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Mandatory Composting Begins in San Francisco Today
Beginning today, the city of San Francisco will require both businesses and residences to compost food scraps and biodegradable products or risk a fine for not properly sorting their garbage. While other cities require recycling service and participation, the law, which Mayor Gavin Newsom signed into effect in June, is the first nationwide to require the collection of food scraps and other compostables.
A study by the Department of the Environment found that 36 percent of what San Francisco sends to landfills is compostable, primarily food scraps, and 31 percent is recyclable — which is mostly paper.
Casa Verde: Ed Begley's Top 5 Ideas For Going Green at Home
Environmentalist extraordinaire and star of hit eco show Living With Ed, Ed Begley Jr. recently chatted with Green Muze about his ideas for green living. Ed also shared his ideas for the top five ways that people can go green. Many of them are surprisingly easy!
Cool Idea: Multitasking Countertops
On a recent trip to Austin, TX, I stayed at the Park Lane Guesthouse, an eco hotel in one of my favorite neighborhoods. The whole house was beautifully restored (I'll share more pictures soon), but I was particularly impressed with the multitasking ingenuity of this hand-tiled countertop. Near the sink, a small, blue glass handle emerged from the tile.
Cool Idea: Composting Bags
According to the US Environmental Protection Agency, yard trimmings and food residuals make up 25 percent of the total waste sent to the dump. By composting, you can help to reduce the amount of garbage sent to landfills.
SunChips, which is an advertiser on our site, is one of the companies working to green its business practices, and I wanted to highlight its good work in this area.
Casa Verde: CowPots
They might not be the most glamorous choice, but CowPots are a brilliant gardening idea. Invented by brothers Matt and Ben Freund, these Connecticut dairy farmers were looking for a way to make their farm more sustainable. And since dairy farms all produce manure as a free byproduct, the brothers started there.
Garden Therapy: A DIY Compost Bin
Craftster member Gwydion has inspired me to use the extra lumber left over from some home projects to build a new compost pile. I'm tired of wrestling with my flimsy plastic composter, which seems to never stay in place and whose top always folds into the compost itself. Yuck!
Primer: Vermicomposting
Vermicomposting, or vermiculture, is a method of composting that uses worms, either red wigglers or red earthworms, in addition to bacteria, as a catalyst for the decomposition of organic waste. It can occur on a large (tons) or small scale, but it's particularly suited to kitchen composting, where space is limited. To set up a vermicompost, you first must find a bin, anything from a reused plastic bucket to a retailer compost bin, that has holes in the sides to allow air to flow, and a spout that can be opened or closed or holes in the bottom to drain into a collection tray.
Does Your City Compost?
Of course, you can always start composting at home, but it's nice to have the option of putting your compost in a green bin on the curb once a week. Here in the Bay Area, we can compost curbside. Does your city have this service?
Crave Worthy: Vermicondo
Levitt Goodman Architects, known for their fab prefabs, decided that worm composters posed an ugly problem for modern apartment dwellers, who lack access to backyard gardens. So, they designed the Vermicondo ($1,500), a multilevel condo for worms. Vermicondo consists of a series of shelves, an element that eliminates the need to muck through worm leftovers.
Garden Therapy: Seedling Surprises
Look carefully. What you should be seeing in this picture is a row of feather-thin, red-stemmed beet seedlings, which poked out of the soil a week ago. However, you're also seeing a few much larger seedlings.
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