Ducks 4 in '24

NO, this isn't ME!!!!
I liked this article, and the author reminds us that you need browns to compost in the winter and we don't always add enough.
www.gardenbetty.com

10 Clever Ideas For Repurposing an Old Christmas Tree - Garden Betty

What to do with a dead Christmas tree? Anything BUT throw it out. Once you see these 10 brilliant ideas, you'll want to ask your neighbors for their trees too!
www.gardenbetty.com www.gardenbetty.com
 
@Phaedra reminded me about feeding landfills.

Phaedra's Adventure

Well, I think my thread is better under random ramblings, as not always garden-related, especially in the winter months. A new start - let me share two tarts I accomplished today - Flan Tart with Dark Chocolate Ganache and Caramelized Pecans I also used the homemade Vanilla extract (Vanilla...
www.theeasygarden.com www.theeasygarden.com
I need to contact the local place where I recycle metal (scrap and aluminum.)
I keep reading articles that say that NO plastics are recyclable. I haven't been recycling plastic, but, if this is a lie I intend to start.
I had to switch to non scented laundry detergent, which is a powder, so now I burn a cardboard box when empty, instead of a plastic jug.
I can certainly recycle jugs that held distilled water, for DH, bc they don't even need cleaning out.
I have been working hard not to use one use plastics. At least I try to use them one more time before the landfill consumes them.
I still collect my coffee grounds and dump them in my garden beds all year round.
Whatever vegetable scraps don't go into my broths also end up in the garden beds.
I truly believe that "Climate Change" is a hoax.
I also believe that we WILL have a landfill crises if we do not address it.
Certainly the floating plastic garbage patches are a real thing and shouldn't be.
It used to be that you could get your groeries in a paper sack.
Then, people complained that we were causing deforestation. We were NOT, it was forestry that practiced clear cutting, which is unnecessary. A little more work and harvesting can select trees and create healthy forests, where the forest floor is moist, and there isn't dead debris that becomes dry kindling, like out west, where massive forest fires occur every year.
This time of year I get to read...and watch gardening programs.
Here is one of my favorites, about 18th century gardening at Colonial Williamsburg.

GardenSmart :: EPISODES :: 2022 show38

Episode pages feature show transcripts from GardenSMART television show and plant lists, 2001 to the present day. Gardening tips are offered for the home gardener, in print and video. Garden/gardening articles are added weekly and questions are answered, all related to gardening in the...
www.gardensmart.tv

This is a program that spells out just how to maintain your forest while you harvest from it.

GardenSmart :: EPISODES :: 2021 show50

Episode pages feature show transcripts from GardenSMART television show and plant lists, 2001 to the present day. Gardening tips are offered for the home gardener, in print and video. Garden/gardening articles are added weekly and questions are answered, all related to gardening in the...
www.gardensmart.tv
 
Aldi lets you buy paper bags, if you wish. I do and I store mine up. When I clean my bathroom and floor I use paper towels, collect them in a paper sack, and they go first into my "burn barrel," a plastic garbage can repurposed to fill up and move burnables outside to my firepit or the 2 other places where I burn them with yard waste.
Aldi and other stores made a real push to buy their reusable grocery bags and I see many people still use them.
Aldi also offers the cardboard boxes that their products are shipped in for their customers to use instead of plastic garbage bags. Even THEIR plastic grocery sacks are very well made and you WANT to reuse them, instead of buying more.
Just some thoughts to keep us on the straight and narrow. ;)
 
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ducks4you said:
Aldi lets you buy paper bags, if you wish. I do and I store mine up. When I clean my bathroom and floor I use paper towels, collect them in a paper sack, and they go first into my "burn barrel," a plastic garbage can repurposed to fill up and move burnables outside to my firepit or the 2 other places where I burn them with yard waste.
Aldi and other stores made a real push to buy their reusable grocery bags and I see many people still use them.
Aldi also offers the cardboard boxes that their products are shipped in for their customers to use instead of plastic garbage bags. Even THEIR plastic grocery sacks are very well made and you WANT to reuse them, instead of buying more.
Just some thoughts to keep us on the straight and narrow. ;)
Click to expand...
I don't how it works where you are @ducks but here we can't buy any more old school plastic bags at the grocery store. Like, at all. This is a pet peeve of mine, not becaue I like plastic, I think ocean floating plastics are a tragedy, but because 95% of items at the grocery stoes where I shop are packed in plastic. So they (industry) can pack EVERYTHING in a plastic bag/container, but I can't have one single plastic bag to carry it out as a courtesy. I can't even buy a 5 cent one anymore. However, they do sell 50 cent to $5.00 'fabric' bags which are made of plastic. And they break! lol
 
My limited understanding is that many plastics are difficult/expensive to recycle into useful plastic.

Recycling as waste to fuel seems like it would be more preferable than landfills. The plastic replaces fuel that would otherwise be collected and burned to produce electricity. I have read that plastic can also be burned in steel production.

There are also developing uses in paving roads, replacing or supplementing asphalt.

Steve
 
At the food bank where I volunteer, we are grateful for the plastic thin tee shirt bags that are no longer used. We use them to wrap single rolls of TP. All day long, every day.

People turn in their heavy duty plastic bags (not the fancy ones) and sometimes the WalMart blue fabric like bags. We use those for produce, for dairy and for dry goods. (Every client gets a filled produce bag, a filled dairy bag and a couple/tree non food items.

I use the purchased fancy bags - most of them I've gotten for free from estate sales or from the Goodwill bin store.
 
ducks4you said:
Aldi lets you buy paper bags, if you wish. I do and I store mine up. When I clean my bathroom and floor I use paper towels, collect them in a paper sack, and they go first into my "burn barrel," a plastic garbage can repurposed to fill up and move burnables outside to my firepit or the 2 other places where I burn them with yard waste.
Aldi and other stores made a real push to buy their reusable grocery bags and I see many people still use them.
Aldi also offers the cardboard boxes that their products are shipped in for their customers to use instead of plastic garbage bags. Even THEIR plastic grocery sacks are very well made and you WANT to reuse them, instead of buying more.
Just some thoughts to keep us on the straight and narrow. ;)
Click to expand...
It was made illegal several years ago for supermarkets in my state to dispense or sell plastic grocery bags, but most of us had been using reusable bags by the time that was put into effect. They can and do sell paper grocery bags, but there's not much demand for them. I shop at Hannaford's which is a New England chain, and sometimes at Shaws.

We have an Aldi's but when it opened a number of years ago, I made an exploratory visit and was less than impressed. They lacked the most mundane household items like dish detergent or paper towels, and had zero organic food options. What they did have were enormous quantities of a few items, like disposable baby diapers and some kind of cheap plastic kids toys if I recall correctly. Their inventory resembled mostly that of a dollar store. They might have improved since that time, but I've never been back and see no reason to re-visit them.
 
Phaedra said:
I worked in the plastic industry for more than 20 years and will love to share some thoughts later after my bagels are out of the oven. Plastic isn't evil, but the way people use and waste them is.
Click to expand...
No matter how plastic is used, it eventually breaks down in time into micro beads which are polluting the planet and poisoning aquatic and other life forms. The exception to that is when it is burned, but that releases toxins into the atmosphere. I am not a proponent of plastic and never will be. But convenience and greed will most likely prevent it from being banned, and I'm as guilty as the next person when it comes to using it.
 
Rhodie Ranch said:
At the food bank where I volunteer, we are grateful for the plastic thin tee shirt bags that are no longer used. We use them to wrap single rolls of TP. All day long, every day.

People turn in their heavy duty plastic bags (not the fancy ones) and sometimes the WalMart blue fabric like bags. We use those for produce, for dairy and for dry goods. (Every client gets a filled produce bag, a filled dairy bag and a couple/tree non food items.

I use the purchased fancy bags - most of them I've gotten for free from estate sales or from the Goodwill bin store.
Click to expand...
You are doing "the Lord's work." (I'm not religious, but there seems to be no agnostic synonym for this phrase.) I donate regularly to the food bank here, and the fellow running it now is praise-worthy. He's set it up to help both Vermont farmers by buying their produce and meat, as well as feeding the growing legions of the hungry. The situation is horrible, with demand growing even among households with 2 working adults lining up for help feeding themselves and their kids. I know this is nationwide too, so it's very worrying. Then there is the growing population of homeless people. I hand out a $20 to whatever poor soul is standing at the exit to the supermarket parkinglot, but I know it's a drop in the bucket. Anyways, thank you for doing the work you do.
 
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