwill..
June 20, 2008 at 1:11 am #626876
charlabobParticipantI think our ants would do weight training and lift the ceramic lid, JoB. We’re reduced to putting our sealed compost on the side porch, since I opened the jar once in the house and — you don’t want to know.
Speaking of critters, does anyone know whatever happened to Seattle Slugs? I haven’t seen one for years. (Not that I’m complaining, mind you–just wondered if this was yet another loss (!) to the global warming/climate change.)
June 20, 2008 at 2:04 am #626877
WSMomParticipantDon’t worry, the slugs are all at my house munching on my broccoli and spinach. I have snails too. I kinda like the crunch when I step on the awful buggers!!
June 20, 2008 at 2:09 am #626878
charlabobParticipantWSM, you know about beer, right? (Not in general, specifically, about slugs’ fondness for beer.) I had slugs in Massachusetts and someone told me to put out bowls of beer. I did and the little suckers dove right in and happily drowned. Of course my Glab also liked beer and thought slugs floating in beer were the perfect appetizer. But it does work.
Maybe if I just never get around to planting my vegetables the slugs won’t ever return.
June 20, 2008 at 3:35 am #626879
GreenSpacesMemberRE: low or no VOC paints
When we painted our townhome in August when we bought it, we used Devine paint. It is very expensive but it is of a great texture and generally you only need one coat instead of two so maybe you are coming out even. Authentic Home here in West Seattle was a dealer. The owner of Authentic Home also has come out with her own no or low VOC paint line, so you should check her out – don’t even have to cross the bridge.
Re: Floor covering and if you are going to ecohaus – Check out Forbo Marmoleum. We love this natural linoleum product and now it even comes in click plank floating floor and even a novice like my husband was able to do the floor in an entire room in a cool pattern all by himself – and that includes moving the piano. Check out my blog for a post about it in the past few weeks.
RE: Aerogarden
It is great for herbs. The salad greens kit they sell tho is pretty flavorless. The whole point of TILTH (the quality of soil) is to give flavor and nutrition to plants/food grown in the soil. When you switch to hydroponic you do start to lose some flavor. But I also had bought the Master Gardener seed pod kit that lets you plant your own seeds and the microgreens mix I got at West Seattle Nursery was quite good.
June 24, 2008 at 4:01 am #626880
pamMemberJust found this posting so am answering the original question – how green are you – We have expanded our veggie garden from ‘let’s throw a couple seeds in the dirt to see what happens’ to planting with a plan and hoping to garden year round. Recycling more and more, was so proud this week when my garbage can was only 3/4 full and the recycling bin was overflowing. Bought a pur water filter for kitchen sink and quit buying plastic water bottles (which I’ve always reused anyway). Using the library more, always shopping at yard sales. Could do a lot more but getting better…
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