kmkat and her kneedles

Socks and YouTubes.

Here are the socks I finished on vacation. Please curb your enthusiasm.

Yarn: Zwerger Garn Opal Zirkus/Circus, color 2006.

Further details here on Ravelry.

These are a little bit wrinkly because, sheesh, block socks? Are you kidding? The wrinkles disappear as soon as I put them on my feet.

Weird thing: the heel on the sock you can't see is 3 stitches off-center because apparently I cannot count. Didn't discover it until I was doing the heel on sock #2.

::cue foreboding music and worry that sock #1 will always and forever twist on my foot when wearing it::

Didn't happen, whew.

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Kudos to Chris for finding this YouTube. Coffee, meet keyboard.

While we are YouTubing, here is something the same but different.

Another one found via Chris.

Worm composting: apparently idiotproof.

My first step in this zero waste thing was (finally) to start worm composting, something I had contemplated numerous times in the past. Erika generously offered to send me some of her worms, and after having accepted her offer, I realized I had committed myself to actually using them.

Note: Everyone, do NOT email Erika to ask for more free worms! I took all her excess so she doesn't have any more to share. But they are inexpensive and easily obtainable here or here or from any of these places. Or elsewhere; Google is your friend in these matters.

I bought a book several years ago on vermicomposting. It is still available here, or here, or here, or new or used from Amazon.

Unfortunately, it seems to be packed away somewhere and I cannot find it. So I have been consulting the internets for my vermicomposting wisdom. Lots of good information here and here and here (prowl around that last site -- it was started by Mary Appelhof, the Worm Woman Extraordinaire who wrote that book above).

My worm bin:

It is a Sterilite® plastic bin from Wal*Mart (Plastic! Wal*Mart! Oh, the irony!), approximately 15" x 12" x 12" and with a lid. I also bought one that has the same footprint but is much shallower, thinking that I might have to put holes in the bottom of the large bin to let the compost tea, aka worm juice, drain out. So far, no compost tea, so no drainage holes.

Now, before you start thinking of questions to ask me about how to start your own worm compost bin, let me warn you: I am a rank amateur at this and am doing it with little or no knowledge other than that others somehow make it work. There will be no wisdom forthcoming from me.

If this actually works, I plan to move the bin to the under-sink cabinet in the kitchen where it will be handy. Right now it sits on in the middle of the floor in my office so that I can keep an eye on it. The office is not too far away from the kitchen; not as handy as under the sink, but close enough that I don't mind walking over there with a handful of lettuce leaves and tomato cores.

So far, I cannot see that the worms are doing anything but lying around filing their little nails and eating bonbons. The foods that I have put in there do not seem to be disappearing. It should be noted, however, that the whole apparatus has been *operational* for only a couple weeks. Perhaps that is not long enough to see results; more likely, I need to go slowly until my worms make more worms, enough to handle the amount of vegetable waste produced by a two-person household. At least the worms are still alive; I checked last week and they still wiggle.

Since I returned to work on Monday,  I haven't been able to monitor my little friends very closely. They should require far less maintenance than a dog or cat and so ::fingers crossed:: should survive a few weeks of benign neglect.

However, this is NOT what you want to see on the inside cover of your worm bin when you return to it after several days:

This condensation means that the bin was too wet. That happened because I had allowed it to get rather dry last week; before I left for Minneapolis on Monday morning I added about 3/4 cup of water and put the lid on tightly. So now I have the cover off to let it dry out a bit. Again.

I have done pretty much every wrong thing that one can do: let it get too dry, added too much vegetable matter and got a couple fruit flies as a result, added too much water. If My Little Preciouses survive all this worm abuse it will be a sign that this whole vermicomposting thing is largely idiot proof.

ETA: They survived!!! I just stirred up the whole thing and discovered wiggly worms. Yay! This idiot hasn't killed them yet!

As you can tell, I am going into this as low-tech as possible. Some people really get into it. Look at these photos that I found on Flickr of another person's set-up (used with permission):

"The Wriggly Wranch is a multi-tiered system. Once one bin gets full of worm castings, you put another bin on top (each bin has holes on the bottom). In theory, the worms migrate upward to the next level where the food and bedding is. Sometimes a bunch of them linger below munching on who knows what. You don't have to worry about losing any though, they're always multiplying.

"There is a spigot on the side where you can drain the lovely worm juice (that's what I call it anyway). You can dilute it with water and feed it to the plants & garden."

Go look at her whole Flickr set --she shows all the stages of composting and has good explanations. ETA: I just realized I didn't include a link, and now I cannot identify her photostream on Flickr. But search for "worm composting" there and you will find LOTS of photos and ideas for different, low-cost, low-tech, small-scale vermicomposting.

Now to go swat that pesky fly...

Tissues: the real story.

Awhile back one of my blog readers, Diane of Woolnspice.com, raised the question of what was the better way to dispose of used tissues -- trash or flush? Since I had never even considered that issue I had no idea. So I did what any self-respecting, i.e., lazy, blogger would do. I assigned her the task of researching the issue and reporting back.

Which she did! Way to go, Diane!

From her post today:

More Trash I’m overdue in reporting on my special investigation: Toilet or Trash for Used Tissues? This special assignment was Kmkat’s idea and I’m telling you I’ve never gone so deep into the field of trash in my life. Nor am I sure I ever want to walk this way again.

If I were CNN, I’d be announcing this special assignment with extravagant graphics, loud music and Wolf Blitzer pontificating in grim tones.

Since my name’s not Wolf, I’ll just tell you what I learned about the best way to dispose of used tissues.

Short answer: Nobody knows. There are more arguments about the right way to dispose of a dirty tissue than there is about whether a stimulus package is really a spending bill.

Read the results her entire research at her blog here. Although she says above that no one knows, she did uncover enough information that some of us may be able to make an informed decision given our own situation. We have a septic system, so given her findings that tissues do not break down as easily as toilet paper, we are better off throwing them into the trash. Or even better, into the compost pile.

Thanks again, Diane. I love it that you jumped on this assignment and gave us all the benefit of your research, and I love it even more that you jumped into the whole Zero Trash [Challenge] Month with such enthusiasm. My (handknit) hat is off to you!

 

                                  

One word: plastics.

The world's oceans are drowning in plastics.

From boingboing.net:

 

In their continuing efforts to battle the ever growing mounds of garbage polluting our oceans and coastlines, Surfrider Foundation joined forces with Saatchi & Saatchi LA to sponsor the aptly titled Catch of the Day guerrilla ad campaign. Trash was collected from beaches across the US, then sorted, packaged like seafood, and strategically placed around local farmers’ markets. Directly targeting seafood consumers, this creative campaign draws attention to the gross debris littering our oceans and highlights how this pollution affects the consumer directly through the food they eat. Even if you’re not partial to seafood, its hard to miss the message!

As I gaze upon my own garbage, I find that our bugaboo is (Surpise!) plastic and other such nonbiodegradable stuff. Behold, our kitchen wastebasket yesterday:

See that Styrofoam clamshell? We have been guilty of throwing away an astonishing number of those. Since the boys left home and we have become empty nesters, we tend to eat out more. And we tend not to clean our plates like we used to (that's A Good Thing), so we tend to have at least one of these take-home containers in the fridge at any given time.

How to change this? Well, we could share an entree and save money in the process, but that would mean we would have to agree on what to order. Hmmm. I'll work on that. In the meantime, Tupperware to the rescue!

I have a whole cabinet full of refrigerator dishes in various sizes and shapes. Look on that top shelf. There is no reason I cannot solve this Styrofoam clamshell problem forthwith.

Behold! I find that I have only one lid for the two plates; will have to be ingenious to solve that.

So these two plates and lid are now in my (massive) tote bag so that we will always have them with us.

One little trash problem reduced and, I hope, eliminated.

Whew. More recycling tips.

I was actually a little concerned about my advice to save up the Styrofoam meat trays and give them to a grade school or art teacher. My mother, a first grade teacher, saved all that stuff and claimed she used it in her classes, but Hey! That was 30-50 years ago! Maybe that kind of project is Just Not Done anymore.

Sheepish Annie, a teacher in the here-and-now, knows better:

"Most schools are constantly putting out the call for things like styrofoam trays, egg cartons, yogurt containers and the like. It is a great way to recycle items. I have about three billion of those plastic coffee "jars" for scissors and pencils in my classroom. Yarn is a biggie, too. It is a great way to find a home for all the acrylic stuff."

So save the egg cartons and the meat trays and the yogurt cups. Find yourself a school or teacher who wants 'em. Give 'em the #5 plastics and the Styrofoam.

Party on, dudes!

* * * * *

From Fake Plastic Fish, a site that Erika turned me on to, recycling toothpaste tubes:

Tom's of Maine SLS-Free toothpaste comes in a recyclable aluminum tube. Here are the recycling instructions, directly from the company's web site:

In order to recycle our toothpaste tubes, you must first remove the plastic cap and the plastic threaded covering on the neck of the tube. The tubes can then be tossed in with your aluminum cans for recycling. In case you're wondering, any toothpaste left in the tube and the food-grade plastic liner does not affect the tube's recyclability. When the aluminum is processed, any residual toothpaste as well as the food-grade liner melts away without contaminating the recycled product.

If your town does not accept our tubes, please feel free to save up a bunch and send them to us at Tom’s of Maine, Consumer Dialogue Team, 302 Lafayette Center, Kennebunk, ME 04043. We would be happy to recycle them for you.

Disclaimer: I have no connection with Tom's of Maine nor do I even use their toothpaste. Although that will change.

What can you do?

Okay, maybe you think this zero waste challenge might be a good thing. What can you do?

First, read Erika's ideas and my (helpful?) comments:

Item	Alternative
Energy bar wrappers	Sign up with Terracycle’s energy bar wrapper recycling program. Two cents will be donated to the charity of your choice, for every wrapper that you send in.
Dental floss	Dental floss is so little, and yet so important! Throw away used dental floss with my blessing.
Styrofoam and plastic meat trays and wrappers	Buy meat from a butcher shop, or from the butcher counter at the store. If necessary, ask them to wrap it ONLY in waxed paper. Rinse off the waxed paper and compost. kmkat adds: Wash and save all the Styrofoam trays. When you have a pile of them at least a foot high, seek out a grade school teacher or art teacher who wants them as raw materials for children’s art projects. If you cannot find such a person, continue to save them until you do. Or until it becomes the problem of your heirs. (Hey, that was my mom’s solution!) All you vegans out there can continue to feel smug.
Foil or mylar coffee bags	Buy coffee from a coffee shop, or by the pound at your grocery store, using those little paper bags. Compost the bags.
Yogurt tubs and other #5 plastics, if they are not recyclable in your area.	Collect and mail in to Preserve’s Gimme 5 Recycling Program
Vacuum cleaner bags	I finally bought a bagless vacuum cleaner, and dropped my old vacuum off at the thrift store. The contents of your bagless vacuum cleaner can go in your compost bin. kmkat adds: If you, like me, absolutely love your bagging vacuum, you can still compost the bags’ contents and throw away only the bag. Or, if you cut the bag open very carefull, you can probably reseal it with duct tape and reuse it.
Dryer lint	Dryer lint can go in your compost bin. kmkat adds: Note: dryer lint does NOT make a good dust cloth. I figured that out when I was tried it at age 8.
Litter box contents	Personally, I dump all that stuff in an abandoned outhouse here on the property. Could you flush the poops, and throw away the “other” clumps? That would reduce your litter box garbage load by half! kmkat adds: Train your cat to use the toilet! Read about it here: http://www.catsofaustralia.com/cat-toilet.htm
Full plastic bags from walking the dog	I’m not telling you to do this, but I know someone who cleans up after her dog with a sheet of newspaper. She then drops the poops in the toilet when she gets home, and puts the newspaper in the compost bin. The heat in a good compost bin will kill any microbes. However, this method is both A) labor-intensive and B) really gross. kmkat adds: Move to the country. Let your dog poop in the woods. Problem solved

* * * * *

Now, I consider some of those to be Advanced Topics in Achieving Zero Waste. For those of us in still struggling in Zero Waste: The Primer (1st edition), here are some easy first steps:

• Get some cloth tote bags. Carry them everywhere. Decline the plastic bags at the supermarket/big box store/drugstore.
• • Put at least one of the bags in your purse.
  • Put some more in every car you drive.
• If there is recycling in your area, get the latest brochure or check their website. Find out if there are things that can be recycled that you didn't know about.
• Talk to your neighbors. Maybe they have some ideas, maybe you can educate them.
• Eliminate paper catalogs that you don't want. Go to CatalogChoice.org and sign up.

Go, team!

February = zero waste [challenge] month.

This February event is being brought to you by Erika of treesweater fame, Lisa of the big pile of snow fame, and me, of ill repute. If you click on their names you can see their posts on this subject.

Once chance post by Erika on Monday, one chance comment by me later that day, and shazaam! this idea was born. In 25 words or less:

We challenge ourselves and
 anyone else who is interested to
reduce the amount of trash
produced by our/their household.

The ultimate goal is Zero Waste, but as Erika says, Any reduction is HUGE!

Although I am pretty sure I cannot achieve zero waste, that doesn't mean I cannot reduce the amount of waste this household produces. I have declared February to be my reduce-reuse-recycle month. We already recycle glass, cans, plastics, newspapers, magazines, and office paper, and I compost during the summer months. Let's see what improvements on that I can achieve.

It was the Gloucestershire challenge that sparked this adventure. 

Since we were rather taken by surprise by the Gloucestershire thing, we decided to give ourselves a few days to warm up; thus, February = challenge month.  Ericka has a *rules* page here, but really, the only rule is to try. No monitoring sheets, no prizes, just our own efforts.

Y'all will most certainly have some good ideas for the rest of us -- put 'em out there! Promote the idea on your own blog! Download the banners and buttons of your choice to your own servers and put 'em out there!

 

                                  

As someone very wise once said, The journey is the destination. We can but try, but trying will get us closer to where we want to go.

(Banners and buttons by Erika and Matthew (#2 son).)