Showing posts with label coronavirus. Show all posts
Showing posts with label coronavirus. Show all posts
Monday, April 13, 2020
Looking Under Logs During Covid 19
While our April 18th event at Blackstone Park has been cancelled, you can still have your own adventure! Here's a virtual trip of us looking under logs. I hope it inspires you to do the same! Please return all to their original state and leave no trash behind. Better yet, bring gloves and a bag to collect trash you find as you explore! https://15minutefieldtrips.blogspot.com/2016/05/looking-under-logs.html
Wednesday, April 1, 2020
April Fools
If you're like me right now, you've been spending a lot of time at home. In my state of Rhode Island, the governor has just closed the beaches and state parks because people were not keeping 6 feet away or being in groups of 5 or less. I've also seen people leaving masks and gloves in shopping carts or on the ground. What kind of fools are we?
There is a silver lining, though. We're in this together, and together we can start tackling the tough issues that face us by making systemic changes. One change that needs to happen is reducing food waste. In RI, food waste accounts for 32% of our landfill!!! (See the end notes for places in Rhode Island that compost.)
Here's a fun game for the kids: Blind Lemon Nightcrawler, the deep underground jazz musician, wants to open up a new restaurant, the Compost Cafe! Print out these pages and cut out the food scraps and plates from pages 2, 3, and 4. Kids can arrange the food for different "customers" and even make menus from brown shopping bags, drawing the food scraps and adding prices and labels. (It's a great way to sneak in spelling and math!)
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You can compost at home, under your sink, in your back yard. Follow the recipe and cut pieces small or put them through a blender. Mix in to compost and keep damp but not soggy. For indoors in a small container, make sure to drill air holes. I do this around the bottom to also add drainage and put the container in a larger one. You can make one from a recycling bin or large Tupperware container. You'll want red wigglers (Eisenia fetida) for small composting. Earthworms and nightcrawlers are fine for outside.
If you want to buy worms or a compost bin, I like these vendors:
https://unclejimswormfarm.com/
https://www.wormladies.com/
This activity is part of our "Dirt Pop Up Museum", where we set up several art and science stations for kids to learn more about worms! Check out our program link on the right or here. Learn more on your own with the links on the left under "Dirt and Detrivores", then "Worms and Compost".
But wait, there's more! Here's how you can close the loop on food waste:
Where to bring your compost:
https://rhodesiderevival.com/
Rhode Island Compost Sites
Where to compost in other states.
https://www.wholefoodsmarket.com/
Who collects compost:
http://www.compostplant.com/
https://bootstrapcompost.com/
https://groundworkri.org/programs/harvest-cycle/
Where to get compost:
https://www.earthcarefarm.com/
Forbes Street Compost, East Providence
https://www.southsideclt.org/composting/
Other efforts:
https://www.cleanoceanaccess.org/hshsri/
http://www.rirrc.org/
https://unclejimswormfarm.com/whole-foods-market-reduces-waste-composting/
Regulations and Education:
https://ilsr.org/rule/on-farm-composting/rhode-island/
https://web.uri.edu/ceoc/compost-education-programs/
More Info:
Sunday, March 29, 2020
Preparing for a New Normal
As we all adjust to these rapid transitions, I wanted to let you know that you are not alone and there are even silver linings. With the halt in industry and travel, CO2 emissions are down. Dolphins frolic in Italy. People are enjoying nature more. We've been forced to slow down.
Well, maybe after we learn how to navigate several new platforms, make dinner, and find new ways to live... Take a deep breath. Go outside.
In the next days and weeks, I'll be posting very easy and quick ways to live sustainably with little or no money. Some of this will be through repurposing materials, some will be gardening timelines and tips, some will be "mini vacations" around your neighborhood. It's how I live.
So much of the American lifestyle generates waste at a systemic and institutional level. The skills I will post here will help you live in a "closed loop", where nothing is wasted. I hope you enjoy them.
Please leave a comment on what you'd like to learn, what you need. Sign up for the email list so you know when I post. There are many free resources at both sides of this page. Use them. Share them. Learn a new recipe, an edible plant. Look to nature and how the earth solves problems and survives.
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