Green Like Me: I’m Gonna Compost

I’m saving the world! You’re welcome.

I’m going green, baby.

Recycling stuff. Composting stuff. Picking things that are sustainable (I think that means “green”) and fully biodegrable if and when I throw it away and, basically, just no plastics (remember I already made that proclamation).

I also know it’s impossible to be completely green, but as they say…

Every little bit, counts.

What Does it Mean to Be Intentional or Live Intentionally?

Without looking it all up again, for me? Being intentional or living intentionally means thinking about my actions, my words, and my decisions so that they align with my values. It means not just meandering through life willy nilly and randomly. It means, in a way, giving every activity I do the ol’ Marie Kondo treatment and “thank” the thing or the activity for making my life better.

Like laundry…

• Pick a soap that’s as natural as I can find so it’s nice to my skin and kind to the Earth when it goes down the drain
• Cotton or wool clothing so the fibers that strip away are “of the earth” (ashes to ashes, dust to dust)
• Hang dry almost everything (except underwear … still gonna dry my underwear on high heat)
• Hang drying makes my clothes last longer and saves lots and lots of electricity

Writing…

• Use a wood pencil (preferably without an erasor)
• Pens are plastic and ink is a chemical and eventually that pen or mechanical pencil will end up in a landfill forever (or a bird will use it for a nest)
• Paper journal with paper cover and if I’m lucky, a journal made from recycled paper

Bath time…

• Bar soap only and only if it comes in paper packaging (Squatch or Duke Cannon)
• Toothbrush with bamboo bristles
• Turn off the water while lathering up
• 100% cotton towel that’s been hung to dry only

And the thing I’m most excited about … composting!

I want some dark compost full of worms and good for … oh, yes, here’s the other thing … good for my small garden and my native spaces?

What are Native Spaces?

This was trendy a couple years ago and the best way I can describe it is it’s a bunch of flowers that’s good for honeybees and bugs. Random. Mostly unkempt. But not an eye sore. I’ve got two native spaces that are coming along. Maybe another year or two of growth and random planting and they’ll be perfect. They’ve got some flowering hostas, mint, yuccas, iris, and various daisies. Public apology to my one neighbor … I know it’s not looking great, but I just need another season or two.

But What Was This Thing You Said About Composting?

Right. Composting. And I’m gonna call my composting, “Eye Catching Composting” because I don’t want my backyard to look like a grubby, overgrown farm. I want it neat, tidy, and square. I want it so when the neighbors look over their fence into my yard, it doesn’t bother them and make them want to put up a privacy fence.

See above … it’s called “intentional.”

I just counted it … I have 18 hostas. 24 daylilies. 4 tomato plants. 3 levels of herbs. 2 large planter full of flowers. and then a bunch of random flowers and plants that need to be cut down to the ground by winter time. And all the dirt in those pots.

People who compost say all that dirt, and all those leaves and stems should not be dumped into a large, brown yard waste bag and brought to the curb and they say if you put that in a compost bin, along with kitchen scraps, and some brown leaves and paper … and some egg shells … I’ll make compost.

So, I’m doing it.

And I gotta design a nice-looking way to have a compost bin and then and really pretty garden next spring.

Control. Control and a plan gives me peace of mind.

So here I go.

I like the first two ideas in this video and the everything in the second video.

It’s all about me being (or feeling) better than you. Goes with my superiority complex and I know how that sounds. But I’m trying … I’m trying to just do things for the common good and for goodness’ sake.

Can’t wait to update you as I keep getting better and better and this “living green” thing.

It’s all about getting a little better, every day and, quite by accident, doing a little (a very little) good for the Earth.