It's Great to Be Green

There are a lot of great reasons to be kind to Mother Earth. Simple changes your family can make at home, work, or school can make a big difference. Get started, and share your tips and stories, today!

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10 Easy Ways to
Lead-By-Example

~ Leaves, yard trimmings and food waste make up 23% of the material Americans send to the landfill.

~ Composting hastens the

decay of organic material

so it can be returned to the soil in a form usable by plants.

~ Composting provides nutrient rich soil which help plants and flowers thrive.

~ Composting is simple to do and is beneficial for the environment.

Benefits of Composting:

~ Applying compost to your yard and garden improves the soil and encourages healthy plants.

~ Beyond beautifying the landscape, healthy plants help clean the air and protect soil from erosion.

~ Using compost can reduce or eliminate the use of chemical herbicides, pesticides, and fertilizers.

~ The overuse of synthetic chemicals has been a leading cause of water pollution.

How to compost:

~ Start a compost pile using leaves and grass clippings.  Corral the compost with a frame (compost bin).

~ Leave the compost open, do not cover the top.  After one week, begin adding coffee/tea grounds, egg shells, and fruit/vegetable clippings to the pile.

~ Turn and mix the pile periodically.  Compost should be ready for use in about two months.

~ Lastly, enjoy the benefits of the rich soil.

Ideas and resources presented on this page are intended to stimulate thinking about reuse.  Information that is presented here by RussellCountry.com should not be construed as recommendations, either expressed or implied.

Going Green
Tips & Ideas
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Economic Benefits of Recycling 

Several studies have shown that recycling related businesses have substantial economic development benefits.

~ A study of 10 states in the Northeast region found that more than 100,000 people are employed in firms that process recyclables or use them in manufacturing. The study also estimates that more than $7.2 billion in value is added to recyclables in the Northeast through processing and manufacturing.

~ A similar study of 13 states and territories in the Southeast found that nearly 140,000 people are employed by firms that process recyclables or use them in manufacturing. The value added to recyclables for that region was estimated at $18.5 billion.

~ North Carolina found in a 1995 study that businesses which collect, process and manufacture recyclables have nearly $1 billion in total estimated sales and 9,000 employees - that's in North Carolina alone.

~ A recent study by the Texas Natural Resources Conservation Commission found that recycling added about $18.5 billion in value to the economies of 12 Southern states and Puerto Rico in 1995.

Recycling Ideas and Recycling
Craft Projects
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Report
The Economic & Ecological Impacts of Recycling in Montana
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Toolbox 
for
Community
Change

Measurement tools are essential to identify and understand the extent of community problems. They are also effective for evaluating programs that have been implemented in response to specific community concerns. Take a look at KAB's unique set of measurement tools for communities.

A Few Reasons Why You Should Recycle!

Recycling Saves Natural Resources - By making products from recycled materials instead of virgin materials, we conserve land and reduce the need to drill for oil, dig for minerals, and cut down trees.  One of the first environmental lessons many children learn, cannot be overstated.  Half the Earth's forests are gone, and up to 95 percent of the original forest area in the U.S. has been cut down.

Recycling Saves Energy - It usually takes less energy to make recycled products; recycled aluminum, for example, takes 95 percent less energy than new aluminum from bauxite ore. Using recycled materials not only cuts down on the energy used in the manufacturing process, it dramatically reduces emissions of greenhouse gases and other air pollutants. For example, recycling one ton of glass results in energy savings of more than 300% and lowers carbon dioxide emissions by 3.46 tons.

Recycling Saves Clean Air and Water - In most cases, making products from recycled materials creates less air pollution and water pollution than making products from virgin materials. Turning trees into paper uses more water than any other industrial process in the U.S.

Recycling Saves Landfill Space - When the materials that you recycle go into new products, they don't go into landfills or incinerators, so landfill space is conserved.

Recycling Saves Money and Creates Jobs - The recycling process creates far more jobs than landfills or incinerators, and recycling can frequently be the least expensive waste management method for cities and towns.

KEEP AMERICA BEAUTIFUL
FIVE-STEP ATTITUDE CHANGE PROCESS

Get the Facts - Research the littering problem (or other community improvement issue) in your community, and gather information from the Litter Index and the Litter/Solid Waste Survey. Interview field professionals and leadership. Assemble all pertinent data in writing.

Involve the People Get the Facts - Identify the people who have the most influence over this particular issue. Let them know what you would like to do. Find how it can match their own interests, and capitalize on their interest in developing the program. Let them involve people they know or with whom they work. The volunteer network will spread. Delegation is the key.

Plan Systematically - Once the leadership and other key individuals are in agreement, develop a plan of action. Utilizing effective management techniques, the group commits to this plan of action with the aid of Keep America Beautiful programs and resource guides.

Focus on Results - Your goal will be to achieve measurable results in litter reduction. All activities and projects should be planned programs designed to target and change negative attitudes and practices.

Provide Positive Reinforcement - Give those who worked on the project appropriate recognition. This can take many forms, but a sincere “thank you” is a first step. People must feel positive about their efforts with you if they are to sustain their interest.

Composting: Make Your Own Fertilizer And Reduce Trash  
by Jena Luthovski

Composting for your home garden is a win-win situation. You get fertilizer for your garden without buying and hauling costly bags of fertilizer from the store. Your local landfill gets less trash. A good deal all the way around. Let's say you'd like to get started composting but have questions like how long it will be before your compost is usable for fertilizer, and will it make your yard smelly to have a compost container there? What can I put in compost? Here are a few basics to get you started.

When deciding what can go in your compost heap, it is good to know how composting works. Basically, composting is the process of breaking down and decomposing materials. The key to composting for your lawn or garden is having the right mix of materials, air, and heat, so that this process is controlled. If the process is not controlled, you will end up with rotting or mold instead of usable compost. If you are composting at home, you can simply start a pile in the corner of your yard. You (and your neighbors) may find this unsightly however, and it also will break down very slowly, taking a year or more before you can use it. Using a compost bin, particularly one that allows you to rotate or move the material around, will not only contain your compost in a more attractive way, if used properly, it will help your compost break down faster and be usable sooner.

For ideal composting to occur, you need the right mix of materials that contain carbon, and those that contain nitrogen. For home composting, your carbon materials may come mostly from your lawn, like dried leaves, while your nitrogen materials are more likely to come from your kitchen, like vegetable leaves. Compost will need to be moist, but not too wet or too dry. If you live in a particularly dry climate, or the weather is beginning to get colder, you may need to add some water to your compost pile. Your compost will also need air in order for the bacteria to operate optimally. Mixing your compost, or aerating it, occasionally will assist in this. Some compost containers have tumbler features and can just be turned. This is one easy technique that will make your compost degrade faster and be garden ready sooner.

By now there are probably plenty of books and tools  to help you make better choices for the environment. Does the busy person need to start making changes today?  Everyone does! 

Get informative, comprehensive and practical information for adopting greener buying habits and identifying earth-friendly products, shopping for green products locally or online, participating in online activism, and learning from hundreds of eco-tips for cultivating a sustainable environment. 

Develop a plan, acquire new tips, read books and use Internet resources so you can follow-through on good intentions.  Search for extensive product label listings to help interpret how some foods are produced.  If you haven't invested in substantially greener behaviors, consumerism and politics because you didn't know how or thought it was difficult, help is here.  It's easy Going Green for all those who aspire to do more to protect the environment but want it to be simpler.

You can make a difference!

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